Ron Rivera wasn't overly critical of quarterback Carson Wentz after the Commanders' 24-8 loss to the Eagles on Sunday, but he didn't have much good to say, either.
"I think he could have played better," Rivera told reporters after the game. "I mean that's the truth."
Wentz completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 211 yards and zero touchdowns, and while he didn't throw any interceptions this week, he took an unfathomable nine sacks.
To his credit, Wentz put the onus on himself to play better.
"They got after us and I did not play to my standards, especially early," Wentz said. "I think that's tough and unfortunately back to back weeks we kind of dug ourselves a hole there. I've got to be better, especially early on, so that we're not having to throw the whole second half and letting them play coverage and do some things differently. So I've got to be better."
Rivera noted that Wentz putting the offense into too many third-and-long situations makes life challenging for the offensive linemen, and for the quarterback himself.
Rivera also believes Wentz could have gotten the ball to top receiver Terry McLaurin a little more often. The quarterback found McLaurin on six of nine total targets for 102 yards but the passing game never really developed.
While admitting he still needed to review the game film, Rivera did acknowledge that the nine sacks were probably a combination of Wentz holding onto the ball for too long and the offensive line not protecting him sufficiently.
Asked if speedier play-calling could resolve some of those issues, Rivera replied, "Well, there's 10 other guys on the field. We've got to make sure we're protecting, we've got to make sure we're running the routes in a timely fashion, and then there's 11 guys on the other side that we've got to deal with as well.
"And so we'll, like I said, when we get an opportunity to look at everything and look at the finer points, I know [offensive coordinator] Scott [Turner] and I know [QB coach] Kenny [Zampese] will get those things across to him."
As for taking nine sacks, Wentz wore that one, too.
"Any time there's a number like that, that is not the O-line. That is not all the O-line," he said. "I've got to be better. I've got to get rid of the ball in a lot of those situations and find a way to just find a checkdown and move on and different things like that. So hats off to their D-line, their front. That's a good front.
"But I've got to be better and help our guys out. And I think it's a culmination also of being down, trying to have to come back, throw it around in the second half where that D-line can just pin their ears back and get after us. And so, we've got to be better, especially early, so we can avoid some of that."
