How Washington Commanders Coach Ron Rivera's 'Perspective' May Change The Defense
The Washington Commanders (4-8) defense currently ranks among the worst in the NFL in yards per play, interception rate, and red zone percentage and is surrendering nearly 30 points per game.
Following another embarrassing loss, this time to the hated Dallas Cowboys (8-3), Commanders coach Ron Rivera decided to take matters into his own hands becoming the team's defensive coordinator for the remainder of the year.
The question now is whether or not he can truly make a difference with his team well on the outside of the NFL Playoffs race, and even if he does, will it be too little too late?
"When I say differently, it'd be from my perspective, the way I do things," Rivera said when discussing the changes he'll be making to the defense. "With what we did on defense, I thought were good solid things. There are some things too that I have different opinions on and those are things that I'm going to do differently."
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera reacts during the first half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Unsurprisingly, Rivera didn't want to get into specifics.
He's already facing an uphill battle with the league's second-worst defense in passing yards per play getting ready to face a Miami Dolphins (8-3) squad that is second-best in the same category on offense.
Like the Dolphins are currently doing we went back to the last time coach Rivera was orchestrating his own defense to look and see what might unfold this weekend.
The last time Rivera took hold of a defense's operations as a head coach it was in Week 13 of the 2018 NFL Season while he was leading the Carolina Panthers in his new owner's first season.
But that's not where the similarities end.
Remember Washington is surrendering nearly 30 points per game, well, it's allowed 30.5 per game in the last four and at the time Rivera took control in Carolina his defense was giving up 31 per game in the four weeks leading to his taking over fully.
So there are some striking similarities to draw from, and if the past indicates the future then there isn't likely to be any sweeping schematic changes.
With the Panthers, the most commonly used defensive alignment at the time Rivera took over was the same one employed the majority of the time after.
What did change significantly, however, was the number of times Carolina employed blitz packages and used zone coverages.
This season we've seen the Commanders in man coverage more than any other season since this coaching staff was put in place according to Sports Info Solutions.
Playing man coverage 34 percent of the time, according to SIS Washington is doing so more than 15 other NFL teams, yet ranks 17th in success rate while doing so.
Meanwhile, the Commanders have played zone coverage - which is what they're truly known for - just 52 percent of the time, down from 61 percent in the three years prior.
If there are any major changes in how Washington approaches playing defense against the Dolphins now that Rivera is at the controls we believe that's where it's likely to come the most.
An increase in zone coverage is intended to keep the top on the explosive Miami offense while decreasing the number of times one defender is solely responsible for the success or failure of a given down.
Teamwork makes the dream work, as the old cliche goes, and if the Commanders want to overcome the -8.5 point line against them in Week 13, they'll need it to function a little better than we've seen so far this season.
