It must have felt like deja-vu on Sunday for Carson Wentz.
There he was, on the sideline in Green Bay, watching his backup play. Watching his backup get the offense going. Watching his backup give the team a spark.
Watching the team, even though it was briefly, play better with his backup on the field.
For a minute it looked like somehow, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles — not Wentz and the Eagles — were going to beat the Green Bay Packers.
It was a painful experience Wentz has been through before. The Nick Foles statue outside of Lincoln Financial Field, and the Super Bowl banner in the rafters, is a constant reminder. Hurts didn't beat the Packers, but watching it play out on the sideline, Wentz had to be thinking 'here we go again'.
Somehow, the Eagles and Wentz survived the first quarterback controversy they went through. They survived the traumatic two years when Foles won one Super Bowl then took a team the following season that was dead-in-the-water on a playoff run. It took a $128 million contract, a late-season run to the playoffs in 2019 and some serious work in the locker room, but they survived it. Things were finally looking up at the end of last season for Wentz and the Eagles.
Now, it feels like it has all fallen apart — again.
Yes, Wentz certainly played his part in the benching on Sunday. He has been awful this season, and no jet sweep or designed rollout was changing that. Wentz has a fatal flaw that no coach can scheme around and it showed up on his last completion of the game on Sunday — he just isn't accurate.
After rolling out, Wentz had a wide open Dallas Goedert down the field. With an accurate throw it was likely a touchdown. Instead, the pass was wobbly and Goedert had to come to a complete stop to catch it. The Eagles simply can't move the ball through the air with Wentz because he isn't an accurate quarterback. Last year, Wentz was 25th in the NFL in on-target throws. This year, prior to Sunday's games, he is 31st.
As a result, the Eagles have been a bad team with Wentz at quarterback.
What they also were, however, were his team. He was the franchise quarterback. He was the player the organization was supposed to be behind. He was, despite everything he has been through, the future — something he might not be anymore after Sunday.
Surviving the first quarterback controversy was one thing, but surviving another one might be simply too much for Wentz and the Eagles. After his sloppy benching on Sunday — when he wasn't told initially it was a benching, and then said he didn't even talk to Doug Pederson after the game — you also have to wonder if either side even wants it to work.
For Wentz, it is starting to feel like simply too much has happened for him to succeed in Philadelphia. There is too much baggage. The idea of starting over somewhere else, in a lower-pressure market must sound so nice to Wentz right now. Starting with a clean slate, instead of spending his time trying to prove he is better than either his current backup or the last one.
The idea of moving on from Wentz might feel refreshing for the Eagles as well.
What is obvious is that the path to winning again with Wentz is a long one. He needs a complete rebuild mechanically. He might need a whole new coaching staff. After being benched on Sunday, he might need a some reassurances the owner, general manager and head coach that drafted him No. 2 overall still believe in him as well.
With Hurts, the Eagles can start fresh. He is on a rookie deal. He has no injury history. He has an extremely attractive skill set, which was on full display on Sunday. He can bring something to the offense that Wentz simply can't. The idea of trading Wentz, taking one-year of a massive cap hit and starting fresh with Hurts might sound better to owner Jeffrey Lurie then trying to — once again — convince himself that Wentz is the guy.
Perhaps Wentz and the Eagles will be able to get through it again. Maybe Wentz will start on Sunday against New Orleans and the comeback will begin. Maybe in a year we will all look back at this as the beginning of Wentz's comeback.
For now, however, it doesn't feel like that — instead it feels like the beginning of the end, and the final break in a relationship that might have been through all it can handle.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
