A mere hours away from the NFL’s official reveal of its 2022 schedule, leaks are starting to surface. Among the leaks, we’ve learned the Washington Commanders will play at the Chicago Bears Week 6 in primetime on Thursday Night Football.
Now we’ve learned who the Commanders will open their season against. The season opener will have Washington’s new starting quarterback, Carson Wentz, facing a couple of his recent demons in his first game as a Commander.
According to NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay, the Commanders will host last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
On the surface some reaction may be “meh” but digging deeper this has a lot of connections to Wentz.
First off, he’ll start the 2022 season against the team that ended his 2021 season and one-year tenure with the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts had an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth with a win against the woeful Jaguars. But, Wentz had a miserable outing and the Jaguars stunned the Colts in their Week 18 season.
The Jaguars sacked Wentz six times and forced two turnovers from him in the game. The loss ultimately eliminated Indianapolis from playoff contention.
That loss was kicked off a chain of emotions surrounding the Colts and Wentz. Eventually, he was traded to Washington. But it was clear by comments from the Colts owner, Jim Irsay, and GM Chris Ballard, Wentz had run his course with the team.
While Wentz will get his shot at his former team, the next best thing may be him taking care of the team that handed him his most defining loss of his career.
Carson Wentz reunites with former head coach Doug Pederson
Meanwhile, Wentz will get to face an old friend in the Commanders Week 1 matchup with the Jaguars. For the first five seasons of his career, he was coached by Doug Pederson with the Philadelphia Eagles. Pederson is now the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Playing under Pederson, Wentz had his best and worst work on the field. The pair seemed destined to a Super Bowl title in 2017, as the QB was having an MVP-like season. But a torn ACL ended Wentz’s season after 13 games.
With Wentz sidelined, Pederson went on to claim that Super Bowl title of destiny with his backup QB Nick Foles. From there, Wentz has been chasing a return to that 2017 season. In 2020, it all came to a head when Pederson benched Wentz in favor of then-rookie Jalen Hurts.
Ultimately, both Pederson and Wentz departed the Eagles the following offseason. Now the two will be on the field at the same time for the first time since. This time it will be as opponents.
A win for Washington will go a long way for the psyche of Wentz. Beating his former coach and the team that was a thorn in his side for his first game with the Commanders will mean a lot. Don’t let anyone else convince you otherwise.
But a loss could continue a long list of questions about Wentz. It may be the first game of the season, but the ramifications could linger beyond Week 1 for the embattled quarterback.
