From Dolphins Loss to Division Champs: Carson Wentz Just Capped Off The Best Month Of His Career
There’s a sci-fi movie called “28 Days Later” in which the main character awakes from a coma to see his whole city deserted. It turns out that millions were infected by a dangerous virus 28 days earlier around the same time he suffered a coma.
If an Eagles fan had gone into a coma after witnessing the horror the Birds losing to the Miami Dolphins and woke up 28 days later he or she would be shocked at what’s happened since:
Along with some gritty defensive performances, Carson Wentz led an offense featuring mostly no-name practice squad players in skill positions to four consecutive division wins en route to an NFC East division championship.
Remember what you were thinking on the first of December when the Birds suffered one of their most humiliating losses in years against the Dolphins? (Who aren’t that bad after all after what we saw them do to the Patriots in Week 17.) Don’t act like you were overly optimistic for this season to still go well. And if you were smart enough to say they would still make the playoffs, most fans said you were crazy. What was supposed to happen would be the Eagles going into full regression mode and finish the year 7-9 while the Dallas Cowboys finally regroup and win the NFC East at 10-6. Thus reigniting the fanatical Cowboy Super Bowl talk. Only . . . that didn’t happen . . .
Considering how Wentz has received criticism over the past two seasons for not staying healthy enough to play meaningful games deep in December (his last meaningful December start was where he infamously tore his ACL against the Rams), this past month was exactly what he needed to silence his critics both locally and nationally. He delivered in four straight do-or-die games with the right balance of executing risky plays while being cautious when he had to. Sure, three of those four games were against teams who will have a Top 4 pick, but we all know divisional games can get stupid for no reason.
The coupe de grace of course was his rock solid performance in Week 16 against the “talented” Dallas Cowboys. While the defense deserves just as much credit for holding the top offense in football to NOINE points, Wentz held on and did not turn the ball over, shortening the game and extending the season. He followed that up with a cherry-on-top game against the New York Football Giants where he connected to receivers I’m probably sure Jeff Lurie hasn’t even heard of. This also led to my favorite stat of the 2019 season: Carson Wentz became the first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards while none of the receivers had more than 500 of them. Wentz also became the first Bird to pass for 4k, leaving the Bears as the only franchise with no 4,000 yard passer.
Unlike two seasons ago where an NFC East crown celebration was overshadowed by Wentz’s devastating injury in LA two years ago, the entire Eagles team got to celebrate extending the streak of no back-to-back division champions for 15 years now. The tee-shirt itself is a great reminder of the standards this team is familiar with: “The East is Not Enough.”
The quarterback who was on the verge of being the league MVP in 2017 and has a Super Bowl ring without any playoff experience will make his postseason debut this Sunday against Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. Can Wentz continue his great run against a legitimate playoff team and improve from their previous matchup? Or will the magic carpet ride finally die down? Either way, Wentz has once again certified himself as the Philadelphia Eagles franchise quarterback.