Commanders end season with loss to Cowboys; Rivera expected to be dropped

'That's the way the cookie crumbles', Washington Football Legend Santana Moss on the Ron Rivera era

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UPDATE: Washington Commanders fire head coach Ron Rivera

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The Washington Commanders finished up their season with a division rivalry game against the Dallas Cowboys. The team fell to 38-10, finishing with four wins and 13 losses on the season. Just one of those wins came at home, all the way back in Week 1 to the Arizona Cardinals.

They'll now have the second pick in the NFL draft.

The team went into their last game having lost seven in a row with the last being a 27-10 defeat by the 49ers. Any talk of playoff contention was gone back in November.

The win-loss record is undoubtedly a disappointment this year but fans say they’re still hopeful for the future.

The optimism was palpable coming into this season. It was hailed as a new era for the team as it transitioned out of the hands of former owner Dan Snyder and moved to the Josh Harris-Mitch Rales-Magic Johnson ownership group.

"A total purge. I mean, I’m a season ticket holder. This was great. I mean, the first week it was awesome. Great vibes. I don’t know. This has been, unfortunately, the best part of all of these games is just coming out with friends," said Chris Burns.

Jordan Lee was another one of several fans who told FOX 5 he was excited about the new ownership.

"The biggest success is an obvious shift of culture. Completely obvious shift of culture. We’re on the up and up at the end of the day," Lee said.

A strong pre-season and a 2-0 start were among the highlights of the year but the team has won just two games since mid-September, and none since the beginning of November.

There was also excitement about quarterback Sam Howell, in part because of the way he performed in a week 18 home game against Dallas last year.

The end of a disappointing season for the Commanders

Sorry Joe...the Commanders are not going to the Super Bowl.

Despite a shaky finish to his season, fans we talked to said they believed Sam Howell was a bright spot for the team, finishing the year with just under 4,000 passing yards. The debate over whether he’s the long-term answer at quarterback for the franchise will be one of many offseason decisions.

The Commanders also came into the season with several defensive starters returning from a top-five defense in 2022. But by the end of the year, two cornerstone defensive linemen, Montez Sweat and Chase Young were traded away for draft capital. Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio was let go, and the team finished the year with eight consecutive losses.

So the question this Sunday night: how do fans view this season?

Success? Failure? Hopes? Commanders fan Hasani Brown shared his thoughts with FOX 5.

"Biggest success is the way we played Philly — twice. To play the biggest team in our conference twice like that is huge. Then, the biggest failure is to lose both of those games. I mean both of those games we had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, but we just couldn’t finish. So I mean, it’s two in one," Brown said.

Despite this season’s disappointments, Brown adds that he’s still looking forward to what changes the leadership team will make.

"I mean I want to see what this new ownership is going to do. To come out here and say the things they’re going to do for this organization. I want to see if it pans out," he said.

There have also been some preliminary reports indicating that this is very likely Head Coach Ron Rivera’s last game. Sources speculate that the news could come as soon as Monday morning.

"I think Ron Rivera is a good man, but not a great coach. And, I mean, I think, he just could not get it together, and it was really disappointing when we really felt like he’d have the bandwidth after the ownership change to kind of do what he needed to do to instill the culture, and it just did not happen," Chris Burns said.

Sunday’s loss also means the Commanders have the second overall pick going into the draft. Because of the Sweat and Young trades, the team also has five picks in the first three rounds.

"I think that they have a really great offseason. Looking forward to new coaching staff, new GM, they’ve got boatloads of money for free agency, so we’ll see what happens, should be fun. The offseason anyways," said Scott Rivette.

And according to Spotrac.com, a website that tracks salary caps for teams, the Commanders are the league leader in available dollars to sign free agents.

"We are ready, we want to bring in coaches, we want to bring in players, and it’s going to be a great 2024 and beyond," Cecily Darden told FOX 5.

One thing’s for sure: next year’s team will likely look a lot different as they look to come back from a tough season.