Burgundy & Gold Reaction: Frustratingly Tough Loss

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November 1, 2023

by David Earl

Coaching is killing this team

I’ve said this before and will continue to say it again: the focus of blame for this team’s inconsistency falls more on the coaches. The first couple years the preaching of “players must execute” among other statements rang very true for the most part, but things changed in year three. The team looked out-coached and unprepared nearly every week with minimal to no changes to the coaching staff. In fact Ron often doubled down last season on the idea that, while it is up to him and his staff to study the tape and figure out what is wrong, the players need to essentially look at themselves and do their job. On The Hog Sty, we talked many times about having varying opinions, but this season is clear this team’s issues squarely fall on Ron Rivera and his staff. The only coach who seems to acknowledge any accountability is Eric Bieniemy but even he seems too stubborn to truly fix the playcalling. This matchup against Philadelphia was indicative of some of the issues brought on by this coaching staff as I view this team.

Late in the second quarter heading into halftime with a 4th and 1, Washington went for essentially a kill shot to take full control of the game. It is a decision a 3-4 team should take against the division-rival and NFC-leading Philadelphia Eagles. Washington was effective in moving the ball throughout the first half, especially through tight end Logan Thomas and the passing game. The run game was non-existent, but Eric Bieniemy utilized screens and the short passing game as the extension of the run game. The first half showed a well-prepared team constructed offensively to attack an outmatched linebacker group and weakened secondary of the Eagles.

When this 4th and 1 decision came about, the playbook was nearly wide open to do almost anything they wanted with a high probability of success. While the run game was ineffective, a jumbo-type formation still could have worked because of Logan Thomas‘ effectiveness to this point. A play action to force the defense to initially respect the run and then roll out to Thomas breaking out into a short route would have been a solid play. Sam Howell would have had the decision to either throw to Thomas or run for the first down; however, instead, we got this play. There is no guarantee it even works but with how well Sam Howell is throwing the ball combined with his mobility, the defense would have been forced to defend multiple aspects of the play. The run had to be respected, and  Howell’s mobility had to be shadowed by a defender.  In addition, the secondary most likely doubles Thomas after the snap. With how effective the offense was moving the ball and the combination of Howell to Thomas giving the Eagles defense nightmares, this play call seemed to be a far more effective decision than a pass play to the sideline, but what do I know right?

Here’s the deal: we all get the responsibilities a head coach faces during the game and the quick decisions that must come. Over the years he’s had many questionable but successful challenges of interpreting what the replay might be showing. There are plenty of times we fans use hindsight to ridicule a challenge he made when game speed and timing force a snap judgment call. But this sequence on 4th and 4 is completely different, as it shows a lack of feel for the game. With just over 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and Washington up by 7, they faced 4th and 4 just in Washington territory. After the play, Philadelphia quickly ran up to run a play while Ron Rivera was watching for a replay. At this point in the game, there was no need for a hurry-up play like in the final 2 minutes, especially only down by a touchdown. In-game awareness here tells you obviously the Eagles, potentially Devonte Smith, were not confident the pass was caught. It is at this point, Ron should have understood the feel of the game and just threw a challenge flag regardless of a replay to view. If for some reason the challenge failed, the excuse from Ron making a judgment call at that moment would have been respectable.

Unfortunately, this has been one of the many failures of Ron Rivera while in Washington for the past 4 years. Along with his inability to have a good success rate in challenging plays, his clock management and lack of aggressiveness have truly hampered this team, especially over the last 2 seasons. Whether he has hit a wall and checked out as a coach, or he is unable to keep up with the game speed, Rivera has clearly become a weakness for this team. The shame of this is that the team seemed prepared and played a relatively sound game in the first half, but poor coaching decisions led to a momentum shift heading into halftime which this missed challenge only helped give the Eagles life. This is one of the reasons why I stand on viewing this team’s inconsistency more on the coaches than on player execution.

This decision to place Emmanual Forbes, who has been struggling his rookie year and was abused by A.J. Brown earlier in the year, one on one against Brown is just inexcusable. We visibly saw his confidence taking a hit from the last matchup and should have never been later met with another crucial matchup against one of the game’s best wide receivers. This is just a perfect recipe to kill a young player’s career early, which is something we as fans have watched Washington do time and time again. As I understand Benjamin St-Juste and Kendall Fuller were largely ineffective against Brown but this scenario for Forbes without any backside help from the safety is just egregious at the very least.

These types of Forbes-like decisions have not only come to haunt Washington on defense but it is compounded with the lack of creativity by Jack Del Rio. This has allowed opposing offenses to dominate Washington’s defense more times than not over the last couple of seasons. The schematic approach to only rush 4 while adding a linebacker or corner ever so often while not rotating the best players on the line creates a one-dimensional defense. Years ago that could be countered fairly easily defensively, as Del Rio has done before. However, in today’s passing league with the mobile quarterbacks and tight end play, there just doesn’t seem to be an answer defensively.

I am not going to act like a defensive guru but Del Rio’s old ways of defense just do not hold up well in today’s league as the numbers prove. Washington is ranked 29th in both yards per game allowed at 374 and parts per play allowed at 5.7, and 22nd in 3rd down conversion rate (41.07%). Probably the most frustrating aspect of this defense is that they are ranked 10th in sack percentage at 8.36% and 13th in completion percentage given up at 63.5%, but are ranked 30th in yards per completion with 7.5. This has been the story of Jack Del Rio‘s defenses here. When they place Forbes on an island alone against Brown, that may suggest Del Rio just doesn’t have a schematic answer. Regardless of the lack of talent, this is just an inexcusable decision, and is one that’s made far too often. The answer is unlikely on this coaching staff now, so even letting Del Rio go is unlikely to fix anything.

Conclusion

For starters, let’s stop with the call for Jacoby Brissett as Sam Howell has certainly proved he deserves to play out this season. Even with some of the rollercoaster rides, Howell is ranked 5th in passing yards, 6th in passing touchdowns, 15th in completion percentage, and 16th in passer rating. For a young quarterback with only 9 starts, these are numbers that show good promise and his deficiencies can be addressed. One concern that was identified in college is how he tends to hold the ball for too long. Whether it’s his inability to process the field quickly or if he feels the need to see all his reads in progression, this is the one tendency that may carry throughout his career. The one effective counter, as we’ve seen this year at times, is the quick passing game. The establishment of a quick game certainly helps open the field a bit, and also aids in pass protection to some degree. The one aspect of his game that is very good is his arm strength and his ability to forget the bad plays. Howell was not the problem against Philadelphia regardless of the late interception.

As far as the question of whether the team should make any changes to the coaching staff or the roster, I am confident Josh Harris has a plan, but he won’t be too quick in pulling the trigger. While I could see a move that fires Ron Rivera and places Eric Bieniemy as the interim head coach, I think that is just an unnecessary decision. Bieniemy is still working out this team’s offensive identity while polishing up his own deficiencies as a play caller, so assuming the duties of head coach may just be too much right now. That’s not to say he won’t make for a good head coach, but in that scenario, he’d bring in and lean on an offensive coordinator to alleviate some of those responsibilities while running the entire team. He just would not have that here right now and it would be potentially doomed for disaster. If anything, in that scenario, they should elevate Jack Del Rio; however, that would just be a parallel move, so why even bother moving on from Ron Rivera then? They should probably ride out the season. Perhaps a more effective move would be to hire Alec Halaby from Philadelphia as general manager then look at someone like Ben Johnson from the Detroit Lions who could compare favorably to Sean McVay. That scenario is for another column.

The Trades

As noted by Lake Lewis earlier and confirmed by Dianna Russini, no trades happen without the blessing of the ownership group, mainly Josh Harris.  I agree with this. I cannot imagine Harris would want a deal to happen like the Trent Williams debacle where a top talent is sent away for mere pennies on the dollar. I’m unsure how Harris potentially organized any of these trades, if he did, but I’d imagine he’d have someone in his ear talking through these decisions, or at least I hope. I am not saying he needs to be involved like Dan Snyder, but at a minimum he should protect his investment as best as possible, in order for his hand-picked general manager to be able to rework this team as he sees fit. The second round pick for Montez Sweat equates to the 35th overall pick as of today, which is very good value for the former 26th overall selection. While some are shocked Washington only received a conditional third round pick for Chase Young, understand that he’s been injured and inconsistent on the field. Were these trades smart or unnecessary moves, since they now own five picks in the first three rounds of the 2024 draft? We will discuss more on The Hog Sty Podcast, to be posted on Thursday, so stay tuned.