Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera made the decision last week to turn back to Carson Wentz as starting quarterback after Taylor Heinicke started nine games. And it didn’t take long for that decision to backfire.
Wentz — who wasn’t expected to have a short leash in Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns — threw a pair of interceptions in the opening 16 minutes of the game. Understandably, the crowd at FedEx Field had seen enough.
Videos from the game showed that the crowd started chanting for Heinicke after Wentz’s second interception of the first half — an underthrown ball into double coverage. It got to the point where Commanders players actually had to urge the fans to stop chanting during an injury timeout.
Two Carson Wentz INTs already… only took 16 minutes of play.
Fans started to chant "HEINICKE"pic.twitter.com/aiROVi8V2O
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 1, 2023
More “HEIN-I-CKE!” chants at FedEx Field. pic.twitter.com/qTsAuyAF2u
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) January 1, 2023
You can hear the Heinicke chants here, and keep in mind there’s glass windows here too: pic.twitter.com/hhYtvRY71K
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) January 1, 2023
More Heinicke chants but Commanders players do the "quiet" arm motion thing as Jonathan Allen is down with an injury. The vibes at this stadium are…….. very off right now
— Pete Hailey (@PeteHaileyNBCS) January 1, 2023
The plan was for Wentz to remain at quarterback for the rest of the season, and Rivera appeared committed to that plan as Wentz stayed in the game and scored a touchdown on a 21-play drive.
Still, fans had plenty of thoughts about Wentz’s early struggles.
This was how Twitter reacted
I am Heinicke. You are Heinicke. We are all Heinicke.
Join us. https://t.co/g1o1Csc2ux
— wes. (@WesleyTate33) January 1, 2023
For the fans that are there: they are a hornet's nest and they have been poked. https://t.co/lbDG6ZbSqQ
— Ross Wilkers (@rosswilkers) January 1, 2023
Where is that arm strength everyone was talking about with Wentz?
Heinicke and just about any other quarterback can underthrow deep balls and get intercepted. https://t.co/IZwzlxVpRq
— Tim Donnelly (@DonnellySports) January 1, 2023
Rivera should have never went back to starting Wentz. Since the team only started to win games after Heinicke became the starter. https://t.co/LaxpXWkisI
— Annoyed Cowboys Fan. (@AwesomeBamon) January 1, 2023
Wentz out here Wentzing… https://t.co/P88RZN6021
— Jay Scott Smith (@JayScottSmith) January 1, 2023
Remember the people who were so avid that Wentz was better than Dak like 3-4 years ago?? What a time man, what a time https://t.co/jhaGEkO5TN
— mike sanders (@MikeRedacted) January 1, 2023
Why did they even bench him in the first place? https://t.co/IAqQJ6R8gy
— Popeyes spokesman (@Lilkennyp_23) January 1, 2023
As they should https://t.co/KKLehqTggH
— Adam Patrick (@Str8_Cash_Homey) January 1, 2023
I would like to sit down with the people responsible for Wentz starting and ask them to describe Wentz's current skill set. https://t.co/4m1r7PDEJD
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) January 1, 2023
