Sometimes life simply isn’t fair.
Washington Commanders’ new starting quarterback Carson Wentz has been the target of much sports media criticism. Much blame for the 2021 Indianapolis Colts not making the playoffs has been sharply directed at Wentz himself.
However, Sunday, Colts head coach Frank Reich made his feelings known to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. “Carson played a lot of good football,” Reich said.
“We did a lot of good things as a team, he did a lot of good things as a quarterback. Three quarters of the year we were one of the teams to beat, one of the teams everybody was talking about. And then we had a pretty big-time collapse in the last two weeks of the season and we all take responsibility for that, starting with me as a head coach. What would be unfair is to make Carson the scapegoat.”
Wentz 3,563 passing yards (62.4% completion rate), 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions were on the surface of things a good year. Yet, that last game no doubt haunts Wentz. Needing to only defeat the Jaguars for a playoff birth, the Colts came up short, getting outplayed badly on their way to an embarrassing and frustrating 26-11 loss.
The line for Wentz in that game was even worse than the final numbers, 17-29, 185 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 fumble lost. One number often overlooked to fit the narrative, is that Wentz was actually sacked six times, losing 46 yards. So, there may be no one who better understands what actually transpired in that dreadful loss to Jacksonville than Reich.
Reich knows the highs of being a quarterback. He engineered two of the greatest comebacks ever in the history of football. Maryland trailed Miami 31-0, Reich then threw six touchdown passes leading Maryland to a 42-40 shocker. Trailing the Houston Oilers 35-3 in a playoff game could be demoralizing. But again Reich led a great comeback as the Bills defeated the Oilers 41-38.
Reich also knows the lows, being in the NFL for 13 seasons, yet starting only 20 games, even more, winning only 5. Reich coaches his quarterbacks with empathy, knowing they can and do receive too much praise and too much blame. Sunday he displayed he has invested his heart into Carson Wentz.
“I love Carson. He’s a brother to me,” Reich said.
“I’ll always love him, always pull for him…That’s life sometimes. It’s hard. It’s hard, personally. As a coach, you get close to all the players and obviously at the quarterback position and because of my history with him. There’s nobody who will support him more and believes he’s going to succeed. I think Washington is a great fit for him and I wish him all the best.”