How Far Will the Eagles Soar Without Carson Wentz?

On Sunday, the NFL lost yet another one of its best and most exciting players. Philadelphia Eagles’ starting quarterback, and MVP candidate, Carson Wentz suffered a torn ACL when he was hit by two Rams players while diving into the end zone. Wentz actually stayed in the game and threw a touchdown pass before heading to the locker room escorted by a trainer. The team almost immediately ruled him out for the game, and on Monday Doug Pederson confirmed what all Eagles fans feared, Carson Wentz will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Without Wentz at the helm, how far can this Eagles team go?

Right now, the Eagles are sitting at 11-2 and are currently the number one seed in a stacked NFC. All season long, Carson Wentz has been nothing short of spectacular. He has thrown for 3,296 yards, a league leading 33 touchdown passes, and just seven interceptions. Many people believe that if the season ended today, Wentz would be awarded the league’s MVP. He has, no doubt, been the heart and soul of this Eagles team and is largely responsible for their elite play this season. However, he has not been the single driving force behind their success. The reason this team is where it right now is due to its ridiculously balanced roster. The Philadelphia Eagles currently own the number one scoring offense in the NFL, averaging the 11th most passing yards per game to go along with the 2nd most rushing yards per game. Yes, Carson Wentz has been elite this season, but the strength of this team’s offense is actually its running game. With Jay Ajayi, Legarrette Blount, and Corey Clement in the backfield, the Eagles own not only one of the league’s most talented group of running backs, but also one of the deepest. This stable of backs running behind one of the NFL’s best offensive lines should be enough to carry this team to the one seed in the NFC. But what about the playoffs?

I believe that the play of Nick Foles and the Eagles’ defense will be what determines just how far this team can go come playoff time. We all know the story of Nick Foles. Back in 2013, the young kid came in for an injured Michael Vick and set the league on fire. He threw for 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions and was one of the league’s very best players that season.

However, outside of that one year, Foles has been mediocre at best owning a 29:27 touchdown to interception ratio across five seasons. In his one quarter of play against the LA Rams, Foles did not look bad. He led the Eagles downfield for two scoring driving, ending in field goals, and helped the team fend off a very good Rams squad. If Foles can play at a level anywhere remotely close to his ability he should be able to lead this Eagles team to a playoff win.

Now for the Eagles’ defense, a unit that has statistically been one of the league’s best this season. As of right now, they are allowing just over 19 points per game, good for 6th best in the NFL. The strength of this unit is most definitely its defensive line and its ability to stuff the run. The Eagles own the number one rushing defense this season and are allowing a mere 71 yards per game to opposing teams. One area where this team struggles a bit is in the secondary, especially against high powered offenses. Russell Wilson, Jared Goff, Alex Smith, and Cam Newton all had pretty productive days against this Eagles secondary and that makes me worry that this unit will be unable to stop the likes of Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, or Aaron Rodgers come playoff time.

My prediction for the Eagles: Although this team is very talented, it will not be able to reach the Super Bowl, in a stacked NFC, unless either Nick Foles can play at a high level OR its defense steps up in a big way and improves against the pass. I could see the Eagles winning one playoff game, but without Wentz, their chances of winning the Super Bowl, or the NFC for that matter, is slim to none.

Written by Ryan Scimone