Washington is back home for their third game of the season with a 1-1 record. This week’s opponent is the rival Philadelphia Eagles, and their fans will be packing it in to FedEx Field today with dreams of staying undefeated.
Quickly, Washington fans are learning that this team will go the way of their quarterback, Carson Wentz, and his success or failure. Last week against the Lions, it was the tale of two halves. In the first half, Wentz and his offense were out of sync, and in the second half they poured it on — but it was too little too late as the Commanders fell. Wentz is now second in the NFL in passing yards.
If the Vegas betting is any indication of what the Commanders will do, there is a lot of skepticism as to Wentz beating the team that drafted him No. 2 in the draft six years ago. And the Eagles traded Wentz to the Colts, and of course Indianapolis traded Wentz to Washington in the off-season. That’s a lot of movement in just 19 months for Wentz who is not even two years removed from his employment with Philadelphia.
Eagles fans are clear that they love their current quarterback Jalen Hurts who replaced Wentz as their starting QB. But we all know with Philadelphia teams that they love you so long as you are winning for them.
Finally, Kam Curl is off the injured list, and will start in this game at safety. He will change a lot of the defensive schemes as well as give Washington more depth.
“I think what it does too, is it gets us back to the original Buffalo we had going into the season. Obviously, with [Kam Curl] and [S Darrick Forrest] both out on the field at the same time, what it gives is a bigger presence in the body. A bigger body and a bigger presence as far as safety is concerned in the box. So, you feel good about that. And then with those two guys, you could basically mirror left or right if you get to.”
— Head Coach Ron Rivera on having Curl back
The defense will be without DE Casey Toohill (concussion protocol), and Chase Young will still remain out as he recovers from his ACL knee surgery. DT Daniel Wise is out with a high ankle sprain, and then you had the Week 1 season-ending injury to rookie DT Phidarian Mathis(meniscus), and that all adds up to a real loss of depth on the D-Line.
Washington added rookie John Ridgeway off of waivers from the Cowboys this week, and picked up Donovan Jeter and Bennings Potoa’e from the practice squad. James Smith-Williams was elevated to the #2 DE and he suffered a minor abdominal injury but was a full participant in practice on Friday.
The math for today is kind of simple with a win today the Commanders will share 1st Place with the Eagles, and we will have to see how the rest of the NFC East does to see the Week 3 standings. Washington wants to avoid digging a hole for themselves at 1-2 before a trip next week to Dallas to face the Cowboys.
ODDS: Washington is a +1.0 on the points spread after opening at +1.0 to +7.0 with the Over/Under at 50 points
GAME TIME: Sunday, September 25, 2022 at 1 p.m. ET
LOCATION: FedEx Field; Landover, Maryland
TV: FOX WTTG-5 in the DC market with Adam Amin on the call, Mark Schlereth providing analysis, and Kristina Pink on the sideline
