On the heels of the Matthew Stafford/Jared Goff trade, a benched quarterback getting shipped off for 2 draft picks is a little less sexy, but a bit more intriguing. Matthew Stafford is going to be Matthew Stafford, and Jared Goff (taken 1st overall the year Wentz was taken 2nd) has improved every season since getting drafted, even though he did not get the pro-bowl nod this year after making it twice in a row. No one is expecting either of these guys to do anything less than sling the rock well and lead their teams to some victories (Stafford may have a better supporting cast, however).
Wentz on the other hand? Who knows. To say this article is speculative would be an understatement, because Wentz’s rise and fall in Philadelphia is borderline inexplicable… but we do have some thoughts.
Was it All Carson’s Fault?
The Eagles’ defense was pretty good in 2020, but that can be taken with a grain of salt given the fact that they were lucky enough to play 6 of their games against teams in the worst division in NFL history. For most of the year, they were a top-5 team against the run, and even as a dismal 4-win team, the Birds’ defense finished in the top half of the league in every major defensive category except takeaways (22nd).
But… Wentz also got to play most of those 6 divisional games and still stunk it up something fierce.
That’s not to say he had a ton of help on offense, though. Big money guys DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery combined for a whopping 20 catches and 2 touchdowns. Hot damn. No one had more than 55 catches nor 550 yards, and the only real bright spot in the receiving game was a three-game stretch by practice squad call-up Travis Fulgham, who ended the season leading the team in receiving yards at 539, with almost a third of those yards (153) coming in week 5. Ouch.
The Eagles’ offensive line was not able to stay healthy, either, and that didn’t do ol’ Carson any favors… However, the Carson Wentz that was drafted and made a real bid at MVP a few years ago was able to escape pressure like a Mahomes-like magician, and though sparks of that showed here and there in 2020, he was much quicker to eat the rock and lose 10 yards than he was to extend plays. Perhaps that was the coaches’ direction, but given the covert operation of firing Doug Pederson, that’s just going to be another question mark on the enormous list of Philly fans’ “What about that?” list.
Most likely, Wentz’s on-field troubles were a combination of a poor supporting cast, injuries, and a lost trust in the coach-player relationship… but that begs the next question: why was that trust lost?
The Family Theory
This is outside of the box, and it should be understood that this author is a single man with no religious affiliation who grew up in not one, but two broken homes.
With that: Carson was better before his Instagram started to be nothing but photos of his wife and kids and talks about his AO1 faith-based organization. I love me a good family man, and I think the Bible, when not incorrectly used as a defense for hate, has some absolutely wonderful lessons in it that make human beings better. I also think a fishing trip with Carson Wentz the human would be full of happy times, positivity, and relevant scripture readings to add light to the mood. This could have made him less relatable to teammates on and off the field.
But when I think of an ideal leader of my football team built in the image of its gritty, blunt, asshole-laden city, I don’t think of someone I want to get enlightened with on a fishing trip… I think of someone who is going to bash skulls in alley after doing six shots of Jameson and then go home to his three sex mavens just to do it all over again the next day.
I’m not saying that man in Nick Foles, but if it came out that his own devout religious views and devotion to his family were simply fronts for a life not all that unlike Namath’s or Hornung’s, it wouldn’t surprise me for a god damn second, but I digress.
Indianapolis
The Colts didn’t fare too poorly last year with a quarterback well past his prime (Wentz is certainly not past his prime) who has 24 children and loves God in Phillip Rivers, so hopefully Indy will be the landing spot that allows Carson to once again flourish and drop dimes all over the field. They went 11-5 with a quarterback who is only a couple years away from needing a cane, paced by a defense that allowed a whopping 77 points less than anyone else in their division, including division winners the Tennessee Titans. Carson definitely has a chance to be great again.
The Verdict
No one in Philly wants to see Wentz fail, and it looks like a fresh start may be exactly what both sides need. Sometimes greats just don’t fit, and I, personally, am pulling for Wentz to be one of the greats. For a prime example of a Philly departure that led to both sides improving, look no further than Andy Reid, another man forever beloved by Philadelphia. Things got stale, Andy went to KC, the Birds won a Super Bowl, then so did Andy. May the Wentz divorce share some similarities!
Back to Philly, though… Rumor has it that new head coach Nick Sirianni (Google this dude making catches in college) is planning to bring in competition for Jalen Hurts who, subjectively, looked pretty damn good last year even with the same garbage supporting cast that Wentz had. He seems like a work-first man, and is inarguably a polished student of the game. He was wronged in college, and the chip on his shoulder makes him a great fit for the grit of the Linc faithful. But if his competition winds up being someone with as much an affinity for the bad things in life as Wentz has for the good things in life, the NFC East banner is coming back to Philly this year, no doubt, against all of the opinions of the talking heads in sportsville. Pour that Jamo, jawn, and Fly Eagles Fly.
