Just one of the five head coaches making a debut with a new team this season got a Week 1 win: Ron Rivera, who guided Washington to a 17-point comeback win over Philly.
Washington enters Week 2 as the only NFC East team with a win.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 15, 2020
Not only did the Washington Football Team take an early lead in the NFC East with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon, but new head coach Ron Rivera also became the only first-year head coach with a new team in the NFL to win his debut game this season.
The game that sealed the deal was early on Monday night when the New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coincidentally, it was also this game that gave Washington the early No. 1 spot in the division, with all three other teams starting the 2020 season 0-1.
Here are the teams with new coaches this year, and the results that they had in Week 1.
Ron Rivera: Washington Football Team | W 27-17
Joe Judge: New York Giants | L 26-16
Matt Rhule: Carolina Panthers | L 34-30
Kevin Stefanski: Cleveland Browns | L 38-6
Mike McCarthy: Dallas Cowboys | L 20-17
You can blame the early losses on a wild offseason where new coaching staffs were unable to work with their teams as much as in years past, but that only makes what Rivera and Washington did more impressive. No matter what any team claims took place for them in the offseason, Washington had it worse, and they still were able to take the field in Week 1 and pull off an upset win over a division rival.
How’s that for bragging rights?
