Jaguars win, jumble NFC playoff field
JACKSONVILLE – An NFC playoff picture that was starting to look clear a week ago now is in disarray, following a wild weekend in which two of the top four seeds lost.
The No. 1 seed Eagles managed to escape with a 43-35 win against the Los Angeles Rams, but the Eagles
now face serious questions about their future after quarterback — and MVP candidate — Carson Wentz left the game in the second half with a knee injury.
Should Wentz’s injury be seasonending, the Eagles, who clinched the NFC East Sunday, could no longer be considered the favorite in the NFL, which will set up a wild final three weeks of the season. No other division races have been decided, and the wild-card race could come down to a complicated process of tiebreakers.
The Eagles managed to rally after Wentz’s injury and scored a defensive touchdown with no time on the clock after the Rams’ attempt at a lateral play failed, and it wasn’t even the most insane ending to an NFC game of the day.
The Seattle Seahawks fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-24 but lost their
How fitting.
Wentz, whose spectacular season put him in the conversation for NFL MVP honors, did so much to help the Eagles get to the point where they have re-established themselves as a Super Bowl favorite.
He deserves this celebration, which the Eagles (11-2) hope leads to a bigger festivity down the road.
Yet the manner in which the Eagles closed out the Rams exhibited something else that has suddenly become even more relevant as they brace for the possibility of making a Super Bowl run with Foles.
This is not a one-man team. Never was. Surely isn’t now.
Certainly, the Eagles will miss the Wentz magic, displayed again in the first head-to-head matchup against Jared Goff, the quarterback chosen one slot ahead of him atop the NFL draft.
On Wentz’s final throw of the day, he connected with Alshon Jeffery for a magnificent 2-yard touchdown — the throw, as he was boxed in by rushers, was threaded into a tiny window in the middle of the end zone and which the receiver snagged about 2 inches from the turf before pinning it to his hip — that illustrated why he’s an MVP candidate.
It was the type of play Goff couldn’t deliver when his team needed it most.
Unfortunately, the play that caused the injury was also a reminder of the gutsy baller in Wentz that can lead to the misfortune the Eagles now face. He was hurt when he collided in the end zone with Mark Barron and Morgan Fox near the end of the third quarter, completing a 2-yard scramble that wound up not counting because of a penalty.
Then again, the play counted because of the toll on Wentz.
Still, the Eagles collectively picked up the slack like the best teams are prone to do.
“I just think that people did a good job of not flinching,” defensive end Chris Long said.
Now they could pressed to keep winning with Foles.
No team wants to lose its starting quarterback, but the Eagles — as consistent and balanced as any team in the league — are probably the most equipped of any playoff contender to make up for the loss.
It’s not a good problem to have. But it’s life in the NFL.
Foles is no Wentz, but he completed a huge, clock-killing third-down completion to Nelson Agholor and never turned the ball over Sunday. Ready or not?
“I’m absolutely ready,” Foles said.