Washington head coach Ron Rivera knows the men who built the Buffalo Bills into an AFC powerhouse quite well. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott worked with Rivera in Carolina for several years.
Now, Rivera, in his second season with Washington, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Buffalo’s impressive rebuild.
Beane and McDermott arrived in Buffalo in 2017. The team had no long-term quarterback. Instead of going all-in for a rookie passer, Beane and McDermott chose to build the roster with depth in their first year with the Bills.
Then, in 2018, the Bills went all-in for quarterback Josh Allen. That move proved to be a home run.
As Rivera prepares to face his former defensive coordinator on Sunday, he spoke to the media this week and called this game a “measuring stick” for his team.
“They are a measuring stick,” Rivera said, per Rhiannon Walker of The Athletic. “When you talk about teams that have opportunities every year now to compete and do some great things, this is one of them. So, you should measure yourself to the great teams in this league right now, the teams that are really good.”
Rivera is right. This game will tell the coach where his team stands against one of the best in the NFL. Buffalo is strong on both sides of the ball and is well-coached.