Following a defeat to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera drew attention with a befuddling response to a query regarding the team’s postseason prospects.
Rivera admitted to being puzzled by his calculations for securing a spot in the playoffs. The Commanders needed to defeat the Browns, and get the Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks, and Green Bay Packers to lose or tie in order to go to the playoffs by Sunday. The squad lost instead and was facing elimination at the end of the day. Ron provided a very strange and confused response when questioned about this.
In his postgame press conference, Rivera made the implication that he was unaware before the game that the possibility of being eliminated from playoff contention existed.
For Sunday’s match, Ron decided to start with Carson Wentz instead of Taylor Heinicke at quarterback. The Commanders failed to defeat the Browns, falling behind 10–24 and by the evening were facing NFL playoff elimination.
What did Ron Rivera say about Washington’s playoff chances?
When he was asked about the quarterback game plan and strategy for week 18 in case Washington was eliminated from the playoffs.
He exclaimed, “We can be eliminated?” after being startled. He was surprised and he thought for a long time before answering the question. Such a perplexing and careless statement from a team coach shocked people and attracted a lot of attention.
Washington’s sole recent win was a tie against the New York Giants in Week 13; otherwise, they have lost two of their last three games, making the cut for the playoffs more difficult for the team.
According to ESPN, Rivera later claimed that the question had irritated him and that He had faith in his squad, which is possibly why he did not consider being eliminated to be a concern. He had no plans for the team to lose because he didn’t believe they would.
Unfortunately, the Commanders’ luck was against them; by Sunday afternoon’s end, all the teams they needed to lose to were victorious, eliminating any chance they had of entering the postseason.
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