Tag: Carson Wentz / Taylor Heinicke

Are Ron Rivera, Scott Turner and Taylor Heinicke on the rocks?

Signs seem to be pointing to some sort of a split between Heinicke, Rivera and Turner.

Has the relationship of Ron Rivera, Scott Turner and Taylor Heinicke reached a fork in the road?

Sunday, following a Commanders 26-6 win over the visiting Cowboys, Heinicke was emotional leaving the field. Was he contemplating that he might have played his last game for the Burgundy and Gold?

Two weeks prior, Heinicke was visibly uncomfortable, even telling the press, “It sucks” when he had been pulled during the second half of the 49ers game, and Wentz replaced him.

Heinicke had to expect with an elimination game against the Browns approaching, Rivera would give Wentz the start. Rivera had traded for Wentz and agreed to pay him $28 million this season. Of course, he went back to Wentz after the way Heinicke struggled in both games against the Giants.

Even more, losing to the Browns, Rivera had turned back to Heinicke for the finale against Dallas. We do know Heinicke basically said no thank you, Ron. What we don’t know is his attitude and how he expressed it to Rivera.

For the record, last week Rivera, to the press, expressed that Heinicke was being a good teammate in stating that he felt Howell had worked all year, and if Rivera was going to play Howell some, then why not go ahead and let Howell start the game as well.

I see two sides to this pretty quickly. Taylor might be wanting to leave to launch out for a bigger stage elsewhere with a bigger paycheck. Yet, will the grass be greener for Heinicke in another NFL town? Will he find another team willing to pay him starter’s money?

Rivera is now in an uncomfortable position with the majority of the fan base absolutely adoring Heinicke, to such a degree that if he doesn’t retain Heinicke the fan base is upset.

Certainly, Sam Howell, playing well against Dallas will help Rivera make his decision. In addition, if Rivera brings in another quarterback next year, how will the fan base accept the new guy?

Might Rivera be thinking about not bringing back Heinicke because Taylor is frankly reaching a celebrity status that forgoes rational thinking for many?

After Wentz was injured in Week 6 this season, requiring surgery, Heinicke started six games, and the Commanders went 5-1. However, the last three he started the Commanders were 0-2-1.

Taylor Heinicke was with Rivera and Turner in Carolina. In fact, Heinicke was with Turner (prior to Carolina) in Minnesota as well. They also obviously continued that relationship in Washington dating back to December of the 2020 season.

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Sam Howell becomes number 8 for Commanders Ron Rivera

Sam Howell becomes the eighth quarterback to start a game for the Commanders under Ron Rivera.

Sam Howell’s jersey number is 14; in addition, he becomes number 8 for Ron Rivera.

Sunday, when Sam Howell gets his first NFL start against NFC East rival Dallas, Howell will be the eighth quarterback to play the position for Washington in Ron Rivera’s three seasons as head coach.

It has been much more crowded behind center for the Burgundy and Gold than the majority of NFL teams. This season saw Rivera go with Carson Wentz, Taylor Heinicke, Wentz again and now Howell in Sunday’s season finale at FedEx Field.

The 2021 season saw Rivera start Ryan Fitzpatrick, Heinicke, Garrett Gilbert and then Heinicke again. Also, Rivera pulled Heinicke during both losses to the Cowboys, choosing to play Kyle Allen the rest of the way.

Rivera’s first season in Washington was chaotic at quarterback. Rivera started Dwayne Haskins, then benched Haskins for Kyle Allen. Allen broke his ankle, and Rivera bypassed Haskins and went with Alex Smith.

Smith’s limited leg began to break down, and Rivera had to go back to Haskins. Haskins played so poorly that he was benched against the Panthers for Tyler Heinicke. Smith returned to play the season finale in Philadelphia, but the leg so restricted Smith that Rivera gave Heinicke his first start in the playoff game against Tampa Bay.

It’s been a wild and frustrating ride at quarterback for Rivera, perhaps best illustrated by the fact that he traded two second-day draft picks for Wentz. However, after his woeful play in the loss to the Browns, Wentz may likely not even be active in the season finale.

Enter Sam Howell into the quarterback equation. Just this week, one of the more respected analysts of the Commanders, Logan Paulsen, expressed, “From what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, Sam is not ready”.

Might it be a baptism by fire for Howell against the Cowboys?

As an eighth day begins a new week, here’s to hoping the eighth quarterback for Rivera in Washington, Sam Howell, will mark a new beginning for the Burgundy and Gold.

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Santana Moss: Commanders have been outcoached

Santana Moss is always positive, but he has some concerns.

Brian Mitchell was not the only one upset regarding the Commanders’ anemic performance Sunday against the Browns.

Santana Moss and JP Finlay also had strong comments they felt should be expressed as well during the NBC Sports Washington postgame show.

SM: “I consider myself the optimist about different scenarios and situations we are in. That is how you have to be with life. You can’t always just expect the worst. That is what I was giving this team, the benefit of the doubt.

But when we keep sitting here waiting for a scenario to play out (pause)… No! You have your destiny in your hands. That is the scenario. Come out here, do your job and do it well.”

“Look, I am not going to sit here and act like I have not been on teams that have stunk it up. I have. But the one thing I have done is leave it on the field. Some of those guys out there don’t deserve what we just saw. Some of those guys go out there and leave it on the field.”

“But when a coach and his staff dictates what we want to put out there, then you cannot blame the players. Collectively we have been saying this too many times down the stretch of these last few games that coaching has been standing out more than a lack of players going out there not performing.”

“I feel like every week we have been talking about someone outcoaching us. We can’t sit here and say that week-in and week-out and expect the players to go out there and give me a different outcome.”

JPF: “This is the type of loss, that in a strong organization, everything is on the table following this. You may have to completely clean house after a loss like this. Against a team that is already eliminated from the playoffs that just won this game from start to finish.”

“I don’t know the final numbers because I had to run down here (field). They were on path for their worst offensive performance since week six (Chicago). Which, I don’t think coincidentally was Carson Wentz’ last start.”

“So, just making that decision to go from Heinicke to Wentz, somebody has got to own that, and that somebody is Ron Rivera. You can criticize a billion other things, both coordinators.”

“This offensive line? I hate that I keep going back to this. Please let me know. I would love for someone to put their left hand up and let me know who decided to let Brandon Scherff walk for this collection of dudes.”

“Trent Williams, gone. Brandon Scherff, gone. You know where those guys are going? Canton! You know where this group is going? Fishing when the playoffs start. It is a complete lack of accountability from the top down. If this was a strong organization, ownership would be looking at a complete review of everything they have.”

“But this isn’t a strong organization, and we have no idea what ownership is doing. And if I had to guess, probably nothing, because the sale is coming. You know what you are not going to do with the sale coming? You are not going to fire a bunch of people, and then have to pay out their contracts.”

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Brian Mitchell: Commanders play was ‘BS’ and ‘trash’

Brian Mitchell was not holding back.

Brian Mitchell still comes to play.

Here was Mitchell on the NBC Sports Washington postgame show Sunday following the Commanders’ loss to the Browns. “If you have any connection with Washington, I don’t care if from the Redskins days, the football team and now, you have to voice your displeasure with that BS we saw on the field today! It was trash!”

Mitchell, the former Washington running back and returner, was known for his fiery, aggressive approach to each game he played in the NFL. Once the first whistle blew until the last whistle, Mitchell was aggressive, and competitive.

Consequently, Mitchell, who now is part of the “BMitch & Finlay” radio show on 106.7 The Fan weekdays, and NBC Sports Washington postgame show, expects to see the same fire from today’s Washington Commanders.

Mitchell was upset Sunday immediately following the game during his on-air appearance on NBC Sports Washington. “We take it easy in OTAs. We take it easy in minicamps. We take it easy in training camp. We approach the preseason as if we are not getting ready for a full season.”

“This year, we started slow, we got on fire, and then we finished weak like we have every year under this coaching staff.”

“For me, it is despicable to come into a game where you have to win to make it to the playoffs, and you come out today, and you stink like that. I’m sure a lot of people are going to blame Carson Wentz. But who decided to take out Taylor Heinicke and put in Carson Wentz? When every player to a man talked about how he liked playing with Taylor?”

“I don’t know what Carson was thinking about. I don’t know what the play-calling was. Garbage (pause), trash is what we saw today.”

“Santana and I played for this team. We understand you got to be honest with the fans. You folks come on here to hear us tell you what we really feel. We don’t want to just attack people. It’s time for attacking now.”

“For three years, I have heard how we are going to change the culture. The culture may be changing, but you are getting the same performance on the football field.”

“If we finish 7-9-1, how can we say that we have made any steps forward? Is this what we can expect here in Washington? Seven games? Eight games? Is this all we can expect from this staff? They got to find a way to get something better. Because right now, trash is all I see.”

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Will it be a good birthday weekend for Commanders QB Carson Wentz?

Carson Wentz celebrated his birthday Friday. Can he deliver a win for the Commanders Sunday?

When Washington last won a Super Bowl (SB XXVI), neither Taylor Heinicke nor Carson Wentz had even been born.

Wentz actually celebrated his 30th birthday Friday, Dec. 30 (1992). Commanders head coach Ron Rivera might as well be providing Wentz a birthday present because Wentz has been named the starter for Sunday’s home game against the Browns at 1 p.m.

For Wentz, it is an opportunity. Not just any opportunity to start another NFL game. This is a huge opportunity that will go a long way in determining Carson’s contract situation next season.

Even more, if Wentz performs well these last two weeks, he greatly increases his chances of being a starter here (or elsewhere) in 2023. 2022 was already said to be his last chance, and the first six games for Wentz were most often sealing the deal that he was not going to be an NFL starter in 2023.

However, after Washington won five of six, Taylor Heinicke began to really struggle at times such as a woeful 1-10 on third downs in a 20-12 discouraging home loss to the Giants on national television.

When the Commanders traded for Wentz, some Eagles and Colts fans did not hesitate to voice their disapproval of Wentz. Washington fans were just as quick beginning with Week 2 when with Wentz under center, the Commanders dropped four straight games.

Wentz during that four-game losing streak looked lost too often. He also looked helpless too often, and quite a bit of that blame goes to the offensive line who simply did little to protect him on passing downs.

Make no mistake; there is great pressure on Wentz. He certainly knows what is at stake. Wentz doesn’t want to fail. He needs this opportunity to go well for his career, not only here, but if he is to be a starter again in the NFL.

Wentz needs to come through these next two weeks, despite the fact today we learned he will have to do it this week without Antonio Gibson.

Happy birthday, Carson.