The Indianapolis Colts announced on Tuesday that franchise QB Carson Wentz has contracted COVID-19 and has been placed on the teams’ reserve list. This means that he’ll turn over the starting role to Sam Ehlinger on Sunday and it has some interesting repercussions for the Eagles.
The picks: Part 1
If Indianapolis loses against the Raiders on Sunday, it’s a dream scenario. The Raiders, like the Eagles, currently hold an 8-7 record. If we assume that the Eagles are going to coast past whatever is left of WFT, that win gives the Eagles a slightly better pick, or at least stops it dropping further than it already would. The Raiders currently hold pick 17, while the Eagles hold picks 19 and 20, with the Dolphins also owning an 8-7 record.
For the Eagles to make the playoffs on Sunday, they need to beat Washington, and hope that the Dolphins drop a game to the Panthers in week 17. The Vikings also need to lose to Green Bay, and the Texans need to not ruin New Years celebrations and simply take the L against San Francisco.
The picks: Part 2
The other element of this is obviously the fate of Indy’s pick. A loss on Sunday would push them back to a 9-7 record, potentially pushing their pick back into the high-teens. They’ll be hoping that Wentz is able to return for a game against the Jags in week 18, but regardless of whether he does or not, their playoff fate will be decided by then and it would make little sense to risk him against that Jaguars team.
Sanity
Jalen Hurts calmly met with the media prior to the start of the season and answered ‘yes’ when asked if vaccinated. In Indy, Carson Wentz met with reporters and explained that it’s a personal choice and he’s researching. That went well.
Optically, if Carson Wentz had remained unvaccinated and caught COVID right as the Eagles were pushing for a playoff berth, the City might have imploded. If the QB Controversy and heat was bad before, this would’ve sent the fan base into a frenzy.
I understand that people have differing opinions on the vaccine and this isn’t a post to politically align one way or the other. But I think we can all agree that imagining this happened in Philadelphia is enough to make you appreciate the actions of Jalen Hurts and his teammates to avoid this kind of dreaded situation that comes as a direct risk of refusing the vaccine.
Finally, I did just want to note that I hope Carson recovers quickly and more importantly, his two young children and his wife are unaffected.
Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
