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3 reasons Commanders shouldn’t bench Carson Wentz for Taylor Heinicke

By Jerry Trotta

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - JANUARY 09: Taylor Heinicke #4 of the Washington Football Team leaves the field after defeating the New York Giants 22-7 at MetLife Stadium on January 09, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - JANUARY 09: Taylor Heinicke #4 of the Washington Football Team leaves the field after defeating the New York Giants 22-7 at MetLife Stadium on January 09, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

2. Red zone offense crumbled with Heinicke in 2021

The problem with Heinicke last season wasn’t conducting long drives. The problem was ending those commanding drives with touchdowns.

In 2021, the Commanders scored touchdowns on just 52% of their red zone trips. That ranked 26th in the league behind the Giants (44.7%), Lions (46.6%), Bears (47.9%), Raiders (49.2%), Jaguars (51.2%) and Texans (51.3%). Those aren’t offenses any team should want to be associated with in terms of red zone efficiency.

If Heinicke has improved in this department, then by all means give him the keys to the offense. We just don’t want to have a repeat of last season, because field goals aren’t going to win games in today’s NFL, especially since Washington’s bend-but-don’t-break defense is still allowing explosive plays at an alarming rate.

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