Washington Commanders Coach Ron Rivera 'Been Fine' With Coach Eric Bieniemy's Play-Calling

The Washington Commanders have had an up-and-down year on offense and after the latest dip coach Ron Rivera has been asked to defend or condemn Eric Bieniemy's approach.

The Washington Commanders entered the season with a lot of questions and haven't really been able to answer many of them through seven weeks of football.

Sitting at 3-4 in the win-loss columns right now the Commanders have dropped several games they could have or should have won including the latest coming in a 14-7 loss to the New York Giants.

Immediately following the loss many questioned the gameplan and play-calling of assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

Not among them is coach Ron Rivera who told us on Monday that he's not on the same page as those who would lay blame at the feet of Bieniemy.

"I've been fine with what we've tried to do offensively," Rivera said when asked about Bieniemy's play-calling. "As far as I'm concerned and look at some of the biggest things, again, it really is about the development of this [QB Sam Howell] young quarterback. There's been a lot of positives that you see coming out of some of the things that Sam has been doing."

Washington Commanders assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy / Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

This isn't the first time Rivera has pointed to Howell's development as the biggest driver between dividing Commanders' success from failure. 

Most recently, however, he did so while the defense was surrendering 30 points or more in consecutive contests. 

This time, Washington's offense faltered scoring just one touchdown and orchestrating two more opportunities that resulted in a blocked field goal and a turnover on downs near the end of the game. 

What has many people questioning Bieniemy's strategy against New York is the lack of extra blockers and rolling pockets in the first half which suddenly increased in the second.

In that second half, Bieniemy switched up his personnel groupings and play-calling to facilitate an extra offensive lineman on several occasions and moving pockets, both things considered helpful when a team is struggling to block an opponent's pass rush.

The result was an increased offense output and near game-tying drive along with questions about whether or not Bieniemy should have switched to that methodology sooner. 

After the game, Howell took responsibility for his - and his unit's - failure to execute Bieniemy's game plan as most around the organization continued to accept their share but struggled to find solutions.