Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

'Riverboat Ron'? Meh. Commanders HC drops ball in loss to Eagles

By John Gidley | Last updated 10/2/23

Over 13 seasons as head coach of the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders, Ron Rivera has developed a reputation as a risk-taker and an aggressive play-caller. It's how he's earned his nickname, "Riverboat Ron."

On Sunday, however, he took no risks. The gambler played his cards close to the vest.

As time expired in regulation, Washington quarterback Sam Howell threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to WR Jahan Dotson to pull the Commanders within a point of the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-30.

HOWELL TO DOTSON WITH NO TIME LEFT. TIE GAME.

: #WASvsPHI on FOX
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/GcWzfhk9sj
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023

Next, Washington had a crucial choice to make: kick the extra point to send the game to overtime or go for a two-point conversion to win the game.

Consider the circumstances. The Eagles came into the game with a 3-0 record. They're the defending NFC champions. Washington was 2-1, but it's an upstart that wasn't expected to contend this season. This is a bitter rivalry that dates to the 1930s. In Week 10 last season, the Commanders ended the Eagles' hopes of a perfect season with an upset win at Lincoln Financial Field.

Going for two and the win seemed like the obvious choice to stick it to Washington's rivals once again.

Instead, Washington went conservative and kicked the extra point, sending the game to overtime.

After the game, Rivera explained that he didn't go for two because the offense was "gassed." At face value, this seems rational. Washington drove 64 yards in one minute and 36 seconds to score the touchdown.

If he was that worried about his offense being gassed, though, why would he want to subject it to overtime? A two-point conversion could have ended the game right then and there.

Sure enough, in the extra period, the offense looked even more gassed by going three-and-out after winning the coin toss. The Eagles took possession and won on kicker Jake Elliott's 54-yard field goal.

.@EAGLES STAY UNDEFEATED. #WASvsPHI pic.twitter.com/ekkfTqQQcj
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023

A less controversial detail is that Rivera didn't use one of his two timeouts to ice Elliott before the field-goal attempt. This is a coach who starred in a 2018 commercial in which he iced the opposing kicker by cracking open a can of Pepsi.

On Sunday, "Riverboat Ron" morphed into "Boring Ron." Bring back "Riverboat Ron."

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