Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz has been nominated for the FedEx Air Player of the Week award for his performance in the team's Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
During the first game for the Commanders with their new brand identity, Wentz completed 27-of-41 passes for 313 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Wentz recorded the fourth-most passing yards in Week 1 with the 11th-best completion rate (65.9%), the second-most touchdowns and the ninth-best passer rating. (101.0).
Wentz was also the first quarterback in franchise history to throw four-plus touchdowns in his first game with the organization.
"He's a guy we did a lot of research on," said head coach Ron Rivera. "We did a lot of work. We really did. Once we found that he was available, we watched tape and did all the analytics on him, and we felt pretty comfortable and confident to say that he's the kind of guy we need around here."
Wentz started the day off strong by leading the Commanders on back-to-back scoring drives, giving the team a 14-3 lead with touchdown tosses to Curtis Samuel and Jahan Dotson. Then, when the team was down eight points, he fired a 49-yard bomb to Terry McLaurin to close the gap.
"That was a heck of a call by Scott [Turner],” Rivera said. "I love the way he communicated what he wanted from Carson, and Carson went out and did it. That was big. That gave us a chance right there to win the football game."
With 1:46 left to play, Wentz also delivered a 24-yard strike to Dotson that gave Washington the lead for good.
"He's got some courage and will step up into the fray and accept responsibility," Rivera said of Wentz. "I'm very proud of what he did tonight."
In addition to Wentz, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs were also nominated for the award.
