3 takeaways from Washington Commanders' Week 1 win against Jacksonville Jaguars as Carson Wentz passes test 

The first week of the 2022 NFL season is officially in the books. The Jacksonville Jaguars had high expectations coming into the new season, but they got off to the worst possible start as they fell to a 28-22 defeat to the Washington Commanders.

Here are three major talking points from the game:

#1 James Robinson and Christian Kirk will be the featured weapons for this Jags offense

Fantasy owners, listen up! If you have the chance to acquire any pieces of this Jaguars offense, Robinson and Kirk are the two guys you should target.

I was hesitant to use any draft capital on Robinson, as he was coming off a torn Achilles sustained in late December. However, the Jags’ top running back didn’t seem to have really lost a step; he didn’t shy away from initiating contact as a runner and handled 11 of 18 carries on the day, resulting in 66 yards and a touchdown, along with another three-yard score on a little dump-off in the flats.

Christian Kirk was a topic of conversation this offseason for a different reason, as the name most closely associated with the rise in wide receiver salaries. He cashed in on a contract worth $18 million dollars annually.

Kirk ended up hauling in half of his 12 targets on the day for 115 yards (42.5% of the team’s total passing output). Second-year back Travis Etienne, who was selected the highest among all fantasy formats, only touched the ball six times and had a really ugly drop on fourth-and-goal, basically on the exact same route Robinson scored on later.

#2 Carson Wentz could have easily crumbled, but instead he delivered

Jacksonville Jaguars v Washington Commanders

The stage was set. Wentz was playing his former head coach Doug Pederson, who had replaced him with then-rookie Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia.

Washington’s newest option under center played well in the first half, to put his team up 14-3. After the Jags came within two in the second half, Wentz threw an interception to start the fourth quarter. Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell did a great job of undercutting a deep out route by rookie Jahan Dotson, setting up the field goal that gave the visitors a 15-14 lead.

Down 22-14 following a Jags touchdown, the Commanders came back out and their quarterback hit Logan Thomas on a deep out to convert third-and-eight, before delivering perfectly to Terry McLaurin for a 49-yard score.

After his defense forced a stop, Wemtz executed another 90-yard TD drive, extended by a strike to Thomas on a dig route on third-and-10. He then finished off with a dime to Dotson on an out-and-up for a 24-yard TD.

The subsequent two-point conversion put Washington six up and they saw off the rest of the game without any fuss.

#3 Being a young team without late-game experience cost Jacksonville this game

This seems kind of ironic, since the guy Wentz ultimately got to jump on third-and-three, which allowed the Commanders to run down the clock, was Folorunso Fatukasi, who’s in his fifth year in the league. But he’s still part of this rebuilding program.

There were several instances where the Jaguars' inexperience cost them. Apart from the gruesome drop by Etienne on fourth-and-goal, which should have been an easy touchdown, their second-year kicker Riley Patterson hit a 37-yard field goal attempt off the upright at 14-3.

And as highly as I think of him as a talent, Trevor Lawrence made a couple of really bad decisions at the end of the game. On third-and-four just inside Washington territory when they were up 22-20, he didn’t get the ball to Evan Engram, who was about to break wide open on a pivot route out of a bunch set.

Then as they got the ball back trailing by six and get to third-and-11, he put a ball up for grabs at the sideline, which Darrick Forrest was able to pick off.

There’s still a lot to learn for this bunch and they may find themselves losing a lot of these tight contests.