Tag: Carson Wentz a Commander

Why Commanders coach Ron Rivera went back to Carson Wentz

Understanding Ron Rivera’s decision to start Carson Wentz in Week 17.

Washington sports media and Commanders fans today are enjoying target practice at Ron Rivera.

Fans, and yes, the media, are taking their shots at Rivera. I was not a fan of the Carson Wentz trade. Hey, I was out there prior to the trade proclaiming they needed to be careful because their posture was revealing they could be fleeced in a trade. Here it is.

From the day of the trade, every Commanders teammate and coach who spoke of Wentz expressed he has been a good teammate and a good leader in 2022. Taylor Heinicke even spoke of Wentz being a great help to him.

Though Washington initially went 5-1 in games started by Heinicke, the offense was leaving plays and points on the field, resulting in the team going 0-2-1 in Heinicke’s last three starts. In the turning point of the season, the Commanders offense under Heinicke went 1-10 on third downs, falling to the Giants at FedEx Field.

Rivera no doubt contemplated if Heinicke had hit the wall. Why not?  Didn’t Rivera witness this in 2021 when in weeks 14-17, the Washington offense stalled, losing four straight games?

On the other hand, didn’t Rivera know Wentz had won big games in earlier years? Rivera knew Wentz had the experience, the arm talent. If Wentz could hit play-action passes off of successful Brian Robinson runs, perhaps he would make more of the plays that Heinicke was missing. Very reasonable, yes?

You can blame Rivera all you want for being unaware they could be eliminated from the playoffs Sunday. He should have known, yes. In addition, he has enough people on the staff; he should have delegated someone to do the research and report the scenarios to him.

Yet, the offense was fading again down the 2022 final stretch. Heinicke didn’t play well in either game against the Giants. Rivera gets paid big bucks to make the major decisions. I personally don’t fault Rivera for going back to Wentz.

One thing for certain, that decision was not a simple one, regardless of how many of you think it was.

How good were the Commanders during Heinicke’s nine starts? Well, Washington only won one game (Eagles) against a team that has a winning record going into the last week.

That is one stat I guarantee Ron Rivera did know last Sunday.

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A good offensive stat for the Commanders in Houston

An interesting stat coming out of Sunday’s win over the Texans.

While the Commanders defense was sacking Texans quarterback Davis Mills five times, what did you notice regarding Taylor Heinicke being sacked?

Heinicke was not sacked the entire game, and what is significant about that is it was the first time this entire 2022 regular season that the Washington quarterback was not sacked.

In the 32-21 upset win in Philadelphia in Week 10, the Eagles got to Heinicke three times, as did the Vikings the previous week in the 20-17 loss at FedEx. In the 17-16 win in Indianapolis, the Colts sacked Heinicke twice, and in his first start this season he was sacked once by the Packers in the Commanders’ 23-21 victory.

Carson Wentz in his last start was injured against the Bears. Wentz managed to play the entire game but was sacked three times. In the 21-17 last-second loss to the Titans, Wentz was also sacked three times.

In the 25-10 loss at Dallas, Wentz went down twice. But of course, the absolute worst was the Week 3 blowout at FedEx by the Eagles, as they sacked Wentz nine times.

You may recall that Week 2 was pretty bad in a loss to the Lions in Detroit, where the silver and blue defense sacked Wentz five times. In the season-opening win over the Jaguars at FedEx, Wentz was only sacked once.

Thus far in 2022, Carson Wentz has made six starts, while Heinicke has started five contests. Wentz leads Heinicke in completion percentage (62.1 – 60.8), passing touchdowns (10-5), passing yards a game (248-206), and passer rating (84.1 – 81.8).

While Heinicke leads Wentz in yards per passing attempt (7.0 – 6.4), yards per completion (11.5 – 10.3), QBR (46.4 – 33), sack percentage (5.7 – 9.0), sacks (9 -23).

Coach Rivera would only offer that his decision to go with Heinicke over Wentz was strictly about winning. Washington is 2-4 in games started by Wentz while 4-1 with Heinicke.

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Carson Wentz excited to be a Commander

Carson Wentz sees big things for Commanders’ offense, and is excited to play Eagles Sunday.

Carson Wentz is calm on the outside but excited on the inside.

His emotions have to be churning somewhat as he prepares to face the Eagles at FedEx Field Sunday.

“I’m excited for it just because of the nature of the game. Obviously, you know, they’ve started hot. We know where we’re at and everything. It’s a divisional rivalry, all of those things. I’ve been a part of this one. I know the emotion that goes into it from the other side. So, I’m excited for it.”

Wentz would rather talk about playing for the Commanders and offensive coordinator Scott Turner.

“Obviously last week, the way we started was pretty bad, myself included. I do think just the way we can attack. I think we’ve shown we’re capable of being an explosive offense with the way we can spread the ball around, create mismatches. I think we got a lot of speed, a lot of playmakers that make my life easier. It has been fun when we see that we’re clicking out there, it has been fun. We just gotta find ways to be consistent when we’re doing it.”

He has one home game under his belt in burgundy and gold but is looking forward to this one Sunday.

“It’ll be fun. I do know it is exciting playing at home here. Week 1 was a lot of fun, you know, being at home there at FedEx. I’m sure the Eagles fans will travel well like they always do, but hopefully, we’re still dominating the stands there, but either way, it’ll be fun.”

When Wentz was asked about going up against Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, he didn’t take the bait.

“Again, we’re preparing to play their defense, you know, they got a good defense. I know our defense will be up for the task of stopping him in that explosive offense that they have there. But yeah, I don’t put a lot of stock into that. It’s a new team. A lot of new faces over there, so yeah, it’ll be a fun one either way though.”

Regarding the absence of the offense in the first half against Detroit, “I think we’ve shown that it just takes one play. I think, you know, for us last game not getting a first down those first couple drives and just missing here or there just one little thing. If we can just find a way to force the issue and find a first down. Create one play, one chunk play to kind of spark a little momentum and spark a little bit of that. We gotta find a way to do that.”

Hating to see center Chase Roullier injured was difficult for Wentz.

“Seeing him go down in the game, I think was the second to last play, it really made my heart hurt for him and, and the type of guy that he is not just for this team as a player, but who he is as a person and how hard he’s worked. So, definitely prayers up for him and I think things will look different in that regard front, but at the same time, I know those guys will be prepared, whoever it is and guys will be ready. They’re coached well.”