Eric Bieniemy Post-Mortem

[MikeT14]

https://archive.ph/xZLif 

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In the locker room, signs of frustration were evident throughout the season. After Washington’s last game, a blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, tight end Logan Thomas was as direct as any player had been about the simmering tensions between Bieniemy and his players.

“I might be the only one to say it, but I think we had our ups and downs [with Bieniemy],” Thomas said. “We had some good, we had some bad. It’s one of those things where something new comes in after you’ve been used to something else for a couple years, and sometimes you can bang heads. But I respect him for coming to work every day and being the same person every day.”

Other players, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal team dynamics, described Bieniemy as a hard-working coach who hamstrung his own efforts with poor communication, stubborn play-calling and a disregard for player feedback.

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As the season progressed, friction remained. Multiple people said there was often confusion on game days because offensive adjustments were not clearly communicated to players, and assistants didn’t seem to be on the same page. Behind the scenes, some players urged their position coaches to beg Bieniemy to run the ball more. The pass-heavy attack placed an extra burden on the offensive line and the quarterback — and when Washington’s offense did run, it averaged the seventh-most yards per carry in the NFL, 4.43 yards.

“I don't think they gave [Howell] a fair chance,” a player said. “I felt like we became a one-dimensional team.”

Another player blamed Rivera for not forcing Bieniemy to run the ball more or fixing the disconnect between the offensive and defensive staffs.

“We didn’t play complementary football all year long, and that came back to haunt us,” the player said.

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Some players felt Bieniemy’s intense practices, though helpful in training camp, left them exhausted before games, and they believed the practices created a greater risk of injury. Bieniemy’s title of assistant head coach gave him greater authority than most coordinators, allowing him to script practices and alter players’ schedule during the week. One player felt Rivera delegated too much and failed to step in or make changes quickly when warranted.

Rivera, who declined to comment for this story, did meet with Bieniemy midway through the season to discuss his approach and suggest the offense run the ball more, a person with knowledge of the meeting said.

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After the season, when it had become clear Bieniemy’s time with the Commanders was ending, the team gave him permission to speak with Chiefs players ahead of the AFC championship game.

 

[lavar703]

 So basically Sam got a pretty raw deal along with the OL.

[naptownskinsfan]

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But it was a significant turn for Bieniemy, who arrived a year ago to great fanfare.

Who said this dude arrived with great fanfare?  I think at best a majority of the fan base was between cautiously optimistic and our typically pessimism. 

The amount of people who carry the water for Bieniemy is a whole lot more than I expected.  

[offbyone]

2 hours ago, lavar703 said:

 So basically Sam got a pretty raw deal along with the OL.

Howell got the best deal he would find anywhere.  From day one this season, he was handed the reigns of the offense, received the full support of the coaches, got all the reps without even a whiff of a qb competition.  Rarely does a young qb get handed the starting role on a loaded team with a perfect scheme.  Sam got the best opportunity he could ask for.

[MikeT14]

2 hours ago, naptownskinsfan said:

Who said this dude arrived with great fanfare?  I think at best a majority of the fan base was between cautiously optimistic and our typically pessimism. 

The amount of people who carry the water for Bieniemy is a whole lot more than I expected.  

Oh man, I dunno nap. I think most of us were pretty damn optimistic. Especially with wanting Turner gone. I’d be surprised even in this forum if that wasn’t the case. 

[lavar703]

28 minutes ago, offbyone said:

Howell got the best deal he would find anywhere.  From day one this season, he was handed the reigns of the offense, received the full support of the coaches, got all the reps without even a whiff of a qb competition.  Rarely does a young qb get handed the starting role on a loaded team with a perfect scheme.  Sam got the best opportunity he could ask for.

I mean, he didn't. He was asked to throw the ball 600 times with zero running game to support behind a shoddy offensive line. 

[lavar703]

8 minutes ago, MikeT14 said:

Oh man, I dunno nap. I think most of us were pretty damn optimistic. Especially with wanting Turner gone. I’d be surprised even in this forum if that wasn’t the case. 

I was excited. I did not expect what we got lol

[MikeT14]

2 minutes ago, lavar703 said:

I was excited. I did not expect what we got lol

Me too. It couldn’t be worse

(of course it could. I’m a DC Football fan)

[offbyone]

19 minutes ago, lavar703 said:

I mean, he didn't. He was asked to throw the ball 600 times with zero running game to support behind a shoddy offensive line. 

I understand what you are saying and I don't disagree, but he got a better opportunity than any 5th round qb would normally get.  

At one point during the season, many people thought EB's approach of throwing the ball a million times was streamlining his development.  Like you I disagree.  But I still think Howell got a rare opportunity that he would have only otherwise received if there was an injury to the starting qb.  His next chance will likely come because of injury.

[naptownskinsfan]

1 hour ago, MikeT14 said:

Oh man, I dunno nap. I think most of us were pretty damn optimistic. Especially with wanting Turner gone. I’d be surprised even in this forum if that wasn’t the case. 

I guess I was more optimistic than I thought, but I definitely thought it was a Hail Mary by Rivera to save his job.  But I still think it was a good move to go beyond his comfort zone and hire someone.  He actually gave too much control to EB, and I think it sounds like he let him run the entire team at times.  

I like Quinn going after someone who was tough to coach against.  

[e16bball]

I started to get concerned when he basically drove out Matsko. Just didn’t make sense, and it was especially ominous given that one of the primary knocks on him has always seemed to be “hard to work with, bit of an *******, rubs people the wrong way.”

Just feels like he’s better suited to be the henchman/heavy for a player-friendly coach, as opposed to the guy in charge.

[naptownskinsfan]

10 hours ago, e16bball said:

I started to get concerned when he basically drove out Matsko. Just didn’t make sense, and it was especially ominous given that one of the primary knocks on him has always seemed to be “hard to work with, bit of an *******, rubs people the wrong way.”

Just feels like he’s better suited to be the henchman/heavy for a player-friendly coach, as opposed to the guy in charge.

Like many other inflexible coaches, he just had to install “his system” which meant going to a different blocking system.  Of course, didn’t matter that you had one of the best OL coaches in the league on staff.  

[Slappy Mc]

14 hours ago, offbyone said:

Howell got the best deal he would find anywhere.  From day one this season, he was handed the reigns of the offense, received the full support of the coaches, got all the reps without even a whiff of a qb competition.  Rarely does a young qb get handed the starting role on a loaded team with a perfect scheme.  Sam got the best opportunity he could ask for.

I will disagree here. While it may seem great to be anointed as "the guy," you have to take into context what pressure was on him. Sam Howell was Ron Rivera's shot at keeping his job. Even EB who was hired knowing that Sam Howell was going to be the guy last year, put all his HC eggs into the Sam Howell basket.

Did the team go out and draft guys or sign guys to help him succeed? No. They drafted CBs in back to back rounds. They signed Wiley and Gates of the offensive line and passed the ball 40+ times a game. I'm sure Howell would have much preferred an open QB competition where he could earn the starting spot from a coach that wasn't a total failure his entire tenure putting completely unnecessary pressure on his shoulders. The team essentially abandoned the run when EB was hired and any thought of a conservative approach with a young QB went out the dang window. 

So yes, this is how the NFL works sometimes. "Your shot" is never going to be under perfect circumstances, but I believe it is incredibly unfair and unjust to say this is the best opportunity he could have asked for. 

[Slappy Mc]

14 hours ago, MikeT14 said:

Oh man, I dunno nap. I think most of us were pretty damn optimistic. Especially with wanting Turner gone. I’d be surprised even in this forum if that wasn’t the case. 

I was stoked for sure. I would have taken EB as the head coach on the spot. Definitely expected a lot more than what we got. 

[offbyone]

1 hour ago, Slappy Mc said:

I will disagree here. While it may seem great to be anointed as "the guy," you have to take into context what pressure was on him. Sam Howell was Ron Rivera's shot at keeping his job. Even EB who was hired knowing that Sam Howell was going to be the guy last year, put all his HC eggs into the Sam Howell basket.

Did the team go out and draft guys or sign guys to help him succeed? No. They drafted CBs in back to back rounds. They signed Wiley and Gates of the offensive line and passed the ball 40+ times a game. I'm sure Howell would have much preferred an open QB competition where he could earn the starting spot from a coach that wasn't a total failure his entire tenure putting completely unnecessary pressure on his shoulders. The team essentially abandoned the run when EB was hired and any thought of a conservative approach with a young QB went out the dang window. 

So yes, this is how the NFL works sometimes. "Your shot" is never going to be under perfect circumstances, but I believe it is incredibly unfair and unjust to say this is the best opportunity he could have asked for. 

I don't disagree with this take, but at the same time I still stand by my point of view.  It is interesting how easy it is to take two completely different perspectives on a situation and they both be generally accurate.

Sure he could have had a lot better oline and better coaching.  But show me an example of another 5th round qb who gets an opportunity to start with full support from the beginning of the season?  

Rookie QBs are only supported and anointed like this when they are picked in the 1st round, often the very top of the draft.  Those qbs are generally picked by teams who are in tatters and who have lots of holes like a bad oline or no great TEs.  Yeah a lot of pressure was put on him, but guess what, starting qbs need to be able to handle all that pressure.  Rookie qbs are usually forced to start before they are ready.  Rarely do they get to acclimate to the NFL like say Mahomes did.  Let's not forget that he had the great benefit of nearly and entire season to sit and watch and learn first.

I guess the question we have to ask is if there was a real qb competition (as their should have been) would Howell have actually been the starter?  Or would Howell really succeed if he had another coach?  I think Howell is what he is.  He is a gamer but he also has limitations.  He holds the ball too long, he struggles seeing the field and going through reads and thereby does his best work off schedule.  He is a back up qb.