Ron Rivera wasn’t messing around Wednesday about his next opponent.
He wasn’t pulling a Lou Holtz coach’s speak, either. For those of you old enough, Holtz, when he was coaching Notre Dame, and they were one of the top programs in the country, would greatly exaggerate his opponent at every opportunity.
Notre Dame could be a 35-point favorite, but Holtz would declare, “Navy is the most disciplined team we will play this season. They are a quality opponent; they are a well-coached football team. They are a football team who could beat anyone in America.” It was comical until it got old.
Rivera was asked what he thought about the Bills game this Sunday. “Pretty big,” he responded. “They’re one of the elite teams in the AFC.”
“This is one of the elite teams coming in. We’ve got to gear up, we’ve got to practice, prepare, get ourselves ready to go, and give ourselves an opportunity to see where we stand.”
This was not Lou Holtz’s coachspeak because Holtz was not believable. Rivera was being objective. He was being honest. The Bills didn’t turn it over last week, so they destroyed the Raiders 38-10. Rivera was believable because anyone who follows the NFL to some degree realizes the Bills really are one of the elite teams.
When told it was an announced sellout for this week’s Bills game, Rivera didn’t shy away from the moment. “I think that’s great, I really do. I think it’s going to be very exciting for our players. This is going to be a good crowd. It will probably have a few more Buffalo fans because they do travel very well. Hopefully, we will have a lot more Commanders fans out there and drown them out. I’m looking forward to the environment.”
Rivera mentioned that while he was playing for the Bears (1984-92), this is the crowd environment he remembered during the Joe Gibbs years (1981-92).
Rivera added as the Commanders win more, he sincerely believes more of the fan base will return. Sunday would be a great time to continue winning.