Ron Rivera buries Carson Wentz, claims QB reason why other NFC East are ahead of the Commanders
Ron Rivera did not mince words as he threw Carson Wentz under the bus as the reason for the Washington Commanders' poor performance this season. Rivera was asked why he believes the other teams in the NFC East have done better than the Commanders this season. Rivera's :
Rivera said, "Quarterback."
The Commanders are marooned at the bottom of the division with a 1-4 record. The Philadelphia Eagles lead the division 5-0 followed by the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants with identical 4-1 records. The Washington Commanders are the only team with a losing record in that division this season and by some margin.
"Why do you think the teams in the division are farther ahead at this point?"
Ron Rivera: "quarterback"
👀👀👀 https://t.co/aNJjKIEuZp
Given these circumstances, Ron Rivera was asked by a journalist why he believed they had fallen so far behind their rivals. His one-word answer was straight to the point -- quarterback. He squarely laid the blame at the feet of Carson Wentz.
His follow-up clarification, when it was put to him that the Commanders had traded for their chosen quarterback this season, was not the vote of confidence any quarterback would want to hear.
"No, I got no regrets about the quarterback. I think our quarterback has done some good things; there's been a couple of games he's struggled."
It was not something Carson Wentz would have expected to hear from his coach and whether his standing recovers with Ron Rivera and the locker room remains to be seen.
Carson Wentz's performances this season
In the first game of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carson Wentz gave a fair account of himself as he had four touchdowns for 313 yards. However, that 28-22 win also disguised the fact that he threw two interceptions in the game that a better team than the Jaguars would have taken advantage of.
In the second game, he threw for three touchdowns and one interception for 337 yards as they lost to the Detroit Lions 36-27. He also got sacked five times. This weakness would explode into full view in the next game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
All 9 Eagles sacks on Carson Wentz🎥 All 9 Eagles sacks on Carson Wentz https://t.co/TYHS7wRSah
In their Week 3 loss against the Eagles (24-8), he did not throw for a single touchdown or interception and was limited to only 211 yards in passing. But he was sacked a scarcely believable nine times, which showed his lack of common sense in setting up the offense and getting the ball off quickly.
His performance dropped again in their Week 4 loss to the Dallas Cowboys (25-10) as he threw for only 170 yards and had two interceptions for only one touchdown. In both the second and the third games, his completion rate dipped below 60%.
This week, even though they lost to the Tennessee Titans (21-17), there was a slight improvement. There was still one interception and three sacks, even though Wentz did contribute two touchdowns. Carson Wentz's interception on third-and-goal also extinguished any chances of a win in that game. This happened when there were only six seconds remaining in the game.
David Long seals the deal for Tennessee with a game winning INT off Carson Wentz https://t.co/YJ8bqCONck
It is something that his coach also seems to have noticed. Ron Rivera has left Carson Wentz with no place to hide now. Wentz only has so many more times to prove himself.
The Washington Commanders (1-4) will take on the Chicago Bears (2-3) on Thursday, October 13 at 8:15 PM at Soldier Field.