Philadelphia Eagles: 5 Keys to a win versus Los Angeles in Week 2

1. The Philadelphia Eagles need Carson Wentz to be comfortable.

Last week, head coach Doug Pederson was less than creative. The running game was comprised of, mostly, inside zone runs. Carson Wentz spent a lot of time waiting for routes to develop (and they often didn’t). On far too many occasions, there was no time to throw or he simply held onto the ball too long.

This week, Pederson has to call some designed rollouts. No one knows more than Eagles fans that Wentz is one of the best quarterbacks in the game when he’s on the move. The ‘Birds’ can’t allow Aaron Donald any time to generate pressure, or he could singlehandedly wreck this game. It’s also worth noting that Wentz struggled when throwing to his left in training camp. That’s just one more reason to roll him out to his right.

It would also be wise if Doug works the short game more. Wentz missed a few deep throws last week, and Reagor admittedly slowed down on one of them. This team still needs some work in that area. That’s obvious, but that doesn’t mean they have to abandon the deep passing game. They just can’t force it if it isn’t working. Hitches, crossing routes, slants, and drag routes can minimize the offensive line’s struggles by having Wentz get the ball out quickly. He’ll be able to read the defense and react more rapidly rather than trying to be overaggressive and hit receivers on the routes that take longer to develop.

Lastly, Carson’s footwork should be cleaner with quick throws and rollouts. Many of his inaccurate throws from week one were a result of poor footwork that shouldn’t be an issue in year five. Hopefully, a week in the film room with Press Taylor, Nate Sudfeld, Jalen Hurts, and Josh McCown has cured that.