The Washington Commanders announced on Wednesday that their starting quarterback, Carson Wentz, wouldn’t play in the team’s regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys. The Commanders saw their playoff hopes dashed in last Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns. The beleaguered quarterback threw three interceptions and took three sacks in the losing effort.
Wentz now finds himself benched for rookie Sam Howell.
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Carson Wentz Benched: Washington Commanders QB Change
The Washington Commanders paid up for Carson Wentz this offseason. The Commanders shipped off their 2022 second- and third-round picks and a conditional 2023 selection for Wentz and the Indianapolis Colts’ 2022 second- and seventh-round selections. The conditional 2023 draft choice will fall in the third round after Wentz failed to play 70% of Washington’s snaps this year, which would’ve led the Colts to receive a second-round pick. Wentz’s contract carries a $28.2 million cap hit this season.
With Carson Wentz benched again, the Commanders will roll with Sam Howell over Taylor Heinicke. It was previously reported it would be a rotation similar to what Lovie Smith and the Houston Texans have been doing for weeks. Smith benched his Week 1 starter, Davis Mills, only to bring him back in a rotation with third-string quarterback Jeff Driskel.
Heinicke was an upgrade over Wentz. Heinicke ranks 28th among 48 quarterbacks to have played at least 100 snaps in Ben Baldwin’s expected points added (EPA)/completion percentage over expected (CPOE) composite score, while Wentz ranks a lowly 39th. Wentz trails the likes of Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, Colt McCoy and Cooper Rush in the metric. However, with the untested rookie Sam Howell to play, it’s unclear how much the Commanders will benefit from Wentz’s benching.
The news of Wentz’s benching didn’t initially affect the NFL betting markets much. Although the Commanders were 4.5-point favorites on the look-ahead markets, Philadelphia’s surprising loss to the New Orleans Saints last week gives the Dallas Cowboys a chance at the NFC East title. The Cowboys had jumped out to a 4.5-point advantage by Tuesday and were 5.5-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook before the naming of Howell as QB. Once that news became official, Washington moved to a 7.5-point underdog with a total of 41.
Washington suffered a 15-point road loss to the Cooper Rush-led Cowboys back in early October with Wentz still starting.
