As last season came to an end, the city of Philadelphia was extremely disappointed with how the season went. In the offseason, the Eagles had a lot of holes to fill to make them become Superbowl contenders again. Howie Roseman did that for the most part by filling in the cornerback and the wide receiver problems. As the summer came in, everything was looking perfect for the Eagles. All of a sudden the plague of injuries started to occur again.
Injuries have been a major factor on why the Eagles have been struggling on offense. Out of the twelve starters on the team, there are only five players that are healthy. Carson Wentz has not been playing with his starters this entire season. This has been a massive problem because the wide receivers have not been able to get open for Wentz. That also means Wentz does not have the experience or chemistry with these wide outs, so the trust between them is nonexistent. The offensive line is also in shambles. Three out of the five starters are injured, but healthy starters Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce have been coming in and out of games. At times during a game, there are three original starters that are playing Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz, and Miles Sanders. Though injuries are one of the key factors of the Eagles struggles, the play of Carson Wentz has also hurt them as well.
Wentz is the face of the franchise and has not been living up to the standards that everyone has been hoping for. The 2017-2018 season showed the eliteness of Wentz and what he is capable of doing. Since then and through all the injuries he has had, he has fallen off that eliteness and has been digressing at an alarming rate. This year has been extremely shocking to everyone for how poor he has been playing. People can say that he does not have good wide receivers, or that he is throwing to practice squad players. That does not matter when he is constantly over throwing the ball and throwing it to the other team. Wenttz has thrown the most interceptions in the league and out of all the starting quarterbacks he has the worst total quarterback rating (QBR) and he is near the bottom of the least amount of touchdowns and thrown yards. He is first in all the negative categories and basically last in all the good ones. This year he has been playing far below average. At times when watching him it does not seem like he knows what he is doing and is very confused. There are so many times where he makes a jaw dropping play and then follows it up by three or four head scratching ones. Wentz has been having a horrible season but maybe it is not him, it is just Doug Peterson’s play calling.
Ever since Frank Reich left the team, the Eagles offense has not been the greatest. This questions if Doug Peterson was really the mastermind behind the big Superbowl run that the Eagles had. The Eagles offense has not been explosive and dominant like that season. The run game has been below par the past couple of years. This year Doug Peterson starts every game off by running the ball and when it does not work a couple of times, he gives up. This is not a good mindset to have. Doug relies on Wentz too much during games when he should be using Miles Sanders. Doug calls a good amount of plays where Wentz stands in the pocket and waits for a wide receiver to get open. Most of the time it does not end well for the Eagles. Doug should be calling Run Pass Option (RPOs) or Play Action plays instead because that is Wentz’s strength.
This season has been very disappointing for the Eagles. They need to first start to get healthy and remain healthy for the rest of the season if they want to actually go far in the playoffs. Carson Wentz needs to start focusing on the basics and stop overthrowing people when they are wide open. He also should stay calm and not let the media affect him mentally. Doug Peterson has to start calling plays that are a strength for Carson instead of a weakness. He needs to focus on establishing the run during games to help give relief for Wentz. These things will help the Eagles get back on the road to victory. FLY EAGLES FLY!
