The Carolina Panthers have fired their coach and one of the next coaches up for the NFL hot seat is former Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, the former Pathers head coach who now coaches the Washington Commanders.
At 1-4 after two losing seasons—albeit a playoff year in 2020—Rivera comes to Chicago Thursday night and happens to be working for an owner with a reputation for not being patient. Daniel Snyder has been embattled, though, facing more critical issues off the field than how his team performs on the field.
With Rhule gone now, the focus naturally turns to next coach in trouble and the Commanders have underperformed considering they’ve had a potentially strong defense and quarterback Carson Wentz’s big arm.
Wentz has been frustrated by poor pass blocking and a struggling running attack. However, they did give Tennessee a scare last week.
Nevertheless, Wentz has been inconsistent. When asked this week why he thought other teams in the division were farther ahead of Washington, Rivera was his typical honest self: “Quarterback,” was his answer.
When the coach and quarterback are not on the same page, it usually doesn’t lead to a good connection between ownership and the coach, either.
However, the Bears could be exactly what Washington needs to reverse its downward spiral. Chicago has had some very well pronounced weaknesses, mainly starting slow on defense and then failing to finish games across the board. It’s not a good success formula.
With three wins between these two teams in 10 games, and the Bears’ status as a rebuilding team, the game figures to be one of the more ugly affairs on a night for football rapidly becoming known for ugly games even when it features good teams.
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Here are the key matchups in Thursday night’s Bears-Commanders game at Soldier Field.
Johnson returns from three weeks away due to a quad injury and the Bears managed to play sufficient pass defense without him until last week, when it all fell to pieces. Whether he is 100% healthy is a concern but Johnson hasn’t even been tested much this year because teams saw more inviting targets elsewhere. McLaurin doesn’t always line up on this side but when he does he has excellent hands and athletic ability but isn’t necessarily a burner. It’s a fairly even matchup. McLaurin hasn’t been the main target for Carson Wentz this year, but in the past has carried the team and as a result had a big off-season contract. When he does make catches they have been more impactful as he averages 17.2 yards for his 19 catches. Johnson played the first two games, he’d only been targeted four times, allowing two catches for 14 yards.
Samuel never seemed to get enough production with Carolina until his final year in 2020 but is delivering in his second Washington season with a 71.1% receptions/targets ratio and 32 receptions in five games. He’s averaging just 8.8 yards a catch but has been the go-to guy over the middle, a comfort target for Wentz as he gets open against opposing slot cornerbacks using his 4.31-second 40-yard speed. Samuel is versatile enough for Washington use him on either side or the slot. Gordon has had a rough time so far, allowing a passer rating when targeted of 111.5 and 75% completions. He’s been excessively targeted as opponents see a potential weak spot, with 30 receptions allowed in 40 targets. Gordon showed some improvement last week in the open field as a tackler and was a bit more decisive.
The Bears run up against their longtime starting left tackle and he is still fooling the people at Pro Football Focus, who for years have loved his production even while Bears quarterbacks had to watch their backs. He is rated currently as the 10th best tackle in the league and the NFL’s third-best pass blocker at tackle. Overall, PFF puts him two behind Washington right tackle Samuel Cosmi. Apparently Washington has the worst pass-blocking guards and center of all time because Wentz has been sacked 20 times, the third most in the NFL and two more than Justin Fields. It’s probably not surprising Washington is 28th in rushing because Leno never was much of a run blocker as more of a finesse than physical guy. Quinn has been quiet this year in terms of sacks, although he has been applying consistent pressure and flushed out Kirk Cousins twice last week. He still only has one sack and Wentz will hold the ball, looking for big plays. This could be Quinn’s week to update his sack total.
Jones could be facing starter Trai Turner but he had a quad injury and did not play last week. Only four days later, it could be they leave Charles in place. Either way, the Commanders haven’t had much blocking from either guard or center. And now center Chase Roullier is done for the year according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Charles has only a 25.8 PFF pass blocker grade and has struggled blocking the run, as well and is at 42.6 overall for the year. If Turner plays, he’s been a bit better as a pass blocker but only at 45.2 as a run blocker. Jones is coming off one of his best games, as he picked up sack No. 2 for the year and was extremely active in the second half as the Bears defense rose up following a terrible start.
It could be Mooney faces Benjamin St-Juste instead. Jackson last week was benched in the middle of the game by Rivera and St-Juste moved from slot to the outside.
Jackson was supposed to be the top Washington cornerback but so far has a 121.9 passer rating against with two touchdowns allowed and gave up 17 catches on 24 targets. The former Bengals cornerback is coming off a season when his passer rating against jumped from 88.2 with the Bengals to 100.4. He hasn’t lived up to the money Washington paid. Mooney has become a vertical threat now for Justin Fields, first showing he could make jump ball catches and last week a jump ball with one hand falling backwards. The Bears need to get it to him more than twice in a game like last week, or he needs to win more battles against cornerbacks.
A bigger (6-foot-2, 220), back who has good versatility, Gibson can be expected to give up more carries this week to rookie Brian Robinson, who had been coming back from a gunshot wound. The Washington running game hasn’t flourished, largely due to the ineffective interior of the line. Gibson averages just 3.2 yards a carry with 179 yards on 56 rushes. He has 16 catches for 134 yards. Smith took a step back last week, as did many Bears on defense against Minnesota’s multitude of weapons. He matched a season low for solo tackles with five and so far has only two pass defenses in a scheme where he was expected to make more of them than in the past.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
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