The Eagles have cemented themselves in the drivers seat of the NFC East race after the 17-9 win over the Cowboys on Sunday. They have set themselves up for a “win-and-in” game versus the Giants next week.
But this idea seemed farfetched just three weeks ago after the Dolphins game. A 37-31 loss to the lowly Dolphins seemingly ended any hope for the Eagles to make the playoffs, despite four straight division games upcoming.
“Overrated”, “careless”, “reckless”, these are just some of the G-rated words being thrown around by media and fans after that performance regarding Wentz, despite a strong game from him.
The Eagles needed wins, and they needed them badly. They needed them without Alshon Jeffery, without Nelson Agholor, without Lane Johnson, and without Jordan Howard. But the one constant was Carson Wentz.
With his performance against the Cowboys, he becomes the first player in Eagles history, and NFL history, with three straight games with 30 or more completions. His three game streak comprising of 910 yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions puts him in a group with only Donovan McNabb and Randall Cunningham as the only other quartebacks in Eagles history to have such a streak. Wentz and McNabb have actually done it twice in their careers. Wentz had a four game stretch from September 30, 2018 to October 21, 2018 where he had games of 348, 311, 278, and 310 yards passing respectively. McNabb had a four game stretch from September 17th, 2006 to October 8th, 2006 where he had 350, 296, 288, 254 yards passing respectively.
With 378 yards passing against the Giants and at least one touchdown and no interceptions, Wentz will have the most yards during a four game stretch with at least one touchdown and no interceptions in Eagles history. With 337 yards passing, he will be second.
His streak of games with a touchdown pass was also extended to 18 games, which is currently the longest active streak in the NFL. The NFL record is 54 straight games, he’ll get there.
With 250 yards passing against the Giants, he will become the first quarterback in Eagles history with 4,000 passing. With 167 yards passing, he will pass Donovan McNabb for the most passing yards in a single season in Eagles history.
He has 26 touchdown passes, and will need eight on Sunday to break his own record for most touchdown passes in a single season. That won’t happen. Or will it….
He is already the only quarterback in Eagles history with four straight 3,000 yard seasons to start a career. Many more records will be broken with Wentz as the Eagles quarterback.
Add in this tidbit from Reuben Frank:
Even though he missed 3 games in 2017 and 5 games in 2018 …
Most games since 2017 with at least 1 TD & 0 INTs:
27 … Russell Wilson
25 … Aaron Rodgers
22 … Carson Wentz
22 … Phillip Rivers
22 … Derek Carr
22 … Drew Brees
21 … Tom Brady
21 … Kirk Cousins
21 … Matt Ryan— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) December 23, 2019
He’s five games away from Wilson’s 27 games, if he played those eight games one could imagine he’d have at least four games with one touchdown and zero interceptions.
I detailed his struggles with fumbles, but he seemed more careful during the Cowboys game. He did have one fumble, but if you watch the replays, blame could be placed on Jason Peters for that one.
Wentz has put the team on his back during these past three divisional games, bringing the team’s division record to 4-1. If Wentz can continue his recent dominance next week, he will end the 2019 season with 16 games played for the second time in his career and will finally make it to the playoffs for a wild card game at home versus either the Seahawks or the 49ers.
Revenge season is in full effect for Wentz, and we’re all witnessing his greatness come to fruition.
*Statistical streaks found through pro-football-reference.com
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
