The Carson Wentz comeback tour will take center stage this upcoming weekend when the Eagles travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons on Sunday Night Football.
In addition to being a chance for Wentz to show the rest of the league he is fully recovered from the injuries that ended each of his last two seasons, it is also a chance for Wentz to do away with some of the struggles he has had on the road against good teams.
In his three-year career Wentz is just 3-10 on the road against teams that finished the season with a winning record. He is 4-10 if you give him credit for the win over the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, but since he tore his ACL/LCL in that game, it is hard to feel too good about that game.
Overall, Wentz has walked into the opposing stadium of a quality team 14 times, and walked off the field victorious in just three of those games — a very concerning trend.
While that 3-10 record includes his rookie season, he hasn't done much better over the last two years:
2017/2018 Against winning teams on the road:
Lost: Chiefs, Seattle, Titans, Saints, Dallas
Beat: Chargers, Panthers, Cowboys
Record: 3-5
Career against winning teams on the road:
Lost: Chiefs, Seattle (twice), Titans, Saints, Dallas (twice), Giants, Washington, Lions
Beat: Chargers, Panthers, Cowboys
Record: 3-10
Of those losses, a few have been ugly. The Eagles were never really in the loss to Saints last season and played one of their worst games of the season in 2017 when they lose to the Seahawks in Seattle. His best victory on the road was arguably in Carolina in 2017, when on a short week the Eagles went and beat the Panthers on Thursday Night Football.
It isn't yet known just how good the Atlanta Falcons are, but they were viewed as a playoff team by many coming into the season.
A positive sign for the Eagles heading into Sunday night is that Wentz has played well in prime time games.
Career in prime time (Monday, Sunday night and Thursday):
2016: 2-2
2017: 3-1
2018: 2-1
Record: 7-4
Sunday night:
2016: 0-1
2017: 1-1
2018: 0-1
Record: 1-3
As you can see, in his career Wentz is 7-4 on either Monday, Sunday or Thursday night games. He has never finished a season with a losing record in primetime, even his rookie year, when he went into Chicago in Week 2 and beat what was (at the time) considered a good Bears team. Even last season, when Wentz and the entire team was never fully in sync, Wentz was 2-1 in primetime games.
The win over Washington last Sunday was nice, but every expectation is that Washington will not be good this season — in fact last Sunday might be the easiest game on the Eagles' schedule.
Next Sunday, however, is not easy. The Falcons are 0-1, coming home and desperate for revenge against an Eagles team that has beaten them three straight times.
Setting up the perfect stage for Wentz — with the whole league watching — to make yet another statement.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
