Eagles Must Learn from Carson Wentz's 1st Loss
Carson Wentz was eventually going to commit a turnover, and the Philadelphia Eagles were eventually going to lose.
Unsurprisingly, those two events took place on the same day.
While Philadelphia can't be happy losing a winnable game to a so-so team following a bye, the reality is a little adversity could help both Wentz and the Eagles grow in what still appears to be a promising season.
On the 135th pass of his career, Wentz finally threw an interception Sunday on a 50-yard quasi-Hail Mary that stood little chance of being caught by intended receiver Nelson Agholor. It came with less than 90 seconds remaining in a game the Eagles were losing by only one point, clinching the 24-23 victory for the Detroit Lions.
And while this loss will hurt, it could force the Eagles to ask themselves some pointed questions, such as:
1. Why did Wentz take a chance on a dangerous deep ball against one of the NFL's best cornerbacks in Darius Slay on a first-down play with 1:25 remaining? Sure, the Eagles were out of timeouts, but they only needed about 40 yards to reach field-goal range in a one-point game. Wentz would have been better off checking it down for a short gain or getting out of dodge and throwing it away.
2. Why wasn't Wentz offered more support against a strong Detroit pass rush on that play? He did have underneath options, but it appears his first read was a deep receiver, and there were no tight ends or backs blocking.
3. In a similar vein, is Wentz being asked to do too much?
No matter how experienced and poised Wentz has looked through his first four games, he threw just 24 passes in the preseason and was playing quarterback at an FCS school last fall. He's been a stud in a small sample, but he's liable to make mistakes.
We saw that Sunday when he threw an ill-advised pass into traffic on the first drive of the game for the Philadelphia offense, narrowly avoiding his first interception. He was asked to drop back on back-to-back plays on that possession. The first almost resulted in a turnover, and the second resulted in a third-down sack.
After the Eagles gave up touchdowns on their first two possessions, they called just four runs compared to 15 passing plays on their 19 remaining first-half snaps, even though running backs Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles looked good. The two combined for 41 rushing yards on just five first-half carries, which indicates Eagles rookie head coach Doug Pederson may have panicked with Detroit jumping out to leads of 14-0 and 21-7.
| Pass-run balance | 63% pass | 52% pass |
| Yards/rush | 5.5 | 3.0 |
| Penalties | 14 | 2 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
Pederson shouldn't have ditched the running game so quickly, regardless of whether that was scripted or a reaction to the scoreboard. While Wentz was an escape artist on a few occasions Sunday, Detroit's rushers were given too many opportunities to pin their ears back.
The protection was by no means bad, but as opposing defensive coordinators continue to compile tape on Wentz, the Eagles have to go out of their way to offer him extra help on passing downs as well as a more balanced attack regardless of the score.
| Record | 3-1 |
| Comp.% | 67.4 |
| TD | 28 |
| INT | 4 |
| YPA | 7.5 |
| Rating | 103.5 |
Wentz wasn't perfect Sunday, but he completed all but seven of 32 passes and had thrown two touchdown strikes before that pick. He wasn't the problem, and the Eagles have to ensure that he has every chance to be the solution.
In this game, they left him high and dry. He dropped back 38 times, while Mathews, Sproles, Agholor and Josh Huff ran only 19 times combined. They also took a ridiculous 14 penalties (seven on offense), continually failed to create separation, and Wentz stood little chance with only five linemen protecting on all three of Detroit's sacks.
With a rookie quarterback, your margin for error isn't large enough for those types of mistakes and miscalculations. The Eagles might have figured that out even if Wentz had led them to a game-winning score on that final drive, but a game-sealing interception to remind them of their mortality could wind up serving as an even louder wake-up call.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.
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