5 reasons Carson Wentz's Week 1 performance wasn't a fluke
Philadelphia Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz looked great in his first career start. Here are five reasons Wentz’s Week 1 performance wasn’t a fluke.
In a Week 1 battle between two of worst perceived teams in football, the Philadelphia Eagles were able to clip the Cleveland Browns at home on Sunday, 29-10. While Cleveland looked atrocious on Sunday, the biggest takeaway from this Week 1 game was the play of Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz.
Philadelphia traded up with Cleveland to take Wentz at No. 2 overall out of North Dakota State in the 2016 NFL Draft. Wentz has the build of a franchise quarterback, but an injury-riddled senior season at FCS North Dakota State had many question if he was ever going to live up to the hype.
Wentz was thrust into the starting job Week 1 after the Eagles traded starting quarterback Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings. With great poise, Wentz completed 22 of 37 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns in his first professional start.
Philadelphia might have something special under center in Wentz. Here are five reasons Wentz’s Week 1 performance was no fluke and a sign of more good things to come with Eagles football.
5. Wentz beat a bad Browns team at home
Yes, the Browns are probably the worst team in football, but the Eagles were still able to beat a bad football team at home in Week 1. The first step for a franchise quarterback to prove his worth is to win the games at home he should. Clobbering Cleveland in Week 1 certainly qualifies for Wentz.
This wasn’t a game where Philadelphia scraped by. The Eagles beat the Browns senseless by 19 points in Week 1. The first week of the 2016 NFL season was noted as being one of the most exciting in recent memory. This had to do with there being so many games being decided by one score. Philadelphia trouncing Cleveland was not one of them.
Let’s not forget that playing quarterback for Philadelphia isn’t easy to begin with. It’s a cold-weather, outdoor stadium in a city with a fan base that boos its first round draft picks. No crowd will turn on a player faster than the Eagles faithful. Wentz’s NFL career is off to a better start than Donovan McNabb’s at this same juncture.
Cleveland does have it issues, but there were a lot of less than ideal circumstances surrounding the Eagles, too. A pitiful performance at home in Week 1 by Wentz would have had the Philadelphia media destroy him on Monday. Instead he played well and looks like a candidate to win the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Sep 11, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz (11) points to the Cleveland Browns defense in the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
4. Ray Horton’s defense isn’t good, but not vanilla
Don’t down play Wentz’s Week 1 performance because of a porous Browns defense. Cleveland’s roster is one-third rookies. The Browns have good coaches, but even defensive coordinator Ray Horton needs time to get his personnel in ideal positions to win ball games.
This was not a vanilla defensive scheme that Wentz went up against on Sunday. Cleveland might have been outmanned on Sunday, but the Browns defense wasn’t deplorable. It was offensive ineptitude that did them in. Holding Philadelphia to 29 points with bad personnel is commendable.
Wentz didn’t go up against a pre-season defense on Sunday. He had to make second and third reads from the pocket to deliver strikes down field. Wentz didn’t scramble from the Eagles pocket, as he only had two rushing attempts for a yard. He played from the pocket like a seasoned, veteran NFL quarterback would do.
It was impressive to see Wentz work the field pre-snap. Keep in mind he played in a run-first offense at the FCS level in college. How many blitz packages and cover schemes did he have the deconstruct at the line of scrimmage in Fargo?
Wentz will still have to work very hard at slowing the game down pre-snap, but did a solid job of that against a weak Browns defense in Week 1. He won’t be great at this in year one, but at least Wentz has shown an interest in playing above the shoulders football.
Aug 11, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz prior to action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
3. Wentz realizes Jim Schwartz’s defense can be relied on
For Philadelphia to win a respectable amount of games in 2016, Wentz has to lean on defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s defense. Philadelphia still very much a work in progress offensively, but Schwartz can certainly devise a game plan to win games on defense.
Philadelphia held Cleveland to only 288 yards of total offense in Week 1. That total was good enough to be fifth in the NFL in the opening week. Only 168 of the Browns’ offensive yards came through the air. Philadelphia does have to get better at stopping the run, as Cleveland rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown.
How does Schwartz’s defense help Wentz going forwar? It takes the pressure of the rookie starting quarterback for the Eagles. Schwartz stems from the Jeff Fisher coaching tree of defense. He was Fisher’s long time defensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans before becoming the Detroit Lions head coach in 2009.
The two best things a franchise can give a rookie quarterback are a strong running game or a committed defense. Philadelphia might struggle to run the football. However, Wentz just has to get the Eagles into the end zone three times a game for Philadelphia to have a fair chance at winning. Schwartz’s defense will do the rest of the heavy lifting.
Sep 1, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson during the first quarter against the New York Jets at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
2. Doug Pederson knows what he’s doing with quarterbacks
Wentz and Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch have a better chance to succeed earlier in the NFL than does Los Angeles Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff. That is because that both Wentz and Lynch are playing for former NFL quarterbacks and Goff is not. Wentz has Doug Pederson, Lynch has Gary Kubiak, and Goff is playing for a former punt returner in Jeff Fisher.
Pederson is an Andy Reid disciple and backed up Brett Favre with the Green Bay Packers for years. Though he doesn’t have ample experience as an NFL play caller, Pederson wisely brought Frank Reich and John DeFilippo to help him on his offensive staff.
Reich is known for leading the biggest comeback in NFL history quarterbacking the 1992 Buffalo Bills during the AFC Playoffs. He had been Mike McCoy’s offensive coordinator with the San Diego Chargers the last two seasons. DeFilippo has been an NFL quarterbacks coach for eight seasons. He was with the Browns in 2015.
The trio of Pederson, Reich, and DeFilippo give Wentz three strong offensive minds to work with his rookie year. They will hasten his steep learning curve as a rookie. Since they all played the position before, the Philadelphia staff isn’t going to put more on Wentz’s plate than he can handle his first year.
Wentz executed the Week 1 game plan marvelously for Pederson. Pederson will look at the film with Wentz, see where adjustments need to be made, and get ready for another winnable game in Week 2 against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football.
Sep 11, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz looks to pass in the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
1. Wentz threw the ball down field
This cannot be stressed enough. Wentz did a phenomenal job of throwing the football down field against Cleveland on Sunday. Though Wentz only completed 59.5% of his passes in Week 1, his yards per attempt was at an impressive 7.5.
Wentz showed in Week 1 that he’s not cool with dinking and dunking as a rookie starting quarterback. Quarterbacks that choose to throw the football vertically have a better chance of succeeding in the NFL than those who rely on check downs.
Wentz is achieving first downs through the air before his receivers can even catch it. He averaged 12.6 yards per completion on Sunday. This means that his eye level is where it should be: looking down the field for receivers to get open. It is outstanding to not see him looking at his offensive line to make sure he has a clean pocket. He trusts his teammates up front or isn’t phased in a collapsing pocket.
His accuracy may never get to a Pro Bowl level, but he is comparing favorably to the Andrew Luck, Blake Bortles prototype he came into the league as. Wentz’s confidence to stretch the field vertically is his first professional start is a massively positive takeaway for the Eagles organization going forward. The Eagles may have found their next franchise quarterback. Week 1 wasn’t a fluke.
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