Philadelphia Eagles: Carson Wentz has no excuses versus the Dallas Cowboys
Carson Wentz isn’t perfect, but the Philadelphia Eagles’ signal-caller can’t let a sure win get away.
Carson Wentz is polarizing. We’ve all accepted that fact.
One minute it looks like he’s forgotten how to play football, the next, he’s leading the Philadelphia Eagles to improbable comebacks. As a result, some people remain on the Wentz Wagon, while many others have shin splints from all of the times they’ve hopped on and off.
But I believe that we can all agree this week. Carson Wentz has absolutely zero excuses to fail to beat the reeling Dallas Cowboys in this sad showdown for the inside track at winning the NFC East. A month ago, with a healthy Dak Prescott, Dallas seemed capable of going on a run. Now, after injuries to both Dak and Andy Dalton, unknown rookie QB Ben DiNucci is all that stands in the way of Wentz and the Eagles effectively ending the Cowboys’ season on November 1.
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Simply put, you can toss all of those #11 jerseys in the trash if the Eagles don’t come out on top this Sunday.
I’m well aware of the fallacy of touting a game as a head-to-head matchup between quarterbacks. They aren’t on the field at the same time, and other elements revolve around them to tip the scales one way or the other. In all seriousness though, what does it say about Wentz if he can’t drop the hammer on a Dallas defense, which is allowing a league-high 34.7 points per game and has been an absolute disaster?
It’s true the Eagles are still down a few of their weapons, but they’re getting healthier and have had a few weeks to gel. The O-line is also in much better shape at the moment than when Wentz was running for his life earlier in the season. This group isn’t great, but it’s enough for a clutch quarterback to be able to guide it to some wins and occasionally deliver the kind of beatdown that the Cowboys look primed for on Sunday night. They watched Andy Dalton get wrecked and didn’t lift a finger to stick up for their teammate, and now they’re literally starting a guy whose initials are BAD. How can the Eagles possibly lose this game?
Without the comfort of having their starting quarterback available to bail them out, Dallas’ defense will be tight, especially in light of the fact that three of the team’s offseason acquisitions on that side of the ball were traded or cut this week. The white flag has already been hoisted in Big D, leaving Carson Wentz in a position where he has to win on Sunday.
Maybe DiNucci looks surprisingly competent. Or maybe Ezekiel Elliott goes absolutely nuts. It still doesn’t matter because Wentz should be absolutely lethal with the ball in his hands on Sunday. The bad turnovers have to be put behind him, and he needs to forge ahead with an imperfect but still capable offense around him. Big game QBs don’t let opponents in shambles beat them.
It’s not often that quarterbacks singlehandedly either win or lose an NFL game. And hopefully, Carson Wentz will get enough help from both his rushing attack and a defense that should crush DiNucci that the Eagles will win comfortably, even if he doesn’t play out of his mind on Sunday. But when push comes to shove, Wentz must do whatever it takes to win this game, whether or not it requires great effort on his part and regardless of anything challenging that transpires.
It’s really a no-win situation for Wentz. Win the game, and people will give him no credit for beating an awful team. A loss, however, would be horrendously BAD (And I don’t mean Benjamin Anthony DiNucci).
Next. 4 reasons the Eagles will beat the Cowboys. dark
The Eagles might not be great, but this game will determine the trajectory of their season. Winning divisional games while you heal up might be just the panacea for them to become true contenders once more. Yet there will be catastrophic damage to Carson Wentz’s claims of legitimacy if the Cowboys win this game, no matter the fashion in which it occurs. I’m on the edge of my seat to see whether Monday morning offers “I told ya so” relief or an upheaval of epic proportions.