Washington Commanders' Eric Bieniemy Won't 'Put Fear' in Team Ahead of Matchup vs. Miami Dolphins CBs
The Washington Commanders are 9.5-point home underdogs against the Miami Dolphins Sunday, and it's not just because quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are set to pay a visit to FedExField.
Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey will face off with the Washington Commanders this week.
Kirby Lee/USA Today
The Dolphins have a pair of former All-Pro cornerbacks in Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard. While quarterback Sam Howell has had some positive moments this season, he's behind probably the worst pass-protecting offensive line in the NFL and has gunslinger tendencies, as evidenced by his 13 interceptions this season. That feels like a dangerous mix with perhaps the league's best cornerback duo coming to Landover Sunday.
For his part, Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy didn't deny how impressive the the pair of cornerbacks Miami employs are.
“I think each and every week, there's a challenge," Bieniemy said. "Every week when you're facing somebody in the league, there's somebody that's pretty good. In fact, obviously we got Jalen [Ramsey] this week.
"They got the other kid who's on the other side who does a hell of a job, [Xavien Howard] X-man, who I've known since he was in high school when he came out of Phillis Wheatley High School down in Houston, Texas. He's also an outstanding corner."
While acknowledging the prowess that Miami has at cornerback, Bieniemy still projected confidence when discussing how he'll prepare Howell, receiver Terry McLaurin and the Commanders for their matchup with Ramsey and Howard.
"The thing that we do, you don't coach your guys and put fear in them," Bieniemy said. "At the end of the day, we got to go out and play. We got to go out and be the very best of who we are.
"And so, when it's all said and done with, we got to go out and execute our scheme and execute our job better than they're executing their scheme and better than they're executing, utilizing their God-given ability, but we just have to go play.”
The reality is that the Commanders defense was torched by the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in a 45-10 loss. Coach Ron Rivera has since fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer, and will take over play-calling on that side of the ball. But, like most teams, the Commanders are not equipped to slow down the explosive offense led by Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel.
So this game may very well turn into a shootout, and that will lead to Howell having to try to go throw-for-throw with Tagovailoa, a tall task with Ramsey and Howard at cornerback.
