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After another exciting week of football, Week 7 is in the books. The Eagles sit atop the NFC East at an abysmal 2-4-1, with Dallas looming before the bye week. As Washington and Dallas sit a half-game behind the Eagles, who is really in the driver’s seat in this division, as we peer into the second half of the season?
The NFC East in recent years, has been a two-horse race between the Eagles and Cowboys. With a couple of surprises, injuries, and misplaced expectations, the top two contenders have come unhinged, working to salvage their seasons and win a very winnable NFC East. Now, with the news of Andy Dalton’s concussion after a late hit, the Cowboys may have to rely upon rookie Ben Dinucci in Week 8 against the Birds.
It appears as though, the division is all for the Eagles taking (through the small week 8 lenses), if they can manage to get healthy, develop young talent, and work through their offensive shortcomings. From organization, down to coaching, down to quarterback, the Eagles have the better foundation to winning the east than the likes of it’s counterparts. How it ends up looking, depends heavily on the quarterback position, in Carson Wentz.
A once, near-MVP, if not for the season-ending injury in 2017, Carson Wentz has been Jekyll-and-Hyde for these past 3 years. He had played average (and injured) in 2018, until he was ultimately replaced by Nick Foles who went on to win another playoff game before losing to the Saints. In 2019, he won back the fanbase, putting the practice squad team, chock-full of injuries on his back for 4 consecutive games, to another playoff appearance, before being concussed by Jadeveon Clowney, very early on their playoff loss.
With the injury label attaching itself to him, there has been a tiny target on Carson Wentz’s back, thanks to the organizational decision to draft Jalen Hurts in the 2nd round. As games have progressed in the first half of the year, it feels like the only piece left standing, has been Wentz. However, Wentz has been outright disappointing. Through 7 weeks, he’s thrown 10 interceptions, which is already 3 more than he’s had the previous year. Is the 2017 Carson the real Carson, or is 2018-2019, or even 2020? We’re about to find out.
Of Carson’s performances this year, the fanbase’s support of him have also been Jekyll-and-Hyde. Many have fallen off the “Wentz Wagon”, despite the circumstances that have surrounded him regularly, that date back to the late half of last season. Carson Wentz is without a doubt, the best quarterback in this division, as it currently stands, and he has a chance to really separate his name from the likes of those who are depreciating week-by-week in the NFC East. As a quarterback who has been here before, with an injury-riddled roster looking to rely on its young guys, who have built a rapport with him in the past few weeks, Carson should look to elevate his performance from last week and start trending into the quarterback we saw for most of the 2017 season.
If he can string together better performances that translate into wins, it’ll put some of these haunting controversies and hot-button topics to rest. With Dallas Goedert and Jalen Reagor likely to return early in November, things are looking up for Carson Wentz. The stars could be aligning for the 5th-year quarterback to retake his throne as a top-10 talent.