Eagles Defend Their Title As Preseason SB Champs And Carson Wentz Looks...Promising

We did it! For the second straight preseason the Eagles came out and showed the league what really matters in useless games that shouldn’t be played. We no longer need to dwell on Ronde Barber ripping out souls in 2002 or Crablegs throwing for 5 TD’s last season at the Linc. Last nights 17-9 W over Tampa Bay justified life vs the Bucs.

But for real, it’s preseason. I’m not going to hammer on what was really good or really bad because it means less than nothing. Some quick observations: The game is really easy when you get 2 straight TO’s in the opponents RZ (and those subsequent 14 points was basically it for the Eagles offense the entire night). The Special Teams seems like a great unit yet again. The defensive line looked like BALLERS. The play calling was beyond meh. The CB and WR play was pitiful the entire evening. Chase Daniel STINKS out loud but, hey, at least he’s the NFL’s all-time leader in mental reps. The only thing that matters is injuries, and it looks like the Birds came out mostly unscathed in that department.

And then there’s the Ginger of the hour: #2 overall pick and the future of the franchise, Carson Wentz. His stats weren’t nearly as fiery as his pubes – 12 for 24 (50%), 89 yards, 3.7 average, 0 TD, 1 INT, 41.8 rating, 15 rushing yards – but I’ll tell ya what, there’s obvious promise in this kid. The way he was authoritative and stepped up in the pocket to deliver throws was very, very impressive. If Nick Foles did that 50% of the time instead of sashaying backwards every play then he’d probably still be slinging in green for Chip Kelly. I’m not saying Wentz was without his faults. The WR’s dropped some passes (of course), but he wasn’t that accurate and some throws sailed into orbit on him. Including that inexcusable INT in the RZ. But, hey, rookies gonna rookie. You can see the chip on Wentz’s shoulder from space, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. The amount of hits he took last night, including going airborne with a helicopter on a short scramble, is very, very concerning. He’s a big guy, but this ain’t D-1AA boys tacking you anymore. These are NFL grown men laying the pipe. But, yeah, overall a promising performance by Wentz. I, for one, am finally excited to see more.