The only people surprised by what happened with Carson Wentz Sunday could have been Washington Commanders. And that’s the problem.
the decision to trade for Wentz isn’t the worst decision an NFL team has made in the past year, but it’s a prime example of why commanders haven’t been good for decades.
Wentz threw three interceptions and he never gave the Commanders a chance on Sunday in a game against the Cleveland Browns which was critical to their playoff hopes. The Browns came in with a 6-9 record. The commanders were at home. And they were brutal, mainly because of their quarterback. The Browns won 24-10, pushing the Commanders to 7-8-1.
And everything was predictable, going back to the off-season trade. the Indianapolis Colts couldn’t wait to get rid of Wentz or hide their desire to dump him. It was after the Philadelphia Eagles couldn’t wait to get rid of him. Still, the Commanders stunned the NFL by trading 2022 second- and third-round picks and a conditional 2023 third-round pick to the Colts for Wentz, a second- and seventh-round pick. They also did not get a discount on the contract; Washington clawed back Wentz’s $22 million salary as part of the deal. Everyone seemed to instantly hate the trade for Washington, and it went exactly as critics had predicted.
The hardest part for Commanders fans, the few left after decades of ruinous behavior with the fan base anyway, is that an NFL front office couldn’t see what everyone was doing at About Wentz. He’s been a mediocre, error-prone quarterback for a long time. During the season, commanders turned to Taylor Heinicke – which they had a chance to assess all of last season – when Wentz was injured and effectively benched Wentz once he was healthy. Wentz got cleanup duty last week against the San Francisco 49ers and that led to coach Ron Rivera deciding to give Wentz another chance.
The Commanders needed some sparks as their season crumbled, but it was obvious Wentz wouldn’t be the answer. And he wasn’t.
It also wasn’t the best look when Rivera, a respected coach stuck in a bad franchise, didn’t seem to know the Commanders could be knocked out of playoff contention on Sunday.
Teams can rebuild quickly in the NFL. This is what gives hope to all the fanbases. Years of bad decisions can be reversed with a good draft or two. But to do that, you need the right decision makers. At this point, how could anyone trust a Commanders franchise that couldn’t see that acquiring Wentz was a miserable decision when everyone knew it? It seems hard to believe that they will suddenly start making brilliant moves to transform the franchise.
But that’s been Washington’s franchise for the entire property of Daniel Snyder. Fans are used to being disappointed. Seeing the season essentially end with a trio of Wentz interceptions was just another installment in a streak that most Commanders fans have already turned off.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 17 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
Daniel Jones: It’s hard to know what New York Giants will do with Jones next offseason. But after Sunday, here’s what to say: Jones is a big reason the Giants are back in the playoffs.
Jones, working with a receiving corps that is one of the worst in the NFL, had a big day in the Giants’ easy 38-10 victory on the Indianapolis Colts. This secured a playoff spot for the Giants.
Jones had 131 passing yards and two touchdowns at halftime to go along with 34 rushing yards. The Giants led 24-3. The Giants did not choose the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie contract and must now decide whether to re-sign Jones, tag him into the franchise or let him go.
Dallas Cowboys: After a Philadelphia Eagles training season with the NFC East ended, the Cowboys will enter Week 18 alive for the division title.
It’s a shocking turn of events made possible by a poor 20-10 loss by the Eagles on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Gardner Minshew II, who played well last week in Dallas, was bad against the Saints. His pick of six in the fourth quarter sealed the victory for the Saints. He and the rest of the Eagles had their worst game of the season. Eagles need Jalen hurts back.
Maybe it will happen next week. Hurts looked close to a return from a shoulder injury. The Eagles should be fine. They face a The Giants team that has a place in the playoffs and could sit runners. The fact that it took so long to clinch the division is troubling for Philadelphia.
the Detroit Lionsplayoff odds: The way Lions head coach Dan Campbell enthusiastically welcomed Panthers head coach Steve Wilks into midfield last week, congratulating Wilks on his Panthers kicking Lions behindsyou knew Detroit wouldn’t be stable in week 17.
The Lions bounced back and kept their playoff hopes alive. They looked like a different team than the one that was eliminated by the Panthers last week, routing the Chicago Bears 41-10.
Campbell is a motivator and while that means he deserves some blame for his team being so bad last week, it wasn’t going to happen two weekends in a row. He won’t need any extra motivation for his team for next week’s game at the Green Bay Packers.
mike evans: Not much has been good for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season. It has long looked like they might lose to the Carolina Panthersand the Panthers would have taken control of the NFC South with a week to go.
Evans bailed out the Bucs. He had 207 yards and three touchdowns in one 30-24 comeback win that clinched the NFC South. Tom BradyThe career of will include at least one other place in the play-off.
The Buccaneers might not be good enough to win in the playoffs. But thanks to one of the great games of Evans’ phenomenal career, they will have the opportunity to find out.
LOSERS
The Dolphins and their endless QB injuries: At one point it seemed impossible to believe Miami Dolphins could miss the play-offs. It’s on the table now.
Miami is in trouble after falling 23-21 has a New England Patriots team that will advance to the playoffs with a win over Buffalo Tickets next week. The Dolphins played without Tua Tagovailoawho has a concussion and lost Teddy Bridgewater to a finger injury as he attempted to tackle a pick-six. Rookie Skylar Thompson has arrived. It’s the second time this season that Bridgewater, replacing Tagovailoa, has been injured in a game and Thompson has to finish in his place.
The Dolphins haven’t been playing well and haven’t had much luck lately either. Now their playoff spot that has felt like a lock for most of the season is in jeopardy.
Likes Smith: It is rare to see a team fire a coach after just one season in two consecutive years. Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, this has only happened twice (both times were the San Francisco 49ers, including after the 2015 and 2016 seasons).
the Houston Texans should consider joining this group. Smith was hired on the hop last offseason after serving as the coordinator of a poor defense for the 2021 Texans. The best thing to say about the 2022 Texans is that they’re on the right track to get the franchise a No. 1 overall draft pick.
The Texans were terrible again on Sunday in a 31-3 loss against one Jacksonville Jaguars team that didn’t have much to play ahead of next week’s AFC South Championship game against the Tennessee Titans. The Texans have had a few tight games lately and that may be enough to give Smith a second season as Houston head coach. But if Smith gets fired after one season, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
Kingsbury Cliff: Speaking of head coaches in the hot seat, the Arizona Cardinals fell to 4-12 and Kingsbury can’t feel good about their future. If he still wants to coach the Cardinals.
Arizona fought hard in a 20-19 loss to Atlanta Falconsand the cardinals had to start David Blow at quarterback due to injury, but it’s not like a close call against a bad Falcons team makes anything better. This season has been horrible for the Cardinals and it’s not going well at Kingsbury.
Denver Broncosbut with signs of post-Nathaniel Hackett life: The Broncos aren’t the first team to look good right after firing a head coach. This decision is a wake-up call for everyone.
But it doesn’t look too good to Hackett that the Broncos probably played their best game of the season on Sunday after he was fired. For a time, the Broncos looked like they could upset the Chiefs in Kansas City before KC took the lead. A bad Russell Wilson An interception led to a game-clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Denver was still trailing the ball 27-24 late in the game but couldn’t start. The Broncos lost but looked like they belonged on the court with the Chiefs, which is a big change from the first 16 weeks of the season. Perhaps the most damning moment for Hackett came when the tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, a talented and popular 2022 pick who hadn’t even been active since Week 5, scored a touchdown. Perhaps Hackett couldn’t gauge the talent available, in addition to his other shortcomings.
For Broncos fans who must be hoping that the team’s problems were almost all on the head coach, Sunday gave them hope.
0 Comments