Poor play finally got the best of Carson Wentz, as the Philadelphia Eagles held their franchise quarterback accountable for a putrid season in Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Eagles benched Wentz in the third quarter after he went 6 for 15 for 79 yards in two and a half quarters of action.
Wentz has been the starting quarterback of the Eagles for five years, and though he has missed time due to injury, this the first time the franchise has benched him since he’s been drafted. Wentz has been one of the worst quarterbacks in football this season, so this benching appeared inevitable — especially when the Eagles drafted a quarterback in the second round of this year’s draft. Through thick and thin, Wentz isn’t going to doubt himself as he faces the biggest adversity of his career — even if his play on the field and body language demonstrate otherwise.
“I never like to think like that,” Wentz said of his benching. “Obviously, there’s been chatter, I’ve had to get a lot of questions over the last handful of weeks. But I don’t let my mind go there at the end of the day. I’m a competitor and when I’m out on that field, whether it’s practice or a walkthrough or a game, I’m going to leave it all on the field and do everything I can. And today that’s what I did.
“I don’t think I played my best but I did everything I could and at the end of the day I came out of the game and that’s not my call.”
Sunday’s loss to the Packers was one of the worst games of Wentz’s career. His 40% completion rate was the fifth-lowest mark of his career and the yards per attempt of 5.27 was the 10th worst. Of Wentz’s career numbers, three of his 10 lowest yards per attempt numbers in an individual game have come in 2020 while four of his lowest passer rating performances have also come this season.
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Wentz has completed 57.4% of his passes for 2,620 yards with 16 touchdowns to 15 interceptions (72.8 rating). Of the qualified quarterbacks, Wentz ranks second-to-last in completion percentage, fourth-to-last in interception percentage, third-to-last in yards per attempt, and third-to-last in quarterback rating. He’s been sacked a league-high 50 times this season and his wide receiver group is amongst the bottom five in the NFL in receiving yards, so the Eagles’ struggles are not all on Wentz.
Wentz hasn’t helped his cause with poor decision making and indecisiveness with the football. Poor throws and body language have also led to his downfall. The Eagles had no choice but to bench him.
“At the end of the day, it’s outside of my control,” Wentz said. “That’s not for me (to decide). I know what I’m capable of. I know I can play better. I have never doubted myself or lost my confidence in my abilities. But a lot of these things are out of my control.”
