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
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