Burgundy & Gold Reaction: Mauled by the Bears

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October 10, 2023

by David Earl

Let’s Dive Right In: DEFENSE IS TERRIBLE!!!

Well, the sad news here is that Washington’s defense was a get-right game for a Bears offense.  Prior to this week, Chicago had averaged 18.8 points per game.  Washington gave up  a passer rating of 125.3 passer rating to Justin Fields who averaged 86.8 heading into the matchup. The worst part of this game is the historically bad path this defense is on. The Commanders are now on pace to give up 544 points on the season, surpassing the 1981 Baltimore Colts (533) for most points allowed in a single NFL season. Not only is this defense off to yet another slow start, but this historic pace is inexcusable considering the investment made along the defensive line and the fact that the supposedly defensive-minded head coach thought that neglecting the linebacker position was a smart strategy.

If the scoring and continuous allowing of these explosive plays weren’t bad enough, Bears’ offensive guard Teven Jenkins‘s observation of this defense schematically is nearly a firable offense for Jack Del Rio. Jenkins recognized weak attempts in disguising coverages and blitzes, thus tipping their hand throughout the game. This defense gave up 27 points in the first half at home, 40 overall, against an 0-4 team, and Jack Del Rio has a team unable to play effectively within his scheme in year four. I get that the players must execute but at what point does this coaching staff start taking accountability? 

Is the defensive scheme too antiquated for today’s NFL, as Lake Lewis alluded to in his post? The rules today clearly favor a more offensive approach; for example, the quarterbacks are overly protected and the 5-yard rule with contact on the wide receivers strictly being enforced are evidence that that is the case. Defenses that are consistent on a year-in and year-out basis like San Francisco are few and far between. What sets them apart from Washington are impact players. Nick Bosa has been a game-changer on San Francisco’s defensive front and is accompanied by players who fill specific roles along that defensive line, such as Nick Hargrave, who applies good pressure from the defensive tackle position. The success of the 49ers defensive front has opposing quarterbacks averaging a rating of 75, while offenses have been completing 65.7% of their passes against. The 49ers defense is ranked 2nd in the league, allowing only 7.6 yards per completion. That defense is not loaded with a large number of stars, but they have the right components playing in a schematic scheme that fits their abilities.

This is not the same for Washington even though that defensive line is stacked with first-round investments. While Chase Young has been playing well and has had more disruptive moments this season and the defense is ranked 6th in sack percentage (9.09%), the secondary is dead last, allowing 12.1 yards per reception and a 102.1 passer rating against. The one core aspect of why this defense fails every week is the play of the linebackers. Jamin Davis has proven to be a solid role player who does not hold any elite traits, but that is where the quality of play stops. The obvious achilles heel for this defense has been the play, or lack thereof, of Cody Barton. Cody has been easily swallowed up by the offensive line, which has made him ineffective against the run all season. His poor coverage was always a known realization. Therefore, it’s rather clear that while a team can certainly rely on the defense such as the one fronted by the 49ers, the construction of the defense at all 3 levels is vital for success in today’s passing league.

 

Ron Rivera‘s Time Up?

In his first couple of years in Washington, Ron Rivera rightfully held players accountable for lack of execution on the field. The team continued to be inconsistent throughout his tenure but let’s not overlook just how this team got to this point in year four. As of this date his win percentage by season during the run as coach is Year 1: .438; Year 2: .412; Year 3: .500; and Year 4: .400, only 29% of the season played. During these 4 years, his quarterbacks have been roughly sacked 170 times. During his time in Carolina, his teams in December finished strong, yet here in Washington, he has a 3-7-1 record in December and not a single winning season.

One of the key reasons for the position of this team today is the offensive line. Over the last 4 years, after seeing some marquee names leave the team, Ron has invested very little into the offensive line through the draft. As I stated before he only used one of ten draft picks in the 2021 draft and just a 7th round pick in the 2022 draft, which is a total of 18 picks, to address a unit that continues to rank among the worst in the league. The result of this positional neglect is that Sam Howell has been sacked 29 times, which currently projects to 98 on the season. This is a sack rate of 13.18%, which ranks them over only the New York Giants. Granted, the rushing offense has shown some improvement from 4.0 yards per attempt in the 2022 season to 4.5 yards per attempt this season proving, that, at a minimum, the offensive line is average running the ball. However, Ron has done nothing to help his young quarterback to succeed behind such bad pass protection.

I could go on in far more detail but the overarching point here is, that Ron the GM has constructed a team that is not even a serious playoff-contending organization. After 4 years, accountability must begin to shift to coaching, and that starts at the top. We have debated on The Hog Sty Podcast about the players having to execute and should thus hold the majority of the accountability and that’s very true in the first couple of seasons. Now, in year 4, in my opinion, Ron stressing how the players need to execute on the field better becomes an issue. If he is still having issues with players not playing to the scheme and not fully executing on the field then why are they still on the field? Ron’s message has clearly not been taken seriously if he is still having to stress these points. Can you truly blame the players?

Rivera has clearly been all words, with limited action towards poor play on the field; thus, there is no incentive for the players to change. Listening to Rivera after halftime say he let the players talk among themselves to figure it out was absolutely uninspiring. To me it’s a sign of a coach waving the white flag of defeat. How does that reflect in the eyes of his players? At four years in, maybe flipping a few tables, tossing a water cooler, and benching a couple of key players heading into the 3rd quarter could have waken up this team from such an embarrassing performance on the national stage. While perhaps extreme to say, the point is Ron’s handling this season of this team as it’s leader has been inexcusable. This should be something new owner Josh Harris needs to weigh going forward.

 

At Least Fans Showed Up

New ownership brought a fresh revival to this fan base. We have responded to the team’s plea to show up for the games. It wasn’t even the idea this team could be special, but eliminating Dan Snyder from the equation and allowing Ron and his staff to have no outside distractions would certainly benefit the team. The idea was the staff could coach what appeared to be a pretty talented team and remain focused on just the on-field development.  This would in turn allow the fans to see a competitive team potentially making a playoff push. As a result, the stadium sold out for the first 3 home games with a wild crowd getting loud for the defense on the field. The environment was certainly electric and the fans were excited for a fresh new start to this team under Josh Harris.

While there were some good moments offensively, and we saw the highs and lows of a young quarterback, we’ve watched a defense allow  an average of 32 points per game. More specifically, the Buffalo Bills racked up 37 points, and Chicago allowed 40 points this week. Certainly, the Bills are a Super Bowl contender, but one of the worst teams in the NFL embarrassing you for 40 points at home on national TV is unforgivable.

The fans will always grateful for Josh Harris buying this team, but that honeymoon can only last so long – who wants to spend the money required to go to a game just to watch their home team be run off the field? The next home game will surely be a sea of green since the Eagles are coming to town, and this team will deserve to lose home-field advantage at home yet again. I am pretty sure the majority of this fan base will agree when I say, “Keep the fans out of your mouth,” when if the team is disappointed by the no-show.

The players and coaches pleaded for years for the fans to come back. However, now that we came back, the team just rolled over and allowed the visiting team to run up and down the field at will. When Rivera still seems to refuse to hold his coaching staff accountable and is not willing to make any changes, that is simply disrespectful to the fans. The people have truly lost faith in Ron Rivera and they are ready for Josh Harris to bring in a dedicated GM to rebuild this team in an appropriate fashion. There is a need for one voice over everyone else. This coach-centric approach has seen many voices making too many decisions.

Look no further than division rival Philadelphia Eagles – they have a general manager, Howie Roseman, who works the draft and free agency in an aggressive manner every year. Roseman has been able to overcome mistakes such as drafting wide receiver Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson.  He was also correct in his scouting of Jalen Hurts when many didn’t see him as a starting quarterback. The Eagles not only remain a perennial favorite right now but the moves Roseman has made built a strong young roster with the right mix of veteran talent every year. That is what separates the Eagles from a poorly managed Washington team under Ron Rivera’s coach-centric approach. The Eagles became contenders under head coach Nick Siriani in just 2 years.

Meanwhile, Washington is still the punching bag of the NFL in year 4 under Ron Rivera. He’s is a great person and a wonderful off-field motivator but the fans are not going to continue filling the stands just because he is a stand-up guy. Rivera must perform on the field and faith that he will do that going forward seems to be lost that he will do just that going forward. Josh Harris knows what he needs to do – will he make that move?