Carson Wentz has not been good in his first season as the Washington Commanders’ quarterback. Ron Rivera has proven himself to be one of the worst head coaches in the league through five games. Both things can be true with Washington currently sitting at 1-4 and four games behind the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East.
In talking to the media on Monday, one day after their most-recent disastrous loss, Rivera opted to throw Wentz under the bus. The embattled head coach was asked during his presser what seperates Washington from the other three teams in the NFC East. His answer was simple. “Quarterback.”
Rivera expanded on it a bit while trying to walk this quote back. Whether he succeeded remains to be seen.
“I got no regrets about the QB. He’s done some good things and he’s had some struggles,” Ron Rivera on Carson Wentz’s performance through five games.
Yeah, that’s going to do very little when it comes to avoiding the headlines at a time when Rivera and his Commanders are under a microscope.
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Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera is on the hot seat
It does seem like the pressure might be getting to the respected former Super Bowl head coach. His quote about Wentz came mere hours after now-former Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule became the first at his position to be fired this season. Could Rivera be next?
Washington has lost four consecutive games since opening the season with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. It has scored a total of 35 points over the past three games.
During their current four-game losing streak, the Commanders have been outscored 72-17 in the first half.
Washington’s latest loss came against the Tennessee Titans in a game that it could have easily won. The team had first and goal from Tennessee’s two in the final moments down 21-17. That’s when Carson Wentz threw a walk-off interception, culminating in a fourth consecutive defeat. He obviously shares in some of the blame. But Rivera needs to start taking responsibility for his team’s struggles.
“We’re going to continue to talk about becoming who we think we can. We’re going to talk about working to get better, and we’re going to talk about that. We’re not going to back down from what we’re trying to do, it’s hard. It’s difficult, and there’s nothing easy about this game.”
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on latest loss
Immediately after Washington’s 21-17 defeat at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, Rivera spoke to the media. None of the press conference transcribed by the Commanders’ official website seemed to include the head coach taking any of the blame for these struggles. That’s an issue.
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Yes, Carson Wentz is part of the Washington Commanders’ struggles
We’re not sitting back and giving the enigmatic Wentz a pass through five games. That would be utterly foolish. What we’ve seen from Wentz thus far is a continuation of the struggles the quarterback had over the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts.
Carson Wentz stats (during four-game losing streak): 62% completion, 1,077 yards, 6 TD, 4 INT, 6 fumbles, 82.4 QB rating
This is just terrible. Wentz is doing nothing to help the Commanders win actual games. All the while, we’re seeing the likes of Daniel Jones, Jalen Hurts and Cooper Rush play at relatively high levels in the NFC East. In particular, Hurts’ MVP-caliber performance has to be seen as insult to injury for Wentz given that Philadelphia opted for the younger quarterback en route to trading Wentz to Indianapolis following the 2020 season.
Either way, a team that turns on itself during an ugly losing streak is not going to magically improve on the field. With a road outing against an equally bad Chicago Bears team slated for next week, another poor performance will have both Ron Rivera and Carson Wentz on the hot seat. That’s as clear as day.