Commanders News: Trade talk, power rankings, Jacoby Brissett and Ron Rivera

Commanders HC Ron Rivera on offensive play-calling

Morale is pretty low among the Washington Commanders fanbase right now. Scoring seven points against the significantly depleted New York Giants will do that, so it'll take a monumental effort from all involved to salvage something from the campaign looking at their daunting run of games down the stretch.

They'll keep fighting, obviously. But with the red-hot Philadelphia Eagles coming to town this weekend, things might get worse before they get better looking at the current trajectory of both teams.

One thing that's been a hot topic of debate is Eric Bieniemy's play-calling. There seems to be no consistent approach to establishing the run, which is placing additional pressure on quarterback Sam Howell and an offensive line that is on course to concede historic sack numbers.

When discussing Bieniemy's strategy, Ron Rivera stated he was satisfied with how things are being implemented based on comments via Sports Illustrated. The head coach also hinted that the development of Howell is the most important thing above all else.

"I've been fine with what we've tried to do offensively. As far as I'm concerned and look at some of the biggest things, again, it really is about the development of this [QB Sam Howell] young quarterback. There's been a lot of positives that you see coming out of some of the things that Sam has been doing."

- Ron Rivera via Sports Illustrated

That's all well and good, but if the signal-caller is getting smashed in the mouth on almost every dropback, it's a problem. Something that could get even more dire in Week 8 versus an exceptional Eagles defensive front.