Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz was sacked nine times and hit 17 times in Sunday’s 24-8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Through three games, no NFL quarterback has been sacked more than Wentz.
Some would blame the offensive line, but it’s more complex than that. Every play is different; sometimes, the offensive line gives the quarterback plenty of protection; other times, not so much. In Wentz’s case, he’s been sacked an NFL-high 15 times. And not all of those sacks are the fault of the offensive line.
Multiple times against the Eagles, Wentz often passed up the opportunity for an easy completion, instead looking downfield for a bigger play and was sacked. That can’t continue to happen, and Wentz understands that.
“Yeah, for starters, not every play is the same,” Wentz said Wednesday. “There’s different nuances within each play, but the simple answer is just find ways to get rid of the ball. Find the check down, find the underneath route, maybe cut your losses, take off and run, different things. So, every play was different, but there’s definitely a lot that I could have done better, and I look forward to doing better as we go forward. There’s definitely some chances for that, and I’ll learn from it.”
Next up for the Wentz and the Commanders is Micah Parsons and the Cowboys. Dallas leads the NFL in sacks, and Parsons had three sacks vs. Washington last season.
“Yeah, I mean great player,” Wentz said. “It’s a great defense, great front. They fly around; they play fast, so we know what we’re up against. I’ve got nothing but confidence in our guys to protect, and the things that we’ll do to counteract that and different things.”
Wentz says all the right things, but it’s difficult to believe he will start taking the checkdowns. If he can, it limits the opposing pass rush and helps his offensive line. The Commanders can’t afford nine sacks again in Week 4, otherwise, you can probably expect a similar result as Washington’s loss to the Eagles.
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