@teganslaw wrote:
The game wasn't televised in my area, either. Congrats to the WFT! I'll be watching the game on Game Pass today. I also will check out the Steelers message boards and see if they've exploded. LOL.
@gardenman , is there a chance that the Eagles could part ways with Carson Wentz? There is talk on the Colts forums about Wentz possible coming to Indy if Rivers doesn't play next year because of his surgery or other reasons. Some fans were mentioning the Wentz-Reich connection, and that it might happen. There is a debate of whether Wentz's regression is because of poor coaching and team management, that he still has the talent. Maybe a different team could help.
it's just talk among Colts fans, but wonder what your thoughts are on this.
I could see that happening, but it would take some serious capital to make the deal work. The Eagles would take a big cap hit moving Wentz now. In all likelihood, his contract would need to be reworked to move the money around before the trade.
His regression is more due to coaching and management than talent. Wentz can do incredible things on a football field, but this staff has done horrible things to him.
If you go back to when Wentz was drafted in 2016, John DeFilippo was the new QB coach. He'd been the OC in Cleveland in 2015 before getting fired with the rest of the staff. He "found" Wentz while in Cleveland and was his biggest advocate. He wanted the Browns to draft Wentz, but that all ended when the Browns fired him. He brought his passion for Wentz to the Eagles and soon convinced Frank Reich (then the Eagles OC) that Wentz was the answer at QB. Reich and Defilippo then went to Doug and convinced him. Then those three went to management and convinced them to spend the draft picks and players necessary to land Wentz. Carson had three guys who'd staked their reputations and careers on him and were deeply invested in him. They built a system around his strengths.
The Eagles didn't really "need" a QB in 2016. They had Sam "Ouch, I'm hurt!" Bradford (then 28 years old) on the roster and Mark "Butt fumble" Sanchez (then 29 years old) had been Bradford's backup in 2015. They'd signed Chase Daniel (then 30) from the Chiefs in free agency already. But, the three offensive masterminds fell in love with Wentz and convinced management to go get him.
Wentz was in a perfect spot. Talented coaches who'd all invested in him and wanted him to succeed. They believed in him enough to trade away Sam Bradford at the start of the season and make Wentz the starter over Chase Daniel. It was the perfect situation for Wentz and they molded the system around his skills and talents and he thrived.
In 2017 he was having an MVP season before his knee got destroyed. The Eagles won the Super Bowl despite that and Nick Foles became something of a folk hero. DeFilippo got the job as OC in Jacksonville, costing Wentz his prime backer. Frank Reich got spirited away to Indy costing him his offensive architect. Doug was pretty much all that was left. In the 2018 season, Wentz broke his back and had to miss more time including the playoffs. Once again Foles came in as the hero and nearly got the team to the Super Bowl. In 2019 things started out slowly then Wentz came on strong and was playing as well as anyone over the last quarter of the season and had led the Eagles into the playoffs where a cheap shot to the back of his head in the first quarter of the playoff game knocked him out once again.
Then comes 2020. The Eagles have no OC, they've decided on an offense by committee approach. They brought in offensive masterminds from around the league, each with different views, and none of those guys are invested in Wentz. Marty Mornhinweg, Rich Scangarello, and Doug are more or less at the top of the offensive list, but Duce Staley and Jeff Stoutland also have input along with many others. There's no single vision. It's a mishmash of different ideas and philosophies. His top receivers all drop out due to injuries early. The offensive line is in shambles. Playcalling is a mess.
The team ignores roster holes and drafts a promising young QB in the second round despite having a competent backup already in Nate Sudfeld. The new offensive coaches seem more intent on proving that their ideas and systems can work with Wentz rather than do what Wentz does best. Running game? We don't need a running game! Move the quarterback? But that will make it harder for the defense to find him! Jason Peters is old, slow, and fat? Excellent! Let's make him a starter! This kid Fulgham is leading the league in receiving after his first four games as a pro? We should bench him in favor of Alshon Jeffery. Sure, Jeffery can't really play any longer, but we like the guy.
This is where Wentz is right now. Get him in the right situation and he's as good as any QB in the league. He's just in a horrible situation now. He hasn't forgotten how to play football. He's just not being given the chance to do what he does well. His confidence is a bit shaken, his mechanics have regressed, he's got a ton of distractions (on the field a rookie QB who the team has invested in, lots of different voices in his ears from the coaches, off the field a new wife and baby.) His weapons are or were all injured. His line is a sieve. (Largely due to the staff constantly reinserting Jason Peters into the lineup.) There isn't a QB in the league who would thrive in these circumstances.
How to fix Wentz? Easy-peasy. Bring in an OC and QB coach who truly believes in the kid. (John DeFilippo?) Design the offense around what Wentz does well. Put one person in charge of the offense not a team of six or seven coaches. Move the pocket. Give him more run/pass options. Bench the underperforming players regardless of their status as veterans. Limit the distractions around him. Give him a chance to succeed. Right now having three receivers running go routes against man coverage isn't working. They gave Jalen Hurts more rollout options in his few plays than they've given Wentz the whole season.
Carson Wentz is an MVP caliber quarterback. He just needs to be in the right situation and this is definitely not it this year. Bring in an offensive coordinator who believes in the kid. Create a system around his strengths. Don't try to force a square peg into a round hole. If you put Tom Brady into Lamar Jackson's offense he'd struggle. Wentz is in the wrong system (if you even call this odd conglomeration of an offense a system) and it's hurting his ability to thrive. This is a talented team. Wentz is a talented QB. The team, on offense anyway, is just a confusing mess of too many different ideas, and no real focus on what works.
Wentz would be better off in Indy right now with Frank Reich, but I don't think you can make a trade workable for all involved. But hopefully, whoever the Eagles coaches are next year, they fix the screwed up mess they made this year. You need "a" philosophy on offense that meshes with your QB's skills, not a dozen different voices all wanting something different. This isn't rocket science. Bench the guys who are cooked (Peters and Jeffery.) Use your top-tier running back to actually run the ball. Play to Wentz's strengths. And have one, single, united offensive philosophy, not a dozen different ideas all bouncing around.
Fixing Carson Wentz is easy. Give him one coach with one coherent voice about the offense. A single, simple philosophy that plays to Wentz's strengths. Move him around. Let him throw on the run. Use rollouts and moving pockets. Put players around him who can still play, not guys who you feel loyal to. Suddenly he's back to being an MVP candidate. It's really not that hard to "fix" him. He's not broken. The system around him is, but not Wentz.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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