National Football League

Commanders land gift in Eric Bieniemy. The reason why raises questions

Updated Feb. 17, 2023 7:09 p.m. ET

There is no amount of logic than can explain why Eric Bieniemy is here, moving on to another offensive coordinator job instead of being a head coach. Nothing can make sense of why he'd want to leave, or feel he'd have to leave, the Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the instability of the Washington Commanders and their quarterback uncertainty.

It's being portrayed as his attempt to get out from Andy Reid's shadow — as if that's the only reason he's failed to land a head-coaching job. The theory goes that if he proves he can run his own offense, his own way, and be successful, then maybe someone in the NFL will finally do what should've been done years ago and give him a shot to run his own team.

It's a Hail Mary pass that Bieniemy never should've been forced to throw.

But for the Commanders and their head coach, Ron Rivera, it's a gift.

That gift should become official on Saturday, when the 53-year-old Bieniemy is expected to finalize a deal to become the Commanders' new offensive coordinator, according to a source. He was officially offered the job on Friday, just days after his second Super Bowl parade through Kansas City in the last four years. Once he signs his contract, he'll be charged with running the offense for a defensive-minded head coach, with a raw, young quarterback (Sam Howell) to groom.

If there's any offensive success in Washington next season, even Bieniemy's harshest critics and biggest doubters will have to credit him.

There's a good chance there will be success, too, because Bieniemy has long been considered one of the best offensive minds in football. Sure, the Chiefs run Reid's offensive scheme. But Reid has said over and over again — including privately to NFL owners, according to a report — that Bieniemy is intricately involved in developing that scheme and making it run.

And look how well it's run. In his five seasons as the Chiefs offensive coordinator, their offense has ranked first three times and never lower than sixth. They've led the league in scoring twice, also never finishing lower than sixth, and the Chiefs have averaged 30.1 points per game during his tenure. They've also been to the AFC championship every season, the Super Bowl three times, and they've won it twice.

Give all the credit to Mahomes and Reid if you'd like, but it's not like the offensive coordinator is just along for the ride. Even Reid gave his assistants — like Bieniemy — credit for not just their impressive game plan in Super Bowl LVII, but the halftime adjustments they made that enabled them to erase a 10-point deficit and pull out a 38-35 win. They had a plan and play calls that completely neutralized an Eagles pass rush that had 70 sacks in the regular season and eight more in the first two rounds of the playoffs. And they made a Philly secondary that was arguably the best in the NFL look dazed and confused by their alignments and pass routes late in the game.

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Can Bieniemy do things like that for the Commanders? He obviously won't have the same tools at his disposal in Washington. Howell, the likely starting quarterback next season, isn't Mahomes. And there is no Travis Kelce at tight end to constantly get open and create some of the biggest mismatches in football.

But the cupboard in D.C. isn't exactly bare, either. The receivers are pretty good. Terry McLaurin might not be Tyreek Hill, the game-breaker Bieniemy had in his first four seasons in K.C., but it's hard to argue he's not at least as talented as any of the receivers the Chiefs had this year. And they have Curtis Samuel and young Jahan Dotson, too. Also, the Washington running game is stronger than what he had in Kansas City. The backfield is deep and versatile, and rookie Brian Robinson looks like a future star.

Bieniemy's biggest issue will be Howell, a fifth-round pick the Commanders love who flashed plenty of potential in his one start in the regular-season finale. No one thinks he's Mahomes, who is on his way to being a top-five quarterback of all time. But Mahomes didn't develop in a vacuum either. Mahomes ran an offense that has annually been among the most creative in football when it comes to designing routes and concepts. Bieniemy was a big part of that.

And even if critics still want to give all the credit to Reid, Bieniemy was immersed in that system for five years, learning from the best head coach in the business. No one expects him to turn Howell into a Hall of Famer, but it sure seems likely that a coach of his caliber, with a background in that kind of quarterback-friendly system, can do a lot of good for young quarterbacks, too.

If that happens, Bieniemy will have more than proven himself worthy of a head-coaching job — even though it's insulting to suggest that he hasn't already. He has interviewed with 16 teams for head coaching jobs over the past five years — exactly half the league. It's absurd that not a single one offered him its vacancy.

It's also absurd to suggest that the fact that he didn't call the Chiefs plays, or that he ran someone else's offense, is the reason why. If those were requirements, how can anyone explain Doug Pederson, who was Reid's offensive coordinator in Kansas City before he was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016? He had just 10 games of play-calling experience. Or Matt Nagy, who spent two years as Reid's offensive coordinator, not calling plays, before the Chicago Bears hired him in 2018? Or Nick Sirianni, who ran Frank Reich's offense and didn't call the plays in Indianapolis before he was hired by the Eagles in 2021?

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It's impossible to see that list and ignore the systemic racism — and perhaps just racism in general — at play. It's also impossible to not see that Bieniemy is being held to a different and unfair standard. If Pederson, Nagy and Sirianni didn't have to go somewhere else to prove they were their own man, why should he?

The answer is he shouldn't. But here he is, feeling like he has to do it anyway. And while that's a loss for him and a huge one for the NFL, it's a tremendous win for the Commanders. If the world were fair, they wouldn't be in position to land perhaps the best offensive coordinator in the game today.

But good for them, taking advantage of it. Good for them, giving Bieniemy an opportunity to try and erase one of the many obstacles in his way. It is a no-brainer hire for Rivera, a chance to really re-invent an offense that has never once found an identity in three seasons under former OC Scott Turner.

Bieniemy gives them their best shot at fixing all their offensive issues, and of turning Howell into a franchise quarterback — even if it is a shot Bieniemy never should have had to take.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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