Downhill from 2020 opener for Wentz
For former Eagles QB, flashpoint may have come in Week 1
What may be overlooked in the saga of former Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is how quickly things unraveled in the 2020 season opener at Washington after he was in total command and playing as great as ever through most of the first half.
An argument could be made that Wentz never played better than he did for the first 28 minutes against the Football Team, leading the Eagles to a 17-0 lead by completing 14 of 18 passes for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
On the first, he finished off a remarkably efficient, six-play opening drive by first pulling the ball back from Boston Scott’s belly on an RPO, then looking off J.J. Arcega-Whiteside — cutting toward the back of the end zone from the right side — and opting instead for tight end Zach Ertz, who was doing the same from the other side. Wentz made the right decision, threaded the needle. Touchdown.
On the second, Wentz killed a play at the line after seeing a coverage matchup he could exploit: Tight end Dallas Goedert being covered by linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis with a single high safety in the middle of the field for help.
Goedert allowed Pierre-Louis to leverage him toward the help on the inside, but it didn’t matter because Goedert ran right past him. Then he turned to the outside, away from the safety, knowing Wentz would hit him as he was approaching the corner of the end zone all by
himself.
This was a veteran quarterback making all the right calls and all the accurate throws to have his team up 17-0.
Flawless.
Until the Eagles regained possession with 1:44 left in the half and leading by 17.
Instead of trying a running play on first down, coach Doug Pederson called a pass that could have been the one the most significant of the season and resonate for the next decade.
Wentz threw behind Jalen Reagor on a simple squareout pattern. Fabian Moreau intercepted, and the Washington was able to convert that turnover into a touchdown and necessary momentum heading to halftime.
After intermission, Wentz was a different animal, a mechanical and indecisive wreck for the rest of the way until being benched in favor of rookie Jalen Hurts.
The Eagles lost that day and seven more times in his 11 other starts before exasperated Pederson had to switch to Hurts or risk losing the team.
Wentz would have flashes of brilliance from time to time, but he would go on to lead the NFL in interceptions and sacks absorbed despite being limited to 12 games. Many of the interceptions and sacks were his fault. It was as bad a season as a starting quarterback can have in this era of NFL football, in which the quarterback is protected more than ever by rules changes designed to promote offense.
In a season that featured more scoring than any in league history, the Eagles and the New York Jets were the only teams who failed to score 30 in any game.
Maybe it was just a coincidence that Wentz would end up being dropped for a careerhigh eight sacks and hit six other times in that opener, but it sure looked like that game — and perhaps that first interception — was the flashpoint for his Eagles career.
After that, Wentz sometimes failed to complete even the simplest of swing passes while not under duress. He suddenly struggled with the speed of the game.
According to reports, he kept growing more dissatisfied with Pederson’s play calls and often reacted by changing them — many times into something that didn’t work.
Nobody saw this coming. Because even after failing to recapture the magic that made him the perceived front-runner for the league’s MVP Award in 2017 until landing on injured reserve with a wrecked knee, Wentz still had proven to be an elite quarterback.
As recently as the final four regular-season games of 2019, there was evidence. In that stretch, Wentz completed 117 of 173 passes (67.6%) for 1,199 yards, seven TDs and no interceptions.
The Eagles won all four to capture the NFC East and make the playoffs, where he lasted just nine snaps against the Seattle Seahawks, thanks to a concussion. Thus the Eagles saw three seasons in a row end the same way — with them in the playoffs and Wentz on the sideline.
Of course, it wasn’t so bad the first two times. Nick Foles led them to the Super Bowl championship the first time and a playoff victory the next. But Josh McCown was a disaster filling in for Wentz against Seattle, which eliminated the Eagles with an ugly 17-9 victory.
So when the Eagles saw that Hurts, coming off a monster senior season at Oklahoma in which he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up, was still on the board in the second round, they shocked the world and pounced.
Although recent reports suggest Wentz was bothered by that, he told reporters in May, “If I were to start questioning [general manager] Howie [Roseman] and the management now, I’d really be questioning myself. Because when I signed the deal that I did, it was really my way of showing that I trust and believe in what we’re doing in Philly and they trust and believe in me.”
But it seems that confidence was built upon a shaky foundation that crumbled at the first hint of adversity.
Did one play call or one game turn Wentz’s entire Eagles’ career around? Of course not.
But it served to underscore just how fragile his confidence and his ego were.
And now he’s trying to be rebuilt in Indianapolis, where head coach Frank Reich and his staff will have to fix his mindset before even getting into mechanics and decision-making.
They have their work cut out. By the time Wentz was benched, the Eagles had to move on, whether Wentz demanded it or not, because the quarterback with the best future was going to stay.