ARLINGTON, Texas — Washington came to play the Cowboys with a mission to not get embarrassed. It almost worked.
That doesn’t mean the Commanders won, they didn’t, losing 45-10, but just four days after a new season low point in a home loss to the Giants, at least Ron Rivera’s team was not a total mess.
Until the fourth quarter.
Going into the final frame Washington trailed only 20-10 and its defense had forced two consecutive Cowboys punts. Perhaps sensing his team had a chance at a key score with 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Ron Rivera decided to go for it on 4th and short from his own 34 yard-line, and the result was disastrous.
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Howell was sacked for a 10 yard loss and the Cowboys took over at the 24. Three plays later Dallas QB Dak Prescott found WR CeeDee Lamb for a 15-yard touchdown, and then the Cowboys successfully went for a two-point conversion.
In the blink of an eye the Commanders trailed 31-10. Dallas would get another passing touchdown from Prescott to KaVontae Turpin, and within minutes, Prescott was seen on the Cowboys bench eating turkey.
It’s never a good sign for the defense when the opposing quarterback is eating a turkey leg on the sideline when the game is still going on.
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Dallas then added a pick-six touchdown from stud cornerback DaRon Bland. At that point the avoid embarassment playbook had been thrown out, and the Commanders were in full on disaster zone.
Throughout the day, Rivera’s decision making on fourth down was curious. In the second half the coach was aggressive, recklessly so from his own 34, but in the first half Rivera punted twice in prime spots to be opportunistic.
About halfway through the first quarter Rivera decided to punt on 4th-and-2 from the Cowboys 43 yard line. At best that’s a conservative decision, but more accurately it’s somewhere between scared and confused.
In the end little of what happened against the Cowboys matters. Dallas is a playoff team and Washington is a team headed for a full rebuild.
Early Thursday morning a report emerged from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that said a decision on Rivera’s future would probably wait until after the season. Now that could have changed due to the embarrassing nature of the Thanksgiving loss, but Commanders owner Josh Harris has given no indication of speeding up that process.
Still, that process is coming.
Washington is now 4-8. The defense can’t stop a 6th grader on a three-wheeled skateboard. The offense turns it over too much and is inconsistent. This is the operation Rivera has built over his four years as Washington’s football czar.
It’s very clear that will change, it’s only a matter of time.
