Wentz expects loud NDS contingent in Minnesota
PHILADELPHIA >> From Fargo to Grand Forks, from Bismarck to Brainerd, Carson Wentz anticipates a huge following of family, friends and North Dakota State University fans to make their way to Minneapolis to see the Eagles oppose the Vikings Sunday.
It’s a quaint, manageable trip. The scenic route featuring the Paul Bunyan statue photo op is a little longer than the Philly-to-Penn State drive.
“This is three hours from North Dakota and from NDSU as well,” Wentz said Wednesday. “So, without a doubt there will be a big contingency of family, friends and everything. And I’m excited that they’ll get to see me play live.”
The last time Wentz was at U.S. Bank Stadium he watched Nick Foles hoist the Lombardi Trophy in a sea of confetti after earning MVP honors leading the Eagles to a victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
While Wentz called this contest “just a regular season game,” it’s a chance to show some of those same NDSU folks what could have been and to elevate the Eagles (3-2) over the Vikings (3-2) in the tight NFC wonloss column. Both teams are 2-2 in the conference.
It’s certainly not going to get any easier for Wentz to get the ball down the field without DeSean Jackson, who is rehabbing again this week.
It’s going to take all of Wentz’s verve to steer the three-point underdog Eagles into victory lane basically because the Vikings don’t just play defense.
“This is a really good opponent, a good test,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said.” They have a good defense, good offense, they’re wellcoached and they’re a disciplined group. But this is the start of kind of that run. If you want to get to where you want to get to at the end the year, these are games that are sort of benchmark games for us.”
The run Pederson referred to is the start of a three-game road trip through Minneapolis, Dallas and Buffalo. The combined records of those teams — 10-5.
Though the Eagles thumped the punch-less New York Jets, 31-6, last week, two of the touchdowns came from the defense.
The Eagles’ passing numbers have shrunk in consecutive games partly because Wentz (10 TDs, two interceptions) has avoided turnovers by throwing the ball away more.
Wentz’s 60.3 completion percentage is next-to-worst in the league among qualified quarterbacks. Only Baker Mayfield (55.9 percent) is worse.
“It’s just a part of the game and it’s definitely something I want to improve on and get higher, for sure,” said Wentz, who conceded the number may be impacted by putting some of this throws out of play.
The nucleus of the Vikings defense is defensive end Danielle Hunter, linebacker Anthony Barr and safety Harrison Smith. The exotic blitzes by a veteran cast that make the Vikings so difficult to solve won’t have time to reach Wentz if the 12-personnel package featuring tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert is working. Only four teams have faced the blitz more than the Eagles this season, who have been relatively unscathed fighting it off 28 times.
“Teams want to stay nickel when we’re putting out tiger personnel,” Wentz said of the two tight end packages. “We’re getting Dallas blocking a nickel sometimes or Ertz blocking a nickel. Those are mismatches in the run game. But also, we feel confident in the passing game that there’s going to be mismatches across the board. When we have two special tight ends the way we do, we can use them effectively.”
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, who has his own fish to fry with a receiving corps critical of the shift toward the run, has a lot of work ahead of him.
“Ertz is an unbelievable football player, catches the ball great,” Zimmer said on a conference call. “Wentz looks the same to me, the way he moves, the way he’s hard to tackle, the way he reads the coverages. I think he does a great job and really a lot of the things they do regardless of the personnel is similar. They’re an aggressive offensive unit and I think (Jordan) Howard’s added another dimension to them.”
The Eagles lead the league with 10 dropped passes. They haven’t gotten a lot of production out of their wide receiver corps. Alshon Jeffery hasn’t gained more than 20 yards on any of his 14 receptions this season. Nelson Agholor is averaging just 5.9 yards per target, one of the lowest figures in the league. That’s partly because defenses don’t respect the deep game that Jackson gave the Eagles.
“It’s something where you really don’t want to force the issue,” Wentz said. “We’re going to take shot when they’re there. We had I think two big chances last game that we just missed. They’re there to be made and we’ve just got to make them when they come up. But again, it’s something where we’re not going to force the issue on that and almost go panic mode and say we’ve got to take a shot. We’re just going to take what the defense gives up and try to stay ahead of the chains and move the ball.”
Stand in line if you’re having a hard time visualizing Wentz toning it down in front of that “big contingency” of fandom this weekend.