WASHINGTON — The Washington Commanders' 18-point comeback during Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos was the franchise's largest on the road in 33 years.
"I feel encouraged and quite proud of our football team," said Rivera as he spoke with WUSA9 Chick Hernandez, Head Coach Ron Rivera Monday.
The game ended with Russell Wilson's 50-yard Hail Mary pass to Brandon Johnson to bring the Broncos within two. The head coach turned to hoops for a fix.
“We got to find the nearest guy to box out now you're becoming a rebounder. Now you've got to play basketball," Rivera explained. "And it's something we'll just continue to work on. We worked on it in camp, we work on it every week. “
Quarterback Sam Howell, despite a rough start, came back and hit 27 of 39 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked four times in the game but many of those came early on.
"In fact, the decision-making you saw really improved, right in the middle of the second quarter. Decisions to throw the ball away decisions to slide," Rivera said. "Those were the types of things you start to see growth, you know? Understanding, recognizing that 'I can't do this and protect the football, I've got to do this. I've got to be smarter in that type of decision-making.'"
About the only negative, Long snapper Cameron Cheeseman had a low snap early that affected Joey Slye's missed 49-yard field goal attempt. The team is bringing in a couple of long-snapping candidates on Tuesday.
"Yes, we are going to have a workout tomorrow, we're going to bring in a number of guys we want to watch, we want to create this list. And we're going to talk about it after get done just to see."
Next up, the Commanders will face the Buffalo Bills at home on Sunday, September 24.
"Our focus is gonna go to Buffalo immediately and how we want to be able to play against these guys," Rivera said.
WUSA9 will sit down with Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera every Monday throughout the 2023-2024 season. The one-on-one moments will premiere on WUSA9 at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. and again on Get Up DC every Tuesday morning. The full interview between Rivera and Chick Hernandez will be available on WUSA9+.