The Most Unpredictable NFL Team of the 2022 season: The Commanders
Quarterback Carson Wentz getting welcomed by Commanders head coach Ron Rivera at the Inova Sports Performance Center in Ashburn, VA on March 17, 2022 (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
The NFC, in comparison to the AFC, has collectively become the weaker conference in the past couple of seasons. Going into the 2022 NFL season, the AFC has many teams looking to contend for the Super Bowl. The NFC on other hand, has a bigger window for a lesser team to slide into a potential playoff spot. A team that could go under the radar for this upcoming season is the Washington Commanders.
The Commanders are coming off back-to-back seven-win seasons, two seasons where the unexpected has happened.
In the 2020 campaign, the team was plagued with injuries in the quarterback position seeing four quarterbacks play throughout the regular and postseason. Also, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera had cancer. Miraculously in that season the team managed to win the division and Rivera beat cancer as well. The Cinderella story was refreshing and brought hope that things will turnaround for the franchise.
Backup Quarterback Taylor Heincke diving for a touchdown in an NFL Wild-Card Playoff against the Buccaneers on Jan. 9, 2021 (AP Photo/Al Drago)
In 2021 offseason, the Commanders signed quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in hopes of him bringing some consistency to his position and the team. In his first regular season start he was injured and sidelined for the whole season, leaving backup quarterback Taylor Heincke to lead them. If that was not already hard enough, the 2020 defensive rookie of the year Chase Young torn his ACL halfway through the season.
The inconsistency brought frustration throughout all levels of the organization; it even came to blows at times. In the week 16 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, Washington got blown out of the water, losing 56-14. During the game, former Alabama collegemates and current Commanders teammates Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen got into it. Allen and Payne scrapped, and it led to a lot of bad press since the game was televised nationally.
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
In present day, Washington is looking at an upcoming season where they have bought into a player the organization believes could be their franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz. On top of that, multiple important players are coming back from injuries such as Young and wide receiver Curtis Samuel and they also drafted some new young players.
This is season can potentially be Ron Rivera’s most important of his tenure. Injuries have prohibited this team from playing to their fullest potential. The team is talented and has been to the playoffs in recent years. Nevertheless, there is just a lot of question marks that comes with this team.
Which Wentz is this team going to get: the Colts or the Eagles version? Will they get the 2017 Wentz or the 2020 Wentz? How will Curtis Samuel fit in the team’s system? How will Chase Young play after his ACL injury? Will the linebacking unit step up this year?
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Every team has their question marks, but Washington is full of them, arguably making them the hardest team to predict for the 2022 season. When firing on all cylinders, the talent of this team is capable of a 10-11-win season. When the team is inconsistent, like seen in the past, a 5-7-win season is possible as well.
Washington and Dallas are tied for the easiest strength of schedule for the 2022 NFL season with a percentile of .462. The Giants and Eagles are ranked right above with the Giants being 29th and the Giants being 30th. Considering the ease of their schedule, Washington has a chance of making the playoffs. Yet they also have a chance of falling short of that once again.
