Philadelphia Eagles: You can’t blame the O-Line for Carson Wentz’s mistakes
Carson Wentz played perhaps the worst game of his career against the New Orleans Saints, and there’s no way you can blame the offensive line for it.
The Philadelphia Eagles journey to repeating as Super Bowl Champs has been less than ideal. As they drop down to 4-6, and only one game ahead of the New York Giants in the NFC East, the Eagles have officially lost themselves in 2018. Which is a shame, considering there are a few veterans on board who missed being a part of last year’s Super Bowl run.
One player, in particular, would love to get back to the big game. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz was one of the reasons why the Eagles were so successful in 2017. He was playing at an MVP level, and rarely made mistakes. Especially in big-time situations. Unfortunately, we all know how his season ended last year. Torn ACL, out for the year, and forced to watch from the sidelines.
This year, Wentz came back with a vengeance. After missing the first couple of weeks, he came back and gave the Eagles a bit of a spark that they were missing during the first two games. Statistically, Wentz was having the best stretch of his career, but during Week 11, he played what is turning out to be arguably the worst game of his career.
What happened to Carson Wentz during Week 11?
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Last week, Wentz had a slow start against the Dallas Cowboys. Eventually, he picked up his play in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to get the job done. No big deal, right? Well, at least that’s what we thought. The slow start happened once again against the red-hot New Orleans Saints this week, but the NFC’s top dogs made Carson Wentz and the Eagles pay big time.
If you look at Wentz’s stats for the day, it’s not hard to tell that he played a rough game. Wentz went 19-for-33, 156 yards, zero touchdowns, and three interceptions. His passer rating of 31 on Sunday was a career-low. Does this tell you that Wentz is not going to bounce back? Absolutely not. But let’s not sit here and act like Wentz’s poor performance is anybody else’s fault.
Stop blaming the offensive line…
The Eagles offensive line isn’t playing well. This isn’t news. Carson Wentz has had some rough patches throughout the season that has been caused by a lack of protection. As of late though, when Wentz has a clean pocket, his passes have been inaccurate, and he’s struggling to execute. Putting all of the blame on the offensive line is a lazy narrative. Wentz is not perfect and should be held accountable for his mistakes.
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This past Sunday, Wentz threw three interceptions. The first pick was on a deep pass in the first half attempting to Nelson Agholor, who was double-teamed down the field. Although the decision to air it out to a player who was double-teamed was a bad choice, to begin with, Wentz underthrew the ball, which resulted in an easy interception for the Saints.
Wentz played terribly, and there’s no other way to put it
How much time did Wentz have to throw the ball on that first pick? He released the ball in roughly four seconds with a clean pocket. The next two mistakes came later on in the game when the Eagles were already desperate for points.
Wentz dropped back and had about three seconds to throw before the pressure was coming in. He did an excellent job of getting out of the pocket and stretching the play, but once again, he underthrew a ball to Golden Tate, which resulted in his second interception of the night.
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And finally, on the last play of the game for the Eagles offense, Wentz quickly lobbed up a hail mary type pass that went well over all of his receivers heads and resulted in another interception.
Aside from the three turnovers, there were many plays where Wentz looked unconfident and was making bad throws even to wide open receivers. Was Week 11 all of Wentz’s fault? Nope. That was a team loss all around. But enough with making excuses for Wentz. It’s time to acknowledge that he is at fault just like the rest of the offense.