Evaluating Carson Wentz against the Cleveland Browns
Breaking down how Wentz played in his return to the starting QB role.
Carson Wentz’s return to the starting line up ended in an almost spectacular failure. Ron Rivera rightly praised how Wentz performed against the 49ers in relief of Taylor Heinicke, pointing to his ability to get the ball out quickly and throw over blitzes. That lead to him making the move to start Wentz over Heinicke in a critical game against the Browns on Sunday.
Wentz completed 16 of 28 passes for 143 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions as the Commanders lost 24-10 to the Browns and saw their playoff hopes fall apart. It was a poor performance from Wentz in which he missed a number of throws that no quarterback in the league should be missing.
Here are two examples of easy throws that every quarterback in the league should make. Both of these plays are swing passes to the running back in the flat. On the first one, Wentz misses high and out in front while on the second one, he throws the ball into the dirt before it even reaches Brian Robinson. Yes, all quarterbacks will miss an occasional layup throw like this. Sometimes the back doesn’t quite bend the route at the right angle or distance and sometimes the ball maybe just slips out of the quarterback’s hand wrong. But to miss two basic throws of the same type in such drastically different ways is just unacceptable for an NFL quarterback.
Three interceptions will go a long way to killing any chance of winning a game of football. Each of the interceptions Wentz threw got progressively worse in terms of decision making and execution.
The first interception came early in the game. On third and six on the Commanders opening drive, Wentz looks to find Terry McLaurin on a deep out route. McLaurin aligns to the left of the formation and initially releases inside to give himself space when eventually looks to cut outside towards the sideline. Cornerback Denzel Ward does a nice job staying with McLaurin as he works inside and up the field. McLaurin then suddenly cuts across his face as he breaks back outside, but Ward doesn’t panic despite McLaurin seemingly gaining a step. He plays physically at the top of the route and then positions himself to undercut the throw.
Wentz is a tick late with his decision to make this throw. He waits to see McLaurin cross the defenders face and get a step past him before he begins his throwing motion. That delay, however small, is enough for Ward to get back and undercut the throw. I would also add that McLaurin doesn’t help Wentz out as much as he could here. After his break, he continues to gain depth rather than breaking off straight to the sideline. Had McLaurin kept a tighter angle, he might have been able to shield Ward from the throw or at least work back to the ball to contest the interception. But nevertheless, Wentz was still late with the throw.
His second interception was significantly worse than his first.
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