Wentz proves ready for must-win challenges
Wentz shows he’s ready for must-win challenges
PHILADELPHIA >> With draft picks and money, with surgeries and faith, with all they could gather as an organization, the Eagles had committed themselves to what they have come so close to experiencing.
Soon, if the indicators from their 17-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday are accurate, Carson Wentz will lead them into a playoff game for the first time in his four NFL seasons.
The way he has played in recent weeks indicates he will be ready. That included Sunday, when he completed 31 of 40 passes for 319 yards, did not commit a turnover, led two touchdown drives, was sacked once, and outplayed Dak Prescott for all of 60 minutes. More, he did so without the once-expected excellence of DeSean Jackson, Nelson Agholor, Alshon Jeffery, Darren Sproles and Jordan Howard, but with a younger, fresher core of contributors.
“I think he just continues to coach on the field,” Doug Pederson said. “You see him during the games talking with these guys. And it’s just helping him. I think you’re seeing the trust factor with some of these young guys. He’s leaning on them a little bit more. And that’s what you have to do.”
Unable to remain healthy
at the end of either of his past two seasons, Wentz has been spectacular in December of this one, leading multiple late drives for a Monday night win over the Giants, propelling the Eagles to a victory last week in Washington, and playing with a certain calm and rhythm Sunday with first place on the line.
“That,” Pederson said, “was a playoff game.”
To the extent that had the Eagles lost, their season would have been over, Pederson was onto something. If so, then Wentz had his first opportunity to play major-league, single-elimination football … and not be eliminated.
“It felt great,” the quarterback said. “It felt great to be out there with my guys again. That playoff atmosphere, you can’t beat it, especially being at home here. The fans were awesome. The guys made plays. But at the end of the day, we still have one more.”
That will be Sunday in North Jersey against the Giants. If the Eagles win, or if the Cowboys lose to visiting Washington, they will be in the real postseason, not the kind-of variety.
Wentz may never receive full credit for his contributions to the 2017-18 championship because he was injured for the postseason. But he can begin to repay the Eagles for their continued faith.
“Carson played great, and it was fully anticipated,” said Jason Kelce, a noted orator known to catalogue championship-season contributions. “We all have a lot of faith in Carson Wentz as a player. We put a lot on his shoulders and he does not shy away or back down from anything. He wants everything on his shoulders.
“And that’s what you want in a marquee guy like him.”
In recent weeks, Wentz has surfaced as the master of the clock-eating scoring drive. Sunday, he was 5-for-5 on a 10-play, 80-yard third-quarter march that culminated in a one-yard Miles Sanders TD burst to help push an Eagles lead to 17-6.
“Man, I told you from the jump: That’s a bad man,” Sanders said. “I’ve got all the respect and all the confidence in him. And I’ve got his back. He’s going to give his all for us. And I am going to give it all for my team too.”
That’s the template for successful offensive football, the quarterback spreading confidence, the confidence becoming contagious. It’s what the Eagles have had in mind for Wentz all along, and why the moment of desperation Sunday was widely considered a test of his postseason readiness.
“It’s someone different making the big play every week,” Wentz said. “But you can just feel the belief of guys that, ‘Hey, we’re going to get this done. We’re going to win this game. We’re going to find a way. And we did that again.”