When the announcement that the Pittsburgh Steelers had fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada, Commanders’ fans erupted.
Why would DMV fans care about a coach’s welfare in the Steel City?
Because if coordinators were being fired, the Commanders’ fan base thought defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio should have had his name called today.
As tempting as that might have been, there’s no reason for ownership to make a move on Del Rio or head coach Ron Rivera.
The season died with the home loss to the New York Giants.
It would only make sense if new management were comfortable with the front office.
It’s hard to imagine that there won’t be some evaluation of front-office personnel in the offseason, so why allow them to have a hand in the first significant move of the new ownership group if they aren’t part of the future?
Washington’s situation differs from Buffalo and Las Vegas in different ways.
Buffalo feels like they are genuine Super Bowl contenders. Firing offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey sent a message to a team that was underachieving with the threat of a closing window for a young franchise quarterback.
That’s far from the situation in Washington when the jury is still out on what type of quarterback Sam Howell will be.
Does he project to a potential franchise-level quarterback who can take a team to a Super Bowl, or is he Kirk Cousins? Cousins had bloated numbers with little to no postseason success.
In Las Vegas, Mark Davis is trying to rescue the franchise from severe mismanagement by his father and now himself.
Davis still needs to get a handle on the organization since Jon Gruden’s e-mails were exposed.
With pressure from the NFL’s Commissioner’s office, Davis fired Gruden, setting off the latest mistakes.
Davis would overlook the success of interim coach Rich Bisaccia.
Instead, Davis bought into the “Patriots Way”. A way that had proven to be a failure in every place except New England.
It took under two years for Davis to realize that the Josh McDaniels-Dave Ziegler combination would drive the organization further into the forest of mediocrity, so he pulled the plug.
The Harris Group has time to start building the organization sustainably if they use a level of patience.
While the current staff finishes the season, a plan should be put together for the front office, including separating the GM and coaching duties.
Once a wish list is formed and back channel interest is gotten, “what’s next” will begin.
That’s when Washington can start down the road of remaking the franchise in a way that will take Washington off of the hamster wheel of failure.
Just in time for a new stadium.
