Commanders Reacts Survey: Week 5 – Questions about Rivera, Wentz, the Titans & the Bears

Poll questions!!

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Washington Commanders fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in regular email surveys.

Just like last week, we have 4 questions in today’s survey, and the tenor remains quite negative.

Of course, we have the usual weekly confidence question, but we also have three others.

The Titans and Bears

Washington’s next two opponents are the Titans and Bears; the Week 5 game is at home while the Week 6 game will be at Soldier Field.

We ask you in today’s 2nd poll question to predict the Commanders record after those two games.

There seems to be a good chance that RB Brian Robinson may see his first NFL regular season action if his return from the NFI list is as smooth as fans hope it will be. Fans will probably also be pulling for C Tyler Larsen to return from the PUP list and add a spark to the offensive line, who have now officially seen starting Center Chase Roullier (knee) and RT Sam Cosmi (thumb) go under the knife. The patchwork offensive line will likely feature Saahdiq Charles at right guard and Cornelius Lucas at right tackle, with either Larsen or Nick Martin at Center.

Offensively, the Titans are ranked 29th in yards gained and 22nd in points, while the Bears are 31st in both yards and points.

Defensively, the Titans are 26th in both yards and points, while the Bears are 21st in yards surrendered but 11th in points given up.

On paper, neither game appears to be unwinnable. The AFC South Titans opened up with losses to the Giants & Bills (combined record of 7-1), but have rebounded with back-to-back victories over the Raiders and Colts (combined 2-5-1).

The NFC North Bears have alternated wins & losses, picking up victories against the 49ers during a Week 1 monsoon, and against the 0-3-1 Houston Texans in Week 3. Their “even” week games (2 & 4) were both losses — to the 3-1 Packers and the 3-1 Giants.

Washington’s 1-3 record has been accomplished against the 1-3 Lions, who are leading the league in both points scored (140) and points given up (141) by a wide margin; the 2-2 Jaguars; the 3-1 Cowboys, and the undefeated Eagles. The combined record of our opponents through 4 weeks is 10-6.

Ron Rivera’s future in 2023

Our third question asks you to say whether or not you want to see head coach Ron Rivera back in Washington next season.

Ron is respected as a “good guy” and a leader — he’s a ‘players’ coach who apparently is seen as a straight shooter. His pedigree as a former player with a super bowl ring adds to his aura nationally.

But the fact is, he has had limited success in his head coaching career, with only 3 winning seasons in 10+ years at the helm of the Carolina and Washington teams. As head coach of the Redskins, Football Team and Commanders, he has, to date, compiled regular season records of 7-9, 7-10, and 1-3.

Rivera himself this week talked about the challenge he faced of not only coaching, but changing the franchise culture, reconstructing the front office, and building a roster. He spoke about how unrealistic it is to expect overnight success, and then squawked about the need to have a full & healthy roster and everything in place before success can be achieved.

No doubt, Rivera deserves a certain level of praise for restoring some of the organization’s horribly damaged credibility, but from the standpoints of roster-building and coaching, it seems fair to question his results in Year 3 of the RivEra.

If the 2023 draft were held based on the rankings as they stand today, Washington would be picking #7 in the draft, and only one team — the Houston Texans — has a worse record than the Commanders.

Carson Wentz

In late September, Hogs Haven readers gave pretty good grades to Carson Wentz following his first two games as a Commander. In fact, 82% of fans gave him either an “A” or a “B” grade.

A lot has happened in the subsequent two games, and the view of Carson Wentz seems to be shifting rapidly. It seems like a good time to again take the temperature of the fan base about the starting quarterback.

This week’s question isn’t an A-F grade, rather, the qualitative measurement is a bit more descriptive.

Results & discussion

We’ll publish results of the survey before the game against the Titans.

Feel free to leave comments below, as I rely on them when I report the survey results.