Philadelphia Eagles Deplete Pittsburgh Steelers 34-3

Going into week three, most fans of the NFL were talking about how the Eagles haven't played any team with value after taking out both the Browns and Bears by a lot of points. One of the biggest worries was that rookie Quarterback Carson Wentz was going to cool down after recording around 400 passing yards and three touchdowns, but after watching film during a date with his girlfriend, Eagles fans became more confident. On the other hand, the Steelers still were coming off a big division win against the Bengals and were not looking past the Eagles. Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger raved about how impressed they were about Carson Wentz and the Eagles defense so we all knew that nobody was taking anyone lightly.

Starting out in the game, the Steelers received the kickoff and drove the ball down the field after a long Roethlisberger pass to rookie receiver Eli Rogers. However, after stalling on the drive, kicker Chris Boswell had a field goal blocked by Bennie Logan. Afterwards, Darren Sproles caught screen pass that eventually lead to a Caleb Sturgis field goal. On the Eagles second drive, Carson Wentz went down the field, mostly passing the ball because Ryan Matthews was constantly getting stopped, and ended up throwing a 12 yard touchdown strike to Jordan Matthews to put the Eagles up 10-3.

One bright note for the Steelers in the first half was the fact that Ben Roethlisberger was able to exploit the biggest weakness in the Philadelphia Eagles defense. This weakness was rookie cornerback, Jalen Mills and the Steelers were putting Antonio Brown on his side and passing to him early and often. Antonio Brown lead the Steelers in receiving with 140 total receiving yards, the only problems were the lack of a rushing game by DeAngelo Williams, the lack of receiving ability by Markus Wheaton, and the fact that the Steelers were called on many times for offensive and defensive holding. This took the Steelers out of their game plan and out of good field position.

I really enjoyed the fact that the Eagles scored on all of their drives but their final in the first half. Another tactic the Eagles used to their advantage in order to win the field position battle was kicking the ball off short so that the Steelers returners had to bring the ball back and most times they couldn't even make it to the 25 yard line. With that said, the Eagles lead the Steelers 13-3 at halftime and I really felt good about the game. While the running game was terrible, the Eagles still lead by two possessions and Carson Wentz was able to control the game with minimal dropped passes by the wide receivers.

To open up the second half I thought that the Eagles were going to keep it to a tight game and maybe the Steelers would get some points in the fourth quarter, but I was dead wrong. On a 3rd and 7 play on the Eagles 27 yard line, Carson Wentz connected with Darren Sproles again on an improvised wheel route, which lead to an Eagles touchdown. This was the turning point in the game because Ben Roethlisberger would be sacked four times, fumble once, and threw an end zone interception to Rodney McLeod that basically wrapped up the game. Meanwhile, the young running backs for the Eagles got things started in the third and fourth quarters as both Kenjon Barner and rookie, Wendell Smallwood scored rushing touchdowns and Smallwood scored the first of his career.

At the end of the day, there were many Steelers sidelined and their best edge rusher, Lawrence Timmons went to the hospital because of a shin injury. While Jalen Mills allowed a lot of passing yards and catches to Antonio Brown, he didn't allow the receiver into the end zone and Carson Wentz continued his streak of zero turnovers in a game, while at the same time putting up over 300 total passing yards and two touchdowns. This was an example of how the Eagles won as a team and completely demolished their instate opponent. Don't get me wrong, I think the Eagles have played well, but I don't think they are head over heels better than the Steelers. The Eagles were going to win this game, no matter who they went up against. They have a lot of work to do this week as the real "test" is their bye week.

Darren Sproles after scoring a 73 yard receiving touchdown

Philadelphia Eagles Hunt Down Chicago Bears 29-14

Before I begin the review for the game I want to discuss the environment around the Eagles fan base because as a fan, I feel like I have an ear to the ground. Before the game even started, there was talk by starting Safety, Malcolm Jenkins that he was going to kneel during the "Star Spangled Banner" at Soldier Field and he was going to be joined by fellow defensive back Ron Brooks. There was a lot of outrage about this in the fan base and how people weren't going to watch the game because people were "disrespecting" the flag, but that is their protest. If they want to say that players are not "American" by protesting, then okay, thats fine, you are not a "real fan" if you do not watch the game! Jenkins, Brooks, and fellow defender, Means did protest, but they did so by putting their fist into the air signaling "Black Power"! Again, I don't mind this as I would be just as okay if a white person said "White Power", those are their beliefs and that is perfectly fine with me.

After defeating the Cleveland Browns in their home opener, the Eagles must have been extremely pumped and excited. Not only did they destroy the Browns, they also injured their starting Quarterback, Robert Griffin III, and it might be possible that he is out for 10 to 12 weeks as of now. However, I think that Eagles fans and players knew that the Bears would be a much greater test than the Browns, offensively and defensively. The game began very slow with the Eagles forcing a three and out on the Bears and then driving down the field for a field goal in the red zone. Carson Wentz was nearly flawless passing on this drive in the empty set and the no-huddle offense. ESPN's color commentator, Jon Gruden boasted that Chicago's defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio had a very stingy defense in the red zone and this was true as the Eagles were only able to convert on three first half field goals.

Later on in the second quarter, the Bears warmed up on offense as Jay Cutler was called on to throw a 35 or 40 yard pass to Wide Receiver Alshon Jeffrey on a stop and go pattern. He easily burned the closest Eagles defensive back and after a pass interference penalty in the end zone, Bears Running Back Jeremy Langford ran in a one yard touchdown. This was the only offensive score of the game as the Bears missed a field goal earlier in the game. On the Eagles side, I was very impressed by the receivers until the last two plays of the first half. Carson Wentz was really able to get the ball to them and they were able to hang on to it. Despite the fact that the Bears were dialing up the blitz, he got the ball to Matthews, Agholor, and Burton, whom was in reserve for injured Tight End, Zach Ertz. However, at the end of the first half, Wentz threw a perfect pass to Jordan Matthews that would have gone for a touchdown if he had caught it and Caleb Sturgis hit a 53 yard field goal to finish the half 9-7.

The second half is where things started to get interesting. Right off the bat on the Eagles first drive, they went three and out with the exception of the fact that the referee that was watching the play, blatantly missed the defensive back interfering with Nelson Agholor during the pass. This happened right in front of the referee and he ate his whistle. This wasn't the only point in time where the officiating missed penalties as the Eagles were being held many times and it wasn't called, but they had no problem calling it on the Eagles. With that said, the Bears made it up to the 50 yard line by running the football, but on the next passing play, Cutler was sacked by Defensive End, Destiny Vaeao and the ball was fumbled and got recovered by Jordan Hicks. And while this drive didn't lead to anything, the Eagles were the recipients of another Jay Cutler interception by Strong Side Linebacker Nigel Bradham. This lead to a Carson Wentz two yard pass to Trey Burton to put the Eagles up 22-7.

After that interception, the Bears took Jay Cutler out of the game where he was checked for a right thumb injury and was replaced by Brian Hoyer. And while Hoyer was more efficient, Jeremy Langford did fumble the football at around the 50 yard line and Ryan Matthews was able to to run the ball down to the goal line and punch it in for a touchdown with some tough running. The last points of the game came off of a Bears punt return for a touchdown by Eddie Royal to close the gap 29-14, but it wasn't enough for the Bears to come back on. The Bears played really well on defense, they able to rattle Carson Wentz a good deal, but in the end, he hung in there and made the plays he needed to. To be honest, Wentz, best play was called back on a holding call by Center, Jason Kelce, where the Bear brought a blitz, Wentz stepped up and delivered a pass to Celek in the middle of the field. He showed great awareness on the play and got it to his target. As a rookie, that is all I expect him to do. While he played well, the game ball goes to the defense, they kept the Eagles in the game when the offense wasn't able to do anything.

Nigel Bradham after catching a Jay Cutler interception.

Philadelphia Eagles Steam Roll Cleveland Browns 29-10

Going into this game I was really excited to see how the Eagles first round pick, Carson Wentz, was going to play. The Eagles drafted him back in April because they knew that they needed to get younger at the Quarterback position and that former Quarterback Sam Bradford didn't have much of a future with the team. Because of this, they traded a bunch of draft picks to get to the number two selection, where they chose the FCS Quarterback from North Dakota State. Also, because of a rib injury in the preseason, Wentz was sidelined and Bradford and backup Chase Daniel got a chance to have more playing time.

A change in the Eagles plans occurred when Vikings Quarterback Teddy Bridewater suffered a season ending leg injury and the Vikings traded a first and a fourth round pick for Sam Bradford. Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman then promised that the rookie from North Dakota State would play in the week one matchup against the Cleveland Browns. Carson Wentz had been healing from a rib injury so there was a small question that he might not have been the starter in the game. I myself wanted to see Carson, but I also wasn't expecting much because I know how hard it must be for a rookie to come in and shock the world like most fans would want him to. I also didn't want him to play too well because the fans would expect too much in future games and would call him a bust if he didn't play as well.

Before the game, a member of the Browns Front Office came out and said that the reason why the Browns traded their pick away was because they wanted first overall pick Jared Goff (drafted by the Rams) and that Carson Wentz wasn't even graded in the top 20 Quarterbacks to be picked in the draft. I think everyone looked at that as material for the game and some might have laughed knowing that the Browns have a horrible track record of drafting Quarterbacks. I know this because the Browns have previously drafted Brady Quinn in 2007, Colt McCoy in 2010, Brandon Weeden in 2012, and Johnny Manziel in 2014 and none of them panned out.

I was actually really surprised to see Carson Wentz come out there on his first drive and complete 4 passes for 5 attempts with two catches by tight end Zach Ertz, one catch by tight end Brent Celek and a 19 yard touchdown strike to Jordan Matthews to put the Eagles up 7-0 in the first quarter. The reason why the first drive worked so well was because of the touch passes that Wentz made and his accuracy. He also was able to lean on his running backs, Kenjon Barner and Ryan Matthews. Finally, a neutral zone infraction on the Browns allowed the Eagles to gain a first down and extend the drive.

The first drive for newly acquired Quarterback Robert Griffin III was not such a good one as he lead the Browns to a three and out with two stuffed runs and a dropped pass by tight end Gary Barnidge. This would be a theme for the Browns as they would struggle to extend drives and the Eagles defense lead by Fletcher Cox and Connor Barwin. The only great play that the Browns had was a 44 yard pass to Terrelle Pryor where he had three defenders on him, but only he came back for the ball, not to mention a horrible pass interference penalty on Eagles defender Malcolm Jenkins that lead to a two yard Isaiah Crowell run.

In the second Quarter, the play of Carson Wentz really stalled as I think he was getting into a groove with the speed of the game despite dropped passes by Darren Sproles and Josh Huff, as well as runs not going for as many yards. However, the defense managed to stop the Browns on a key fourth down play, that was an ill advised call by Browns Head Coach Hue Jackson, which lead to a Caleb Sturgis 38 yard field goal before halftime. Sturgis had already made a shorter field goal and missed his first field goal wide right because Wentz was sacked on the previous play.

After halftime, the game sped up as the Eagles were finishing more drives for touchdowns and the Browns were punting on every fourth down. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was really bringing the pain as the Eagles recorded three sacks on RG3 in the second half. There was even a play where the center for the Browns hiked the ball over Robert Griffin's head and the play lead to a safety and two points on the board for the birds. Carson Wentz was also able to connect with second year receiver Nelson Agholor on a 35 yard pass that put the Eagles up by two possessions. Finally, Ryan Matthews finished the game off with a well deserved one yard touchdown.

At the end of the game, the Eagles suffered a few injuries, starting cornerback Leodis McKelvin and tight end Zach Ertz were injured along with Browns Quarterback Robert Griffin III. Eagles Quarterback Carson Wentz finished completing 22 passes out of 37 for 275 passing yards and 2 touchdowns and Griffin completed less than 50% of his passes for no touchdowns and a Rodney McLeod interception in the second quarter. In the end, the Eagles offense had control of the ball for around 40 minutes, which is unheard of because of their poor time of possession stat from last season. They ran the ball 34 times for 177 total rushing yards and from what I remember only had two dropped passes.

I am very happy with the way Wentz played in this game, he wasn't too spectacular, but he took care of business against a really bad Browns team. I am hoping that going forward, he improves on his decision making and steps up in the pocket to avoid contact. There was one play where he dropped the snap, picked the ball up and threw an ill-advised pass that could have been intercepted. A veteran quarterback would have taken the sack, but otherwise I was really happy with his showing and I hope to see vast improvement as the season goes on. This was a team win, the line blocked the quarterback, the backs took the pressure off with some impressive runs, the receivers caught the ball, and the defense spotted the offense 10 points and when that happens, your team is probably going to win. The Eagles play the Bears next week on Monday Night Football at Soldier Field so I am hoping that we do not see too much drop off but it is a transitional year so I am not expecting much record-wise, but I am expecting the defense to step up like it has and help the team win some games.

Carson Wentz (#11) throwing a pass in Sundays game