Carson Wentz is lost.
That much is very, very clear after the Eagles’ franchise quarterback turned in his third-straight disastrous performance on Sunday in the team’s 23-23 tie to the Cincinnati Bengals.
He was inaccurate, he made poor decisions, he cost his team a chance to win the game. He is playing worse than even his biggest skeptics thought possible. He has to be better, and after going 15-16-1 in this last 32 starts, it is fair to wonder if he can be better.
But as we begin to write the much-earlier-than-expected obituary on the Eagles’ 2020 season, it is important to note that Wentz’s play taking a deep-dive this season is not solely on the quarterback.
It was crystal clear on Sunday watching Wentz struggle against the Bengals that this Eagles’ franchise has played a big-role in the decline of their franchise quarterback.
Let us count the ways:
The coaching staff hires: So much for the new-look, high-speed offense the Eagles were going to run. So much for getting Wentz on the move. The 2020 Eagles’ offense looks exactly like the 2019 offense, besides an increase in having two-tight ends on the field slightly more. It is hard to see any changes that have been made by new coaches Rich Scangarello, Press Taylor or Marty Mornhinweg to the offense. Wentz’s poor play certainly has a role in the play-calling, but so far in 2020 the Eagles’ have looked like the same dink-and-dunk offense they were last season.
It will be hard to ever truly know if there are too-many-cooks in the kitchen, and too many voices in Wentz’s head, but it certainly looks like that is the case. Wentz has looked indecisive at times and uncomfortable in the offense all season. Wentz is regressing, and the collection of coaches that the team has put around him seem to be hurting, not helping, his chances of improving.
Passing on DeAndre Hopkins and Stefon Diggs: On Sunday morning, prior to the Eagles’ kickoff, there were two stories on a pregame show that caught my attention. The first was about how much success Josh Allen is having this year. The second was about whether Kyler Murray is in the MVP discussion. Coincidently, those are two young quarterbacks that were given stud, All-Pro level receivers this offseason in Stefon Diggs and DeAndre Hopkins.
On Sunday, the Eagles’ leading receivers in snaps were Greg Ward and rookie fifth-round pick John Hightower.
The decisions to pass on Hopkins and Diggs were complicated ones, but it is hard to ignore the talent that other teams are putting around their quarterbacks, and how much it is helping them improve. Maybe Allen and Murray are just better than Wentz, but their front offices are certainly giving them a better chance to succeed by spending and giving up the draft capital it takes to put elite-level talent around them.
The Eagles, meanwhile, brought back both DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery this season. To no surprise, neither has been able to stay on the field. The Eagles had to make Jackson, their No. 1 wide receiver, a part-time player this season — and give him days off during the week — in an attempt to keep him healthy. That plan didn’t work as Jackson suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday and didn’t return for the second-half. Jeffery has yet to play a snap this season, but the idea that a 30-year old receiver coming off of major foot surgery should be considered a big-boost to the offense is laughable.
Wentz has major accuracy issues right now, but you have to think he would be playing better if he was throwing to players like Diggs and Hopkins instead of Hightower and Ward.
Drafting Jalen Hurts: On Monday morning, head coach Doug Pederson was asked on SportsRadio 94WIP whether he would consider benching Carson Wentz.
Now ask yourself — would that question be asked if Jalen Hurts was not on the roster?
The answer to that question is no.
The Eagles invited a quarterback controversy into the NovaCare Complex when they drafted Hurts in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and to no surprise, it has taken only three weeks to get here.
What is surprising is the active role they have played in making it happen so quickly.
After Week 1, when Wentz threw the game away, the Eagles decided to activate Jalen Hurts for Week 2.
During Week 2, they put Hurts on the field for the first time.
After Week 2, when Wentz once again really struggled, they increased Hurts’ role in the game plan for Week 3.
During Week 3, after Wentz threw his second interception of the game, the Eagles put the ball in Hurts’ hands just five plays later.
It is impossible to know just how much the drafting of Hurts has impacted Wentz, but for a quarterback that looks mentally lost out there, you have to think it is playing some kind of a role. Wentz has enough to deal with right now. Having to see Hurts in the meeting room, on the practice field and now on the game field with him on Sunday’s isn’t helping.
The decision by the Eagles to not only draft Hurts, but to force him out onto the field while Wentz is going through the toughest stretch of his career, is not helping their franchise quarterback get better. Having Wentz split out wide while Hurts is under center is making a bad situation only worse.
After the traumatic experience Wentz went through with Nick Foles, it remains amazing the Eagles would put him in a situation where it could happen again by bringing in Hurts.
The Eagles made the decision to hand Carson Wentz a franchise-quarterback contract last year. They decided to make him their guy, even after a torn ACL and a fractured back. That was their decision. They now owe it to him to make decisions that will help him succeed. They have failed to do that.
Bringing in Hurts looked like a bad decision at the time, and now, it looks even more-and-more like it could have represented the beginning of the end for Wentz’s time in Philadelphia — a decision the team made on their own, and helped to put both Wentz and the team in the position they are now.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!