The Carson Wentz–Commanders of Washington marriage leaves a lot to be desired in the win column, but coach Ron Rivera said he still has faith in his new quarterback.
Five weeks in 2022 NFL Washington is 1-4 on the season, last in the NFC East. They recently lost at home to the team Tennessee Titans, 21-17. The Chiefs are four games out of first place and unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles (5-0) and three games behind Dallas Cowboys (4-1) and New York Giants (4-1) in the division. Washington is also 0-2 in divisional play with losses to the Cowboys and Eagles.
Washington went 7-10 in 2021 Taylor Heinicke as the team’s primary defender. The Commanders acquired Wentz, costing them two third-round draft picks and trading 2,022 second-rounders with Indianapolis Colts via trade to return to the playoffs, where they were the last time after going 7-9 in the NFC East in 2020.
With that in mind, do the Commanders have buyer’s remorse with Wentz?
At least Rivera has no regrets about the trade. After explaining that the quarterback’s play is the reason their division rivals are rushing to start, Rivera expressed his confidence in Venka, This is reported by ESPN.
“I don’t feel sorry for our quarterback,” Rivera said. “I think our quarterback did some good things. There were a few games where he struggled, but the way he performed [Sunday] it just shows you what he’s capable of. We chose him because we believe in him. We chose him because we looked at what we thought were things that pointed to him.”
Rivera added that Wentz is a player the Chiefs should “build around.”
“We have a guy that we think we have a chance to build around,” Rivera said. “We have a guy who is really growing in what we do. I thought yesterday was a good indication for us of his potential in that and we will continue to work with him.”
Wentz has 1,390 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, six interceptions and an 86.0 quarterback rating while completing 62.9% of his passes this season. On Sunday, the quarterback helped get Washington to the two-yard line on its final possession against the Titans, but Wentz was intercepted at the goal line with 0:09 left in the game, sealing the victory for Tennessee.
On Monday, the Commanders offense averaged 252.6 passing yards (10th in the NFL), 341.6 total yards (19th) and 18.0 points (26th) per game.
Rivera is in his third season as Washington’s head coach; they are 15-23 since he took office in 2020.
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