Wentz’s second-half heroics not enough
PHILADELPHIA » Carson Wentz has played better.
The Eagles’ quarterback has thrown four or more touchdown passes four times, recorded a passer rating of 128.3 and on a knee with two torn ligaments, threw his 33rd TD pass to set the club record.
None of those efforts compare to how Wentz took over in the second half of the Eagles’ 30-28 loss to the Ravens Sunday at Lincoln Financial.
Hit almost every snap by a formidable defense that topped the league in fewest points allowed, Wentz got back up again and guided a fleet of receivers who aren’t all in the game program to a fourth-quarter surge that had the visitors on their heels.
Wentz threw scoring passes to tight end Jason Croom and wide receiver Travis Fulgham, and ran for a touchdown as the Eagles outscored the Ravens, 22-6, in the final frame. Entering the day the Ravens allowed an average of just 15.2 points on the season and 4.6 points in the second half.
All of that and Wentz, despite six sacks, completed his first game of the season without throwing an interception, although his fumble set up a Ravens touchdown in the first half. It came on a day the Eagles lost three more starters in running back Miles Sanders, tight end Zach Ertz and right tackle Jack Driscoll.
“These guys, to give us the chance to tie it up at the end of the game,” Wentz said of his teammates before interrupting himself. “Obviously, we came up short and we’re frustrated with that but I’m proud of these guys and we’ll keep building with this. We have a quick week to turn it around and start going in the right direction.”
The Eagles (1-4-1) oppose the Giants (1-5) Thursday at the Linc. The Giants defeated Washington, 20-19, Sunday. That’s just not enough time for Doug Pederson to ditch the two-point read option play that didn’t work with rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts and proved to be fatal with Wentz.
After Wentz dropped a TD pass between three defenders to Fulgham, cutting the deficit to two points with 1:55 to go, the Eagles tried the option. While Wentz pulled the ball back from Boston Scott, linebacker L.J. Fort, who was cut by the Eagles, tackled both of them to stop the play.
The Ravens recovered the onside kick and with quarterback Lamar Jackson putting the finishing touches on a day with nine rushes for 108 yards and a touchdown, burned the rest of the clock.
The two-point conversion attempt never had a chance.
“We probably did get a little later out of the huddle than we wanted,” Wentz said. “I think it’s a 20-second play clock. It seems like it goes pretty quick on a two-point play. We have to be more urgent to get up to the line and get our calls and get our checks. We had a scouted look there that we felt confident in. They made a good play, made life tough on us. It’s frustrating to come up short but hats off to them.”
Fort had help from Matthew Judon, who also got penetration on the play.
“L.J. Fort getting the last stop as we said before was really great,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “We were bringing pressure there. Both of those guys were right where they were supposed to be, and that’s why we had too many people for the gaps. They executed the defense very well.”
Wentz played like a quarterback possessed in the second half. On one touchdown series, he broke several tackles on a 40-yard run before being shoved out of bounds.
“Pain and soreness, bumps and bruises, that’s part of football,” Wentz said. “Every guy out there is feeling something along those lines within the games, you don’t notice those things. Obviously, you wake up the next morning, you’re going to be a little sore. That’s part of football. That’s part of life. I’ll be fine.”
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Ertz limped off the field in the second half, his right ankle ailing, with less than
10 minutes remaining. Ertz caught four of 10 passes
thrown him for 33 yards, the longest 11 yards.
Earlier running back Miles Sanders limped off with a knee issue after a 74-yard run. He finished with nine rushes for a season-high 118 yards. Sanders’ third-quarter fumble into the end zone was recovered by teammate JJ ArcegaWhiteside, for his second TD.
Eagles rookie safety K’Von Wallace exited in the first half after injuring his shoulder making a tackle on a punt return.
Driscoll hurt his right angkle and was helped off
Additionally, defensive tackle Malik Jackson, who had the only sack of Jackson, exited with an injured quad.
Defensive end Brandon
Graham, who has played through bumps and bruises, is hopeful some of his teammates will return Thursday as the Eagles try to save their season.
“I just know that it’s not how you start it’s how you finish,” said Graham, who had six tackles, including two for loss and a quarterback hurry. “Our goal right now is to just to win the NFC East and get healthy and make sure that we take care of what we need to take care of this week. We’ve got a short week with the Giants. We’ve got to move on. We’ve got 10 games left. We can turn this thing around and we’re not far off at all. We still believe in each other. At the end of the day, that’s all I really
care about is everybody still believing and knowing that we’re one play away from being where we want to be and one turnover away from being where we want to be. We just got to do it.”
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NOTES» Fulgham led the Eagles with six receptions for 75 yards. “He’s a baller,” Wentz said. … Wentz is 15-18-1 including the playoffs since the 2017 Super Bowl season … Pederson is 11-9 in October, although just 5-6 since the Super Bowl parade … It was the first win in Philly for the Ravens, who are 1-2 here … There were three sacks of Wentz and four hurries by
34-year-old Ravens defensive lineman Calais Campbell.