Is It Time For The Eagles To Bench Carson Wentz?

The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Cleveland Browns yesterday in a close game amid messy weather.

With that loss, the Eagles record drops to 3-6-1, but the Eagles are still holding on to the first place position in the NFC East.

Eagles QB Carson Wentz did not have a great game against Cleveland, and this is not the first time that’s happened in the past few weeks.

This leads to the obvious question.

Is it time for the Eagles to bench Carson Wentz?

The short answer is no though I suspect many will disagree.

Let me be clear. Carson Wentz is A problem. But he’s not THE problem.

I have a whole list of issues before I get to Wentz. He’s on the list, but not at the top.

It’s lazy and convenient to pin ALL of the Eagles woes this season on Wentz.

— Jessica Towne (@RunThisTowne13) November 23, 2020

Let’s look at Wentz’s stats to understand more.

Wentz’s Stats

Through 10 games in 2020, here are his stats:

Completions: 220
Attempts:       377 (58.4%)
Yards:          2,326
TDs:                  14
INTs:                 14
Fumbles:          10
Fumbles Lost:   3
Sacks:              40
Yards Lost:    263

Analysis

1. On the face of it, the completions and yards are not terrible.

The Eagles do seem to pass the ball more than running it.

It’s not totally clear if that’s the game plan, or if it’s Plan B because they are often falling behind early in their games.

2. Interceptions are obviously an issue.

Carson Wentz pick-six 😬

He leads the NFL in INTs.

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/xYBnJkA2Zj

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 22, 2020

Wentz has not thrown 14 interceptions in a single season since his rookie year (2016).

Keep in mind there are 6 more weeks in the season so the likelihood is that the interception number will go up.

3. The fumbles are troubling but not a showstopper.

Wentz has had fumbling issues over the course of his career.

He had 10 in each of the 2016 and 2019 seasons.

Thankfully, he or his teammates are recovering more than they are losing to the other team.

4. Sacks are a big problem.

It’s not clear which is a bigger problem, interceptions or sacks.

Through the entire 2019 regular season, Wentz was only sacked 37 times so 40 sacks with 6 games remaining is troubling.

The issue here is that Wentz is holding on to the ball too long.

Is it because his receivers are covered?

Maybe he’s waiting for the big play to come together?

Or could it be he’s got the INTs in his head, and he doesn’t want to throw another one?

It could be all of the above, nobody but Wentz really knows.

Disclaimer

In general, the Eagles have been one of the most injured teams in this COVID-19 2020 season.

That is saying something because injuries have become an issue for every team, but it seemed as though the Eagles were decimated at Week 1.

Of course, these are professional athletes, and injuries are part of the game, but at some point, confidence and performance are wrecked by injuries.

Division Leader

Besides the fact that Wentz is the starting quarterback and the backup is a rookie (Jalen Hurts), the Eagles are still definitely in the playoff picture.

They lead the NFC East division.

It makes zero sense to pull Wentz when the team is still in the hunt.

Now if they fall out of the lead in the NFC East, they are out of the playoffs.

That changes everything.

Then, it may be time to bench Wentz and see what Jalen Hurts can do.