Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Wentz a bit stunned at Birds’ deficiency on third downs
Carson Wentz was so bewildered by the Eagles’ 27- 17 loss to the Giants he didn’t realize how inept the offense had been.
The Eagles failed to convert nine third- down opportunities.
“I knew we struggled on third down, I didn’t realize we were that poor,” said Wentz, who completed 21 of 37 pass attempts for 208 yards. “Anytime you’re 0- for- 9 you’re obviously not doing something very well. Hats off to them. They had a good game plan. That’s a good defense over there. They made it hard on us. It’s extremely frustrating.”
The league leader with 16 giveaways entering the game, Wentz played turnoverfree for just the second time this season, yet to no avail. Quarterback counterpart Daniel Jones played his second straight game without a turnover, and his third of the season.
Though the Eagles were just 1- of- 4 on fourth down, adding insult to injury, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson complimented Wentz.
“I thought he played OK, I thought he played good,” Pederson said. “Obviously there were some throws we’d like to get back from the standpoint of accuracy. He managed the game in the run game really well. He put us in some really good situations, hung tough, did what he’s capable of doing. We just have to continue to work with him and our young skills guys to get on the same page. But I think overall he played well.”
Wentz was sacked three times. Entering the game he’d been dropped 32 times, the most in the league.
The Eagles started Sua
Opeta and Matt Pryor at the guard positions as Nate Herbig was nursing a hand injury. Opeta tripped Wentz backpedaling on a thirdandone in Giants territory in the first half. Pryor was better in the run game than pass protection.
Wentz couldn’t say enough about the Giants’ defense. Implied but not stated was that the Eagles failed to adjust to it.
“We don’t go into a game thinking we’re going to struggle like that and go 0- for- 9 on third downs and only put up a couple points,” Wentz said. “But I’ve got to give a lot of credit to that defense. I thought we had a good game plan ready to go. They made a lot more plays than us and we didn’t deserve to win.”
• • • Jones finished with nine rushes for 64 yards, including a 34- yard touchdown. He also had a 14yard score nullified by a borderline holding call on rookie first- round pick Andrew Thomas.
Hard to believe nobody got that memo, email, text message or whatever about Jones’ running skills. Not enough players bothered to study the previous game against Jones. He had the third- best rushing game by a quarterback this season, having dropped 92 yards on the Eagles in their first meeting.
“We knew that was coming,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. “When I see the film, I’ll see what actually happened. We knew they ran it a little bit different. We gave them 14 points early. We can’t do that. We’ve got to strike first. When you play a team two times it’s all about who strikes first, who came to play. We put ourselves back in position to win the game but obviously
we didn’t make the plays at the end.”
The Giants had a seasonhigh 36 rushes for 151 yards and two TDs. They’re 9- 0 when they rush 30 or more times since the start of the 2017 season.
• • • NOTES » Alshon Jeffery had one target and no catches, getting just a piece of a Wentz pass that sailed over his head. … Boston Scott’s 56- yard scoring run was his fourth TD in four games against the Giants. … Corey Clement’s five- yard run getting the Eagles within 2117 of the Giants in the third quarter was his first TD rush
since the 2018 campaign, also against the Giants. … Eagles defensive tackle Malik Jackson committed two penalties Sunday, including a personal foul that allowed the Giants to kill the clock. That gives him a team- high five penalties on the season. … Wide receiver JJ ArcegaWhiteside was a healthy scratch for the first time. … In the injury department, tight end Dallas Goedert got back in the contest after being evaluated for a head injury in the first quarter. Special teams standout Rudy Ford exited in the second half with another hamstring issue.