For the Commanders, attempting to find a long-term franchise quarterback over the past several years has been akin to pulling teeth. They made another noteworthy move this offseason to address the issue, but the team’s top acquisition is already the subject of questions regarding his No. 1 status. 
After struggling mightily during Sunday’s game against the Eagles, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera was asked if he was considering benching Carson Wentz. He replied, quite simply, “No. I’m not” (Twitter link via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.
During Washington’s 24-8 loss, Wentz and the offense were held off the scoreboard until the closing minutes of the contest. Overall, his first game against the team that drafted him second overall in 2016 finished with 211 yards, nine sacks taken and a QBR of 71. That marked a stark contrast to his performance during the two previous weeks, in which the 29-year-old totaled 650 passing yards and seven touchdowns (along with three interceptions).
After his one-year stint with the Colts ended in a late-season collapse which kept the team out of the playoffs, Wentz fell out of favor with Indianapolis’ front office. That led to plenty of trade speculation in anticipation of the league’s fervent QB market this offseason; ultimately, the Commanders took on the full remainder of his contract in a trade aimed at stabilizing the position for at least the immediate future.
Washington has also been linked to a number of other passers who were – or were intended to be – on the move in recent months. Included on that list is Jimmy Garoppolo, who has resumed his role of starter for the 49ers due to Trey Lance‘s season-ending injury. That leaves the Commanders with Wentz, the eleventh different quarterback to start a regular season contest for them since Kirk Cousins‘ departure in 2018.
The North Dakota State product has two years remaining on his current deal after this one, with cap hits just over $26MM and $27MM, respectively. None of that compensation is guaranteed, however, so Washington could move on from him as early as this offseason. With the backing of his head coach, he still has a hold on the starter’s job for the 2022 season to earn his way into an extended stay in the nation’s capital.
I don’t see how anyone who watched those games could say that Wentz is the primary problem. That offensive line is atrocious. Probably the worst in the league.
Not the worst in the game, and they faced a tough front, but bad enough thatvthey probably shouldn’t have traded for a QB who’s prone to imploding when pressured.
Wentz didn’t have a prayer of a chance against the Eagles thanks to the swinging gate of an offensive line… but you’re not wrong in suggesting that maybe this wasn’t well thought out by Washington. If your line stinks, don’t trade for the guy who doesn’t handle pressure all that well.
9 sacks!
0 interceptions!
It’s all the media! The media is the worst thing about football and sports in general. Wentz played good first 2 games. Then not so much his 3rd game and it’s the OL but yet the media will say it’s the QB. Give me a break
Yes, it’s a media conspiracy to take Carson Wentz down a peg—the same guy that two more functional organizations have been eager to ditch in consecutive offseasons. He was perfectly fine the first two games. He’s perfectly fine when things are going well. When things go badly, he can be a disaster.
I ain’t saying he’s a great QB but he played very good first 2 games. He has 1 bad game and the media is down his throat asking the coach if he’s gonna get benched lol
Fisher I believe you’re right. He played well the first two games but Sunday was a disaster and mostly due to a total lack of protection. Phillys D owned the day. Curious to see how he bounces back.
Bad game plan did Wentz in. Offensive coordinator Scott Turner is so excited about his new toys (Dotson, Curtis Samuel, Wentz with his first-tier NFL arm) that he decided to build his game on the deep ball.
That works until it doesn’t as Russell Wilson’s 2021 season showed. Once defenses knew that going deep was the main plan, it’s easy to accelerate the pass rush and blanket the receivers. Wilson had the best first six games and the worst last eleven games as a consequence.
The deep ball works in an offense which either sets up the running game or the short passing game first.
Players have bad games . If he has more than one than worry. But you can’t freak out over one game . Not like they have a better option
They need to commit to him if they want Bryce Young.
It’s way too early in the season for the coach/GM to admit that bringing in Carson Wentz was a mistake. Barring injury they have to stick with Wentz until at least week 8, prefer week 10. The Commanders already know what they have with Taylor Heinicke, so the best thing to do would be start the rookie Sam Howell. At the end of the season Riverboat Ron can then talk about all of the great things Howell is doing, even if it is not showing on the field just yet. You know Howell is young and there is a learning curve, he didn’t have the benefit of the full pre-season or even an entire NFL season.
This is how the Commanders Coaching staff will avoid being fired and live to coach another day.
Why doesn’t the media ask Riviera about benching the OL
Or why the team with the defensive head coach and huge investments in that side of the ball never actually has a very good defense.
Put the blame where it belongs – on the coaching staff. This team has some talent on it, but it has underachieved ever since Rivera and his staff arrived. Rivera’s is only a .500 coach over his career, which means he adds nothing to the basic abilities or game day readiness of the team.
I hope Bryce Young is checking out some apartments in the Andover area!
Ron is the problem. He needs to go.
Ron was hands down the best candidate available when Washington hired him but everyone knows his specialty is defense. They’ll need to find a Joe Gibbs clone to get their QB problems sorted out.
Riverboat Ron. He’s legit. Gifted to the Commanders. If there wasn’t a change in ownership, I’m convinced he’d still be in Carolina. That said; I am perplexed by the Wentz signing. A touch of FOMO, maybe?
The Redskins were a dumpster fire when Rivera took on the job. Jay Gruden had thrown in the towel two seasons before and was just pretending to be the head coach for the last two seasons. The whole Bruce Allen-Trent Williams fiasco had poisoned the locker room and atmosphere.
Rivera was the steady hand who was available. Based on returns so far though, Rivera is slipping as a coach. Jack del Rio has disappointed as defensive coordinator. Scott Turner has not excelled as offensive coordinator, though with the journeymen QB’s he’s had to work with until this year it’s hard to make a final judgement.
Change for change’s sake will just destabilise the organisation. Rivera has another couple of years (including this one) to get results.
Did he go to the same school as Trey Lance?