Wentz wins when odds in his favor
Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer had one question after the Philadelphia Eagles’ 48-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in the Superdome in New Orleans.
When will Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz beat the odds?
“When Carson Wentz has a really big day through the air, the Eagles lose,” Ford wrote. “There is some logic to that, of course. When quarterbacks are forced to throw the ball a lot and finish with a significant number of passing yards, that can mean their teams were behind for much of the game, or were perhaps playing against a prevent defense that exchanged yardage for time elapsed. (That wasn’t the case with Drew Brees and his 363 yards for the Saints on Sunday afternoon in the Superdome, but nevertheless.)
“The trend usually requires applying that context for the failure, but, in the case of Carson Wentz and the Eagles, it has been remarkably predictable. When Wentz throws for 308 or more yards — which he has done nine times in his career — the Eagles are 0-9.
“Similarly, when the game requires a big scoring output by the Eagles, there is also a troubling trend with Wentz. If the other team scores more than 26 points, the Eagles are 1-11 when Wentz is the starter. Even that lone win comes with an asterisk. It was the 43-35 win over the Rams last season, the game that was finished by Nick Foles after Wentz injured his knee.
“Until Wentz wins a shootout, or overcomes the team’s deficiencies by himself, opponents are going to make sure the game is ‘on him.’ That’s not his fault. He is in this position because the Eagles aren’t as deep as they were last season, and are more susceptible to being rendered onedimensional.
“No one has to be reminded, of course, that when the Eagles did beat the toughest of odds, survive the biggest of tests, and leave other teams floundering in their own game plans, Carson Wentz wasn’t the quarterback.”