The NFL season opener on Sunday was proof that Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles could get off to a slow start on Sunday.
We’re one step closer to Sunday afternoon. In just a few days, the Philadelphia Eagles will take the field for a 1 PM matchup against their NFC East rivals, the Washington Redskins. After pretty much seeing little-to-no action from the Eagles starters in the preseason, Sunday’s matchup just becomes a lot more anticipated this time around.
Everybody is excited because football is back. And since the Eagles are playing what is supposed to be an inferior opponent, many are expecting to see a good old Philly beatdown on the field. While they should win the game on Sunday — nobody should get ahead of themselves and feel great disappointment if the Eagles offense doesn’t come out firing on all cylinders right away.
Many say that preseason doesn’t matter — and that’s techincally true. It doesn’t count for anything. However, missing a majority of the reps can make it difficult for teams to get off to a quick start. Thursday night’s season-opener was the perfect example of that.
The Chicago Bears hosted the Green Bay Packers to kick off the 100th season. In a low-scoring, defensive battle, the game ended up concluding with 13 total points scored. While both defenses played well, it was clear that both offenses were slightly off.
Good quarterback play was almost non-existent. Ironically enough, Mitchell Trubisky and Aaron Rodgers were amongst the handful of QBs around the league who didn’t get a single snap in the preseason. Unfortunately, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz falls under that category as well.
Will Wentz be able to get hot early?
The best news about Carson Wentz this week is that he’s healthy. For the first time since 2017, there’s no injury he’s fighting through while entering the season. While Wentz had a solid training camp worth talking about, nobody has seen his progress in action quite yet.
Not only did the Eagles quarterback sit out for the entire preseason, but he also hasn’t played since early December of last year. This week, the Eagles are fortunate to be playing an opponent that they should beat at home. And there’s no doubt that they can seal the deal.
However, it will be interesting to see if the Eagles can improve one of their most significant flaws from the 2018 season. That’s getting off to a quick start, offensively. Last year, the Eagles’ offense didn’t seem to wake up until the second half on a weekly basis. That ended up being one of their biggest downfalls after being a team that pounced on teams quickly the previous year.
In 2019, the Eagles need to get back to fast starts. The good news is that Wentz has proved in the past that he can get off to a decent start after missing most of the preseason during his rookie year. This year though, the pressure is on.
Wentz is no rookie. He’s a veteran leader who’s getting paid the big bucks nowadays. He’s expected to be an MVP-caliber player. The hope is that his skills, health, and veteran experience will help the Eagles offense get off to a red-hot start — but it’s also necessary to understand the consequences that come with not having preseason reps as a team with new skill players around.
We’ll see if Wentz joins the trend of Mitchell Trubisky and Aaron Rodgers. Or maybe, he can break the mold and prove that preseason reps don’t make much that much of a difference. We will be able to come to a verdict this Sunday.