Eagles can ill afford another slow start
It’s going to take more than Wentz, Ertz to get Birds winning again
PHILADELPHIA >> Carson Wentz says he trusts the play-calling of Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and the coaching staff.
It’s what Wentz does that makes you wonder.
Anybody else believe that Pederson would concoct a game plan where Zach Ertz is targeted 16 times?
It happened Sunday in a 27-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Just listening to Wentz’s explanation for the activity overload was entertaining because for whatever reason, the Eagles’ win-loss record isn’t so hot when their Pro Bowl tight end has double-digit catches, as he did this past weekend.
“I think you can get too dialed in on anybody within a game but at the end of the day, are we having success or not is kind of how you measure that?” Wentz said Wednesday. “And what is the matchup presenting itself? Everyone knows Zach knows his abilities out there and knows he’s a tough cover for a corner or a safety or whoever they put on him. So, you know, we trust him to make plays and get open and he’s done a great job of that.”
The Wentz-Ertz daily double speaks volumes about the trust the quarterback has in both the game plan and his personnel.
Teams aren’t going to let Alshon Jeffery beat them. The scheme isn’t exactly getting the best of Nelson Agholor. Until recent acquisition Golden Tate passes the crash course he’s getting in Pederson’s offense, Wentz’s choices will remain limited.
Ertz unquestionably is a nightmare for any defender. The 6-5, 250-pound veteran of six seasons rarely has an issue getting open. And he’s made several huge plays, none bigger than scoring the winning touchdown in Super Bowl LII. With 75 receptions, Ertz ranks among the league leaders. He’s on pace for an insane 133 receptions. (The NFL record for a tight end is Jason Witten’s 110 catches in 2012.)
The counterpoint is that Ertz caught 14 passes against the Cowboys and it still wasn’t good enough for the Eagles to prevail. After the second touchdown, the Cowboys realized they’d better devote more attention to Ertz.
Ertz came up short on two of the biggest plays of the game partly because the Cowboys knew Wentz would throw to his tight end.
On fourth-and-seven late in the game, Ertz was tackled one yard short of the first down at the 29yard line of the Cowboys with 1:17 to go. After the Cowboys burned clock, Wentz directed the Eagles up the field, but the contest ended at the nine-yard line of the Cowboys, Ertz catching a 23-yard pass and lateralling to Tate for no gain.
The loss wasn’t Ertz’s fault. He was the only guy to consistently get open. The setback made the Eagles 4-5 overall. Oh, and the Eagles are 2-7 in games when Ertz catches 10 or more passes, including 0-4 this season.
“One of the things we haven’t done a very good job of this year is we haven’t finished those plays, especially late in the games,” Pederson said. “Whether it be the offense executing a game-winning drive or the defense finishing and getting an offense off the field. Right now, that’s the focus.”
Ertz estimated that none of his targets came on set plays, and that the defensive mismatches were too much to ignore. And that’s a concern. Wentz is going to need a Plan B in a hurry for the defending Super Bowl champions to return to the playoffs.
Eagles center Jason Kelce Wednesday lamented the loss of veterans leaders on offense as a big reason for the Eagles being so inconsistent.
“I don’t know why the consistency and the accountability hasn’t been there,” Kelce said. “I’m saying that we had guys last year, a lot of guys, especially the veteran leaders who were here in Brent Celek, who had been doing it for a long time and he was accountable. You had LeGarrette Blount who had been doing it for a long time, and he was accountable. Torrey Smith. And the list goes on. This year it hasn’t been there. If you look at the offense that’s the biggest thing we’re missing. We’re missing guys consistently doing their jobs. And that’s what we had last year.”
That on-point analysis coincides with the problem areas on the Eagles, although it’s the other tight ends, not Ertz, who have been challenged. The offensive line hasn’t been great either, as it’s given up 28 sacks in nine games.
All of this leaves the Eagles clinging to the hope that a victory on the road against the hottest, most explosive team in football, the New Orleans Saints, can turn the season around.
It’s going to take more than Wentz and Ertz to get it done.