Wentz’s flash of brilliance highlights night at Lambeau
Carson Wentz planned to go through his progressions, match footwork to his throws and even take a few hits in the preseason opener Thursday.
Well, at least he checked the box for hits. Under intense pressure, the Eagles’ quarterback rolled with instincts. Wentz needed all of his imagination and improvisational skills to direct an out-of-sync offense on a 10-play, 60-yard march against the Green Bay Packers capped by a 38yard throw to rookie Mack Hollins, who stiff-armed two defenders before tightroping into the end zone at Lambeau Field.
That’s all the Eagles needed to see out of Wentz as they wisely gave him the rest of the evening off.
That’s just about all the Eagles did well in the allimportant first half although Jordan Hicks and Fletcher Cox forced a fumble recovered by cornerback Patrick Robinson. It would have meant more had Aaron Rodgers played.
Wentz was special as he completed 4 of 4 attempts for 56 yards with one touchdown and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. He constantly was under attack by Packers blitzers, the Philly run game with LeGarrette Blount (four carries, 9 yards) less than formidable.
Wentz was sacked once and hit at least three times yet made two exceptional plays.
On fourth-and-six at the 42-yard line of the Packers, Wentz worked the pocket, buying time with a pump fake and shook off a hit to a lower leg to find Jordan Matthews for a first down.
The next one came with Clay Matthews blitzing off the right side on thirdand-13 at the 37 of the Packers.
Wentz bailed out, sending Matthews careening into a sea of bodies and somehow located Hollins, who sure didn’t look like a rookie as he bullied the Green Bay secondary all the way to the end zone. Hollins had a huge night.
The Eagles gained just 23 yards on the first nine plays of the drive, excluding penalties. They also failed to execute on the two-point attempt following the score. More observations: • Rookie fourth-round pick Donnel Pumphrey was overwhelmed in his preseason debut. Pumphrey fumbled on a run, the Eagles recovering. He later muffed a punt, recovering it at the Philly 9. He’s no Darren Sproles, much less Christian McCaffery.
• The Eagles’ “heavy” package with Blount (250 pounds) running behind Dillon Gordon, the 322-pound fullback, takes so long to develop it’s like watching something in slow motion.
• Special teams coach Dave Fipp’s punt return team was gashed too much of the night, its worst effort coming when Trevor Davis returned a Donnie Jones punt 68 yards for a score.
• With Alshon Jeffery scratched, Matthews was the most productive of the first-team receivers as he caught three passes for 18 yards. Nelson Agholor needed one yard for a first down on a jet sweep. He lost one yard. He also failed to pull in Wentz’s high throw on the two-point attempt. Torrey Smith wasn’t thrown a pass.
• Tight end Trey Burton uncharacteristically fumbled the ball away trying to get extra yardage after a catch.
• Eagles rookie pass rusher Derek Barnett looks like a finisher as he not only drove the tackle in front of him backward, but alertly stepped and put the quarterback on the ground.
• Linebacker Mychal Kendricks, phased out of the nickel package because teams throw against the Birds 70 percent of the time, intercepted a pass.
• Cornerback C.J. Smith was roasted in the first half, giving up a TD and generally looking like the only reason he’s on the team is he was a teammate of Wentz’s at North Dakota State. Jalen Mills is over-aggressive in coverage. He could have been flagged for interference a couple of times.
• Trade rumors: We have it on good authority that the Eagles are turning over every rock to fortify the cornerback position, where Ron Brooks went down with a hamstring injury. Tramaine Brock, cut by the 49ers, is one of the guys they checked out per reports. The Niners let him go after he was charged with domestic violence. The charges were dismissed. Brock turns 29 this month and is sevenyear veteran. Do they want to test their locker room now? NOTABLE SCRATCHES » Eagles, Jeffery (WR), Brandon Brooks (RG), Wendell Smallwood (RB). Packers, Rodgers (QB), Jordy Nelson (WR). INJURIES » Nickel cornerback Ron Brooks, coming back from a torn ACL, injured a hamstring strain. Right tackle Hal Vaitai hurt a knee. Receiver Bryce Treggs (7 catches, 91 yards) saw his night interrupted by a strained hamstring. IN CONCLUSION » NBC10 strives to be different in its presentation of the meaningless preseason games it broadcasts.
It presented footage gleaned from the Eagles Network, which miked up Doug Pederson and ran it during breaks in the action.
Here are some of the Pederson outtakes (caution: this could cause drowsiness, don’t operate heavy machinery):
∙ “Oh, be loose, man, get loose!”
• “Keep your eyes focused.”
• “You’re reading me, right? You’re reading me!”
• “Try to hit that one on the run.”
• “Good timing, good timing, roll with your eyes, roll with your eyes, get up the field, stay inside!”
• “Iron sharpens iron, we talked about that before.”
• “There we go, there we go. Hustle back offense, find the ball!”
• “Hey, snap count is our weapon now. Let’s go. Focus, focus!”
• “Believe it men, believe it!”
• “Take care of each other. Spend time with one another. Take care of each other. Everybody get your mind right to make a nice run this year.”