Carson Wentz

The Carson Wentz era has not been kind to the Washington Commanders, who fell to 1-3 on the season with a 25-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.

Following Sunday's loss, Wentz shouldered much of the blame for the team's struggles while speaking with reporters.

"I have to be more accurate. I have to make better decisions," Wentz said.

Wentz was subpar against the Cowboys, completing 25 of 42 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown against two interceptions. He also rushed for just five yards.

The 29-year-old entered Sunday's game having completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 861 yards and seven touchdowns against three interceptions through the first three weeks of the season.

While those numbers are respectable, the Wentz experiment hasn't gone very well for the Commanders, who acquired him in a trade from the Indianapolis Colts over the offseason.

Following a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last week, head coach Ron Rivera said he wasn't worried about Wentz and that he was confident the signal-caller would bounce back against the Cowboys:

"I'm not worried about Carson. Carson's going to bounce back. He's a very resilient young man. And I loved his press conference, accepting responsibility. And he put it on himself and he tried to make sure everybody understood that this is a team game, we're all culpable. And I don't disagree with him. We are all culpable, myself included.

"But there is a sense of urgency. There is a 'gotta have it,' a 'gotta go out and get it done' type of mentality. It was the same thing last week. We wanted it. We worked to do it, and we're going to do it every week that way. It's just sometimes, it doesn't work your way."

But now that Wentz's struggles have become more apparent, it might be time for the Commanders to start worrying. However, it's unclear if Washington is considering making a switch to either Taylor Heinicke or rookie Sam Howell.

If anything, the Commanders would likely pick Heinicke over Howell given his experience.

Heinicke has appeared in 24 NFL games across four seasons and has completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 3,886 yards and 22 touchdowns against 18 interceptions. He also started 15 of 16 games for Washington last season, throwing for 3,419 yards and 20 touchdowns against 15 interceptions.

Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz is coming off his worst outing of the season in Sunday's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but he hasn't lost the confidence of his head coach.

Ron Rivera said he fully believes Wentz will be able to put his disappointing performance behind him.

"I'm not worried about Carson. Carson's going to bounce back," Rivera told NBC Sports Washington's JP Finlay. "He's a very resilient young man."

The Commanders fell to 1-2 this season after their 24-8 loss against the Eagles. Wentz finished with 211 yards on 25-of-43 passing with no touchdowns, no interceptions and two fumbles, one of which was lost. Per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Wentz was sacked nine times and sustained 17 hits on Sunday.

Rivera was especially impressed with how the 29-year-old signal-caller shouldered the blame for the loss.

"I loved his press conference, accepting responsibility," Rivera said. "And he put it on himself and he tried to make sure everybody understood that this is a team game—we’re all culpable. And I don’t disagree with him. We are all culpable, myself included."

Wentz is in his first season in Washington after being acquired in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts in March. He had solid showings in his first two games, including leading the Commanders to a fourth-quarter comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1.

Through three games, Wentz has thrown for 861 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 63.1 percent of his passes. However, he's been sacked 15 times, tied for the league-high with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Rivera said the team is aware that there are multiple mistakes that need to be addressed.

"But there is a sense of urgency. There is a 'gotta have it,' a 'gotta go out and get it done' type of mentality," he said. "It was the same thing last week. We wanted it. We worked to do it, and we’re going to do it every week that way. It’s just sometimes, it doesn’t work your way."

The Commanders will try to end their two-game skid when they face the Dallas Cowboys in another NFC East showdown on Sunday.

Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera isn't going to make a change at quarterback right now.

Speaking to reporters after Sunday's 24-8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Rivera definitively said "no" when asked if he is going to replace Carson Wentz after he was sacked nine times.

The Commanders traded a 2022 second-round and third-round pick along with a conditional pick in 2023 to the Indianapolis Colts to acquire Wentz. They also received a 2022 second-round and seventh-round pick in the deal.

Wentz was coming off a solid statistical season in Indianapolis, but the way the Colts finished in 2021 left a lot to be desired. He threw for 185 yards, turned the ball over twice and was sacked six times in a 26-11 Week 18 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that ended the Colts' playoff hopes.

Things apparently got so bad on the field and behind the scenes that Colts head coach Frank Reich apologized to owner Jim Irsay for lobbying to acquire Wentz from the Eagles, per Zak Keefer of The Athletic.

While there is no indication of drama in the Commanders locker room right now, Wentz is still making the same mistakes that cost him down the stretch in 2021.

The Eagles held Wentz to 24 passing yards and registered twice as many sacks (six) as completions allowed (three) in the first half. Washington had minus-16 net passing yards through the first two quarters.

In his first three games as Washington's quarterback, Wentz has four turnovers (three interceptions, one lost fumble) and has been sacked 15 times.

The Commanders have been outscored 46-0, and the offense has managed just 87 yards in the first half of the past two games combined.

Taylor Heinicke is the No. 2 quarterback on Washington's roster. He started 15 games last season, throwing for 3,419 yards, 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. The 29-year-old is best known for racking up 352 yards of offense and accounting for two touchdowns in the Commanders' 31-23 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 NFC Wild Card Game.

Sunday's loss to the Eagles dropped Washington's record to 1-2 overall.

In the game billed as Carson Wentz taking on the team that drafted him for the first time, it was the Philadelphia Eagles' current quarterback who stole the show.

Jalen Hurts continued his torrid start to the season with 340 yards and three touchdowns through the air in the Eagles' 24-8 victory over the Washington Commanders.

In the past six days, Hurts has thrown for 673 yards and accounted for six scores. He likely could have had more production Sunday, but head coach Nick Sirianni took his foot off the gas pedal in the second half after going up by 24 at the intermission.

The first half Sunday was nothing short of a masterpiece for the Eagles on both sides of the ball. Hurts had 291 total yards (279 passing) and three touchdowns. DeVonta Smith was the recipient of seven catches for 156 yards and a score through two quarters.

The final sequence before halftime was a feather in Hurts' cap. He attempted a quarterback sneak from Washington's 1-yard line on 3rd-and-goal but got stopped for a loss of one yard with 18 seconds remaining.

With no timeouts remaining, Hurts and the offense quickly got in shotgun formation. The third-year quarterback got the snap off before the clock expired and found Smith in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to take a 24-0 lead.

There was talk coming into the season that the Eagles could be plotting to add one of the top quarterbacks in the 2023 class. They added to their receiving group by acquiring A.J. Brown from the Tennessee Titans and maintained both of their first-round picks in next year's draft.

While it's still early in 2022, the results so far suggest Hurts is their quarterback of the future.

As Hurts continues to move up the early-season MVP rankings, Wentz was not given a warm reception by his former team. He finished 25-of-43 for 211 yards, but his day was even worse than those numbers would indicate.

The Eagles defense sacked him nine times, with six coming in the first half. Wentz had minus-16 net passing yards going into halftime (24 passing yards, 40 yards lost on sacks).

Washington's offense in the first half over the past two weeks has been abysmal. The unit has been shutout by the Eagles and Detroit Lions with a total of 86 yards.

Wentz has been great at putting up numbers in the second half, though most of that has been garbage time because the Commanders were losing by three scores at the start of the third quarter against the Eagles and Lions.

There was little doubt that Philadelphia had to move on from Wentz when he was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in March 2021. Hurts' development since being a second-round draft pick in 2020 has the Eagles standing tall in the NFC after another dominant performance.

Talk about a wild opening slate of games Sunday.

There was Tua Tagovailoa leading the Miami Dolphins to a comeback fourth-quarter win. Joe Flacco did the same for the New York Jets. Jared Goff was slinging the ball around like he was Matt Stafford. Carson Wentz nearly kept pace.

For fantasy players, the question is which player should be targeted on waivers this week if you need help at the quarterback position?

Let's just eliminate Flacco immediately. Yes, his 307 passing yards and four touchdowns against the Cleveland Browns was impressive. He's now hit 300 passing yards in back-to-back games.

But he's only keeping Zach Wilson's seat warm. And before this season, the last time Flacco hit 300 passing yards in a game was back in Sept. 2019. He last hit three or more touchdown passes in a game in Nov. 2020. Flacco is having a nice run, but trusting it to last is folly.

Goff is a safer option than Flacco, and he won't be losing his starting spot anytime soon. But don't be fooled by Sunday's four passing touchdowns—Goff didn't have a single game with four touchdowns last year, and he had just three games with three passing scores. He hit 300 or more passing yards in just one game last season.

Yes, Goff's supporting cast on offense has improved. And in deeper leagues or two-QB formats, he's not a bad insurance policy to roster. But don't expect him to be a viable starter on a weekly basis—his ceiling is just too low.

We turn to Wentz, who for fantasy players is sort of liking stopping at a food truck you don't know anything about. Sure, sometimes you might find a hidden gem. But other times, well, the experience may be less than pleasant, let's leave it at that.

The point is that you never really know which Wentz you'll get. He is chaos. Consistent inconsistency.

Generally, he puts up just enough stats to sit near the top of the QB2 range, which means he absolutely should be rostered in all formats. But if you have a more reliable option, Wentz should remain benched. He's a player to utilize in really appealing matchups or during bye weeks, but trusting him weekly is feast or famine.

And then there's Tua, the most intriguing player we'll mention. It would be easy to focus on the extremes, like overhyping him after his 469-yard, six-touchdown performance against the Ravens, or devaluing him after two extremely ho-hum seasons and a pretty meh fantasy performance in Week 1.

The reality is probably somewhere in the middle. He has better weapons than any other player discussed here in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle out wide. Those two are going to make a lot of plays for Tagovailoa after the catch.

And he also has a new head coach, Mike McDaniel, and an offensive scheme that should help elevate his game.

If starting Wentz in fantasy is going to a random food truck and hoping for the best, Tagovailoa is like ordering a random special at a restaurant you've enjoyed in the past. You trust the establishment, but you don't know if you can trust this particular meal.

That makes him a high-end QB2 option. If he's available in your league, go get him. He almost assuredly isn't going to have another performance like the one on Sunday, but he still has breakout potential this season you shouldn't be dismissing out of hand.