Many Eagles fans have been clamoring for this for a while now, and they finally got their wish. Doug Pederson benched quarterback Carson Wentz during the team’s game against the Packers Sunday.
Jalen Hurts took over under center. At first it looked like Hurts might just be coming out as part of his usual gadget package, but Pederson let him play an entire drive. Then Hurts was back out there to start the next series, confirming that Wentz had been benched. While it’s a move that arguably had to be made, it also raises more questions than it answers moving forward. Wentz has well over $50MM in guaranteed money still coming his way between 2021 and 2022, and there’s no good way out of his contract for a while.
If Hurts is made the full-time starter, Wentz will obviously be an extraordinarily expensive backup. The former second overall pick regressed mightily this season, and currently leads the NFL with a whopping 15 interceptions. Nobody else in the league had more than 11 entering this week. Wentz was once again disastrous against Green Bay before getting pulled, completing only six of 15 passes.
Pederson has clearly been mulling this decision for a while, as we heard before their Week 12 game that Hurts was getting more reps in practice and would see his heaviest usage yet last week on Monday Night Football. That didn’t materialize as Hurts played sparingly in the loss to the Seahawks, but the next week he finally pulled the trigger.
The Eagles are still alive in the race for the pitiful NFC East, but things are slipping away fast. The team is at a crossroads, and it’ll be very interesting to see how the front office manages this whole situation moving forward. We’ll update you as soon as we hear more on the situation, and about who will start in Week 14 against the Saints.
Wentz should say he came in contact w/ a COVID person and relax through Dec. They gotta pay!
Carson Wentz is a very expensive version of Mark Sanchez…..
I’m glad he made his money! One year a godsend, the next a failure, but everyone got paid!
That injury in 2017 might have messed him up.
Plus his offensive line sucks
Plus Pederson might suck
Anyway if you want to blame anyone for this debacle blame Jaworski, he loved Wentz and convinced the Eagles to draft him
So blame somebody not in the organization for drafting somebody that actually played at an MVP level before a huge drop and not try and piece him back together again?
Blames Jaws? Hell, if Jaws could pick guys who finished 3rd in mvp voting every year, he would be the best GM in league. You could blame the eagles for giving him a long term contract if you want but do you really regret the eagles drafting him? Wentz is not a busted draft pick. Dude was 11-2 through 14 weeks before he got hurt. If you google the articles for that season, most outlets had the mvp race between him and brady before he got hurt. Then foles took over and the rest is history. Wentz won 11 games in 2016. The browns (who chose to trade back from drafting wentz #2 in 2016) won a total of 13 games from 2016-2019. I bet the browns wished they had listened to Jaws
LONG TIME COMIN
Nothing against Carson and hoped for the best for him, but this is long overdue. Didn’t help the situation that they drafted a QB in the 2nd round despite numerous holes all over the field and a QB with a contract you can’t get out of.
The Philly O-line has been absolutely decimated this year, and with players like Lane Johnson and Jason Peters being perpetual risks for missing snaps, the front office’s refusal to invest in O-line depth has been a huge problem. With subpar protection and a lack of offensive weaponry, of course Carson can’t play at the top of his game.
Jalen Hurts just threw a game-ending interception in their game today so it’s not like it’s solely a Wentz issue.
I wanted Hurts to fall to the Raiders, badly. But that said, Hurts’ college experience is a bit limited to start in his rookie year. Expect a few mistakes.
i mean the game was already lost at that point. are we really going to nitpick about an inconsequential play like that?
Green Bay’s defense had failed to generate a stop in that quarter until the interception, so it’s not inconsequential at all. If the Eagles had more talent in offense in the form of reliable backs and receivers, the QB (Wentz/Hurts/anyone else) wouldn’t have to force a poor throw into sufficient coverage.
Hardly inconsequential, considering that it was a one possession game with less than five minutes in the fourth…
The score was 30-16 when he threw the puck. Not a one score game
That’s not what I said. At least, it’s not what I meant to say. It was a one score game with about five to go in the fourth. Before Aaron Jones had the long run, it was a one score game that Philadelphia had a chance in. The pick did not lose the game on its own, but it wasn’t inconsequential. A score there sends it, once again, to a one score game.
Well if they want, Detroit will give them back Hal Vaitai.
Comment of the day!
Wentz did a bad Trubisky impression
I mean they even won a Super Bowl the one year without him, I think that was a telling sign.
The one year without him? He got injured week 14 and led them to the number one overall seed in the nfc that year.
Without him, they wouldn’t have been in a position to win the super bowl
Exactly!
Believe it or not, it’s not all the quarterback’s fault when the team wins. It’a also not when the team loses. Wentz certainly hasn’t been that good, but for some reason he is the only person people are calling to be benched.
This is a Peterson problem. It’s fairly obvious. Hurts may end up being good, certainly, but he was put in the game today to save Peterson’s job, not because Wentz has been holding the Eagles back.
I’ve said it from the start…Wentz is overrated…should’ve kept Foles and traded Wentz and drafted a qb
it annoys me this wasnt the way they went. Foles fit the system well and obviously was going to command less money in an extention. in foresight it was easy to say the injury in 2017 could have affected him long term and it doesnt shock me it did. should have sold high.
How did the 2017 affect Wentz?
I’m certainly nothing close to being an NFL coach, but I’ll be shocked if Hurts doesn’t start next week. Can’t EVEN imagine the fan uproar if Wentz starts.
It was long overdue to give Hurts a bigger role. I like Carson and hope this motivates him and the team to step up and figure out a solution to his struggles.
Wentz to Chicago for Foles and a pick. Gives the Bears an extra year to draft his replacement and arguably gives the Bears a better QB.
‘arguably gives the Bears a better QB.’
Trubisky has played better than Wentz this year. And it’s not super close. Wentz has been awful.
Lol….both suck….just stop
Do you honestly think that Mitch Trubisky will be remembered as a better quarterback than Carson Wentz? If so, then yes, the Bears have a better quarterback. If not, then this year’s stats on Wentz’s end take a backseat to his greater ability.
Wentz has been bad. The Eagles have been worse. Is it your opinion that Trubisky, being better, would do better with the Eagles this year?
I guess people are no longer wondering why the Eagles used that second round pick on a QB.
So will the cut him next year? No. They have -65M in cap space lol. If they take the 23M from this year and apply it to next, it’s -42M. They are in cap hell. So he’s going to stick around even if he isn’t the starter.
trade him to the colts…he misses frank… get whatever you can to get out from under a bad contract
Colts should do this but for pennies on the dollar.
Like most quarterbacks he can’t succeed without an offensive line, quality wide receivers, or a consistent running game. That said he’s not capable of carrying this team and I have a feeling he’ll have a renaissance if he could make his way to a better team. Also Doug Pederson is a one year wonder.
If Carson gets behind decent offensive line he will be fine.
When asked to comment on how he felt after having been benched, Wentz reportedly said, “It HURTS”.
LOL
Lol the Wentz situation isn’t as bad as the Cap situation. Basically cut or trade everyone and restructure deals, including Wentz. link to phillysportsnetwork.com
Wentz has talent. He just keeps playing Hero Ball where on every play he thinks it’s do or die. Sometimes you just gotta throw the ball away.
You cut the super bowl MVP loose to sign Wentz to the huge deal, what could go wrong? Foles is probably not as good as Wentz but he won them their first super bowl and made sense for them. They said thanks and got rid of him. Saw this coming ever since honestly. I’m from Minnesota and follow those dreadful Vikings. Case Keenum lost that NFC title game to Philly and they cleared house and brought in…. Kirk Cousins. For A LOT. Grass isn’t always greener.
Wentz is not playing good but he has no O line sorry receivers and no decent running backs. Blame the GM also!!
It’s a confluence of issues right now and they all start with the offensive line. Due to the collective health, the current OL is unable to run block and pass block.
No run game, Doug can’t count on it to help.
No pass blocking, young WR core gets no separation.
Wentz has developed “happy feet” because of the rush, and he’s playing well below his capabilities.
Doug is incapable of fixing any and all of the above.
Hurts is the best QB for the job moving forward because he can at least scramble but I’m afraid he will develop bad habits because of the pass rush (see Wentz).
I’m guessing this means the Jags will be trying to trade for Wentz this off-season lol
Is how much a career gets ruined by a injury him and Carr where having great season and then went down with nasty injuries and haven’t returned to that player again