The Washington Commanders are a bad team. That’s more or less what NFL fans expected in the run-up to the 2022 season.
What head coach Ron Rivera didn’t expect, through five weeks, was to be at least three games behind the rest of the NFC East after a 1-4 start. The Commanders are deep in their division’s basement and have just a six percent chance to make it to the postseason, per FiveThirtyEight’s predictive analysis.
There have been several factors weighing down Rivera’s barely-seaworthy team like an anchor. The defense that was the backbone behind a surprising 2020 playoff run currently ranks 26th in points allowed. An offense that scored 45 points the first two weeks of the season (1-1) has put up just 35 in its last three games (0-3).
And, to hear Rivera tell it, the reason for the gap between his team and the rest of the NFC East lies firmly on the most important piece of that offense: quarterback Carson Wentz.
Ron Rivera on why the other NFC East teams have jumped past Washington:
"Quarterback."
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) October 10, 2022
Rivera clarified that he meant other teams have had more time to build around their quarterback, but it’s not an argument that holds weight. Daniel Jones and head coach Brian Daboll are in their first year together with the New York Giants. Cooper Rush, 4-0 as a starter in Dallas, wasn’t even supposed to be taking first-team reps.
While Rivera made sure to pump Wentz up later in his press conference, basing his case on the success of a backup quarterback who was released on cut-down day by the Cowboys this fall is a real stretch.
Rivera's point seemed to be that the Eagles, Cowboys and Giants have had more time to build around their QB than he's had with Carson Wentz.
He said he has "no regrets" about choosing Wentz. "The way he performed yesterday?" Rivera said. "Shows you what he's capable of."
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) October 10, 2022
It’s a brutal assessment that isn’t quite true and not exactly false. Wentz is playing like Carson Wentz — a passer who looks better on paper than he does in real life and is a constant liability to brain fart his way to disaster. Rivera knew this when he traded for him last offseason, sending the Colts multiple Day 2 draft picks for a player Indianapolis clearly didn’t want any more.
But Wentz has gotten so little support en route to wilting early in 2022. Washington’s 3.9 yards per carry is 27th-best in the league. The Commanders have been blitzed more than any other team, leaving Wentz to absorb more hits than anyone but Matt Ryan this fall. The defense that was supposed to provide enough cover for a limited offense to squeak out ugly wins is better than the numbers suggest, but not good enough to lift this team to victory.
So it’s more than just the “quarterback” that has Washington trudging through a tragic swamp of its own making yet again. The Commanders are a disaster in several areas. Suggesting your team can’t keep pace with Cooper Rush or Daniel Jones? That’s a grim assessment — and one that doesn’t quite hold up to scrutiny.