Philadelphia Eagles: Carson Wentz able to right the ship

The Philadelphia Eagles were in danger of falling to 3-5 this past week. Instead, Carson Wentz was able to come up big and lead his team to victory.

The Philadelphia Eagles are halfway through their 2018 season sitting with a 4-4 record. That clearly isn’t the record they hoped to have through eight games, but it could be worse. Heading to London this past week, the Eagles were facing a must-win situation.

If the Eagles lost and were headed into their bye week with a 3-5 record, the season would be all-but over. Instead, their leader in quarterback Carson Wentz overcame early adversity against Jacksonville to lead the team to a thrilling 24-18 victory. He was able to stop a sinking ship and right the course for this Eagles season.

Early on in this game, things weren’t going well for Wentz. On the first drive, the Eagles were in Jacksonville territory looking to get on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, on a first down play, Wentz dropped back and was sacked. He wasn’t able to hold onto the ball, and just like that, Jacksonville took possession.

On the next drive, the Eagles were moving the ball well again. They were near the red zone and Wentz decided to take a shot into the end zone. Wentz made a mistake, however, as he didn’t see Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey drifting around in the end zone. Ramsey intercepted the pass intended for Josh Perkins.

Two impressive drives ending with two turnovers. That performance epitomized the Eagles season through seven weeks. They looked good, but just couldn’t finish when they needed to.

It would have been easy for the Eagles and Wentz to lower their heads at that point, but that’s the last thing they did. Wentz kept his composure and played the rest of the game like the Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback that we know he is.

After those first two drives, Wentz’s statline was one to be proud of: 16-of-22 for 207 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. One thing that the stats don’t show is how many plays Wentz was able to make with his legs. Whether he was scrambling to create more time in the pocket, or to run for the first-down marker, he looked like the leader that the team needed him to be.

Going forward, the Eagles schedule doesn’t get any easier. They’ll have to play the Saints, Rams and the division-leading Redskins twice before the season is over. But as long as Wentz channels his inner-MVP the Eagles still have a shot to make a run. The 2018 season still has a chance at being a memorable one.