Carson Wentz Can’t Do It All by Himself
Last week’s performance against Washington was absolutely abysmal.
It was truly a tale of two halves for this Philadelphia Eagles team. Although the blame can certainly be aimed in an array of directions, Carson Wentz did not exactly play up to his standards during the 2020 season opener.
Wentz is probably the main reason Philly fumbled their opening game against Washington…we cannot dispute the fact that Wentz tried to do too much. Despite making questionable decisions such as holding onto the ball too long or turning it over for that matter…it is not all Wentz’s fault.
Sure, he threw two picks, lost a fumble, and got sacked a career-high eight times…but not all of the criticisms should be chastised in No. 11’s direction.
Offensive Line
Well, let’s just start with the obvious. Philly’s offensive line did not look good whatsoever against the Washington Football Team. The unit that was missing two of its five starters, gave up eight sacks against Washington’s front four, who is a formidable D-Line by the way. Rookie RT Jack Driscoll who was filling in for the injured Lane Johnson got banged up himself, leaving the Birds with no other option but to play their third-string RT in Jordan Malta.
Yep, you guessed it, Milata did not play well either.
The Eagles offense desperately misses Brandon Brooks, and adjusting to life without the All-Pro will be tough. On the flip side, another All-Pro lineman in Lane Johnson will be returning to action Week 2 against the LA Rams to help anchor down the right side of the offensive line.
Running Game
This was virtually non-existent in the Birds debut as well. Boston Scott led the way for the Eagles with the same number of rushing yards as his jersey number (35), while Corey Clement trailed behind him with six totes for 19 yards…
Philadelphia ran the ball for a total of 57 yards…
We understand that Miles Sanders was out, but the commitment to run the football starts with head coach Doug Pederson. With a 17-7 lead at the half, it would have been nice to see the Birds incorporate the run a little bit more. Hopefully, Pederson will adjust his game plan when Sanders returns to action against the Rams as well. Towards the latter part of 2019 Sanders was the best offensive weapon for Philly, so expect the second-year back to wreak havoc whenever he is on the field.
Sanders can beat you in a multitude of ways, which allows defenses to stay on their heels when No. 26 is in the game.
Wide Receivers
Although Reagor was able to haul in Philly’s longest passing play since Week 1 of 2019, that was really the only glimpse of greatness we saw from the receiving Eagles receiving core. Later in the contest, Reagor had a pretty bad drop and also admitted to “not playing the ball” on Wentz’s first INT.
John Hightower did not play well either. The fifth-round pick got more playing time than some expected and unfortunately did not make the most of it. Similar to Reagor, Hightower had a difficult time coming back to the football in the air, but his mistake was much more noticeable. Hightower also dropped a ball that hit him right in the hands but was bailed out by a helmet to helmet hit by a Washington defender.
Let’s just say, Hightower paid a price for that one.
Let’s not even get started with JJ. Arcega Whiteside. The man was not even targeted once. Pederson stated that the Eagles’ first TD to Ertz was actually drawn up for No.19…but Carson Wentz came back to the TE because Arcega Whiteside was not open…what a surprise...
DeSean Jackson is not getting off the hook either. After telling us to “get our popcorn ready” earlier in the week, it was hard to watch what Jackson was trying to show since the man was barely on the field.
Jackson only played 54% of the Eagles snaps Week in 1, and we thought this was our WR 1.
Featured Image: AP Photo
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Categorized:Eagles