Washington Commanders: Five games to circle on the schedule
By Hunter Noll
5. Washington Commanders vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Week 1 – September 11)
You’re going to notice a trend with quite a few of these selections. Week 1 is always interesting for the simple “how will the team start the new year” question. But this game adds some extra intrigue for a number of different reasons.
First of all, the Jaguars are a young and exciting team. They have the first overall pick from last season (quarterback Trevor Lawrence). Lawrence is coming off a not-so-great rookie campaign but had a lot of factors going against him. Many are expecting a pretty big year-two jump.
The Jaguars were also one of the big spenders of the offseason. Throw in a draft that included elite pass rusher Travon Walker (second overall pick) and you have yourself a fun roster. Oh, and old friend star guard Brandon Scherff signed a massive contract to leave Washington and head to Jacksonville this offseason.
Of course, there’s also the new additions to Washington. How will they perform in Week 1? Can rookie wide receiver Jahan Dotson make a strong first impression? What about the new additions to the offensive line? Getting off to a good start is obviously extremely important.
What’s that trend I was talking about though? Old friends and enemies. Yes, we just mentioned Scherff. But the big storyline here is Carson Wentz. This will be his first game as the starting quarterback for the Commanders. And it’s against the team that he choked against last year.
In the last week of the season, all the Indianapolis Colts had to do was beat the lowly Jaguars to make the playoffs.
Wentz struggled to get the ball moving (17-for-29 for 185 yards) and tossed just one touchdown pass compared to one interception and one fumble lost. The Colts lost and it was an embarrassing end to their season.
So how will Wentz start his tenure in Washington? He has a chance to exercise a demon immediately and get some revenge on the team that ended his season without a playoff appearance in 2021.