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The Washington Commanders may have suffered a rather horrible beating at the hands of the New York Giants in Week 7, but it's in no way discouraging head coach Ron Rivera.
New York absolutely dismantled Washington en route to the 14-7 win. While it's only a seven-point defeat, it doesn't tell the whole story. After all, the Giants themselves had been struggling offensively and were actually riding a four-game skid heading to the contest.
In short, it was a really winnable game for Washington. However, not only did the Commanders offense fail to get anything going, but the defense also allowed the Giants to gain some momentum in the second quarter and score 14 points. Of course it was enough for New York to win considering how bad their rivals were.
The Commanders have now lost four of their last five games after opening the 2023 campaign with a 2-0 record. Despite the rather embarrassing defeat, though, Rivera isn't hitting the panic button just yet. He emphasized that there are still plenty of games left to be played on the season, and Washington has every opportunity to bounce back.
“Ten games left to go and you never know what's going to happen,” Rivera told reporters after the game, per JP Finlay of NBC Sports.
“10 games left to go and you never know what’s going to happen” pic.twitter.com/RBl6pqINyK
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) October 22, 2023
True enough, the Commanders cannot focus too much on the defeat. Bad games happen, and so what they need to do is make sure they are better prepared for their next game. Besides, they need to remember that they also recently beat the Atlanta Falcons, a team that currently leads the NFC South with a 4-3 record.
Of course Rivera and Washington cannot relax too much. But as the veteran tactician highlighted, they still have a chance to get back to the win column and steer the ship in the right direction.
Magic Johnson, Jonathan Allen disappointed over Commanders' loss
While Ron Rivera is keeping an optimistic attitude about the Commanders, it's hard to blame other members of the team for feeling frustrated and disappointed. After all, winning just once in five tries will worry anyone.
Magic Johnson, who is a minority owner of the Commanders, didn't hide his pain after witnessing his team crumble in front of the hapless Giants. After the loss, the NBA legend and former Los Angeles Lakers superstar wrote: “Disappointing 14-7 loss for my Commanders to the NY Giants. It's hard to win in the NFL when you only score 7 points.”
Meanwhile, Jonathan Allen couldn't hold back his emotions following the defeat. When everyone thought they took a step to the right direction with the Falcons win, they have now been pushed back multiple steps behind with the loss to the Giants. Any player would be frustrated with such inconsistency.
“I'm f**king tired of this shit. I'm f**king tired of this bulls**t. It's been 7 f**kin years of the same s**t. I'm tired of this s**t,” Allen exclaimed.
Sure enough, while keeping calm like Ron Rivera's approach is the right thing to do amid trying times, it doesn't mean they will not address the problem at hand. As Johnson and Allen implied with their reactions, the Commanders need some sense of urgency before the season spirals out of their control. Something needs to change for Washington since they cannot and should not keep doing what they are currently trying to do. Obviously it isn't working.
Here's hoping that Rivera and co. will be able to really address the problem at hand. If not, the frustrations of the players are only going to grow.
