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Doug Pederson Mystified By Carson Wentz’s Struggles

Doug Pederson Mystified By Carson Wentz’s Struggles

Doug Pederson is as confused as anyone regarding his starting quarterback’s struggles.

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles fell to the Los Angeles Rams 37-19. Wentz finished with 242 yards, two interceptions and zero touchdowns on 26 of 43 passing.

A week after posting a 72.5 passer rating, Wentz saw that figure drop to 56.5. Those totals are two of his four lowest since his 2016 rookie campaign.

Through two games, Wentz now has four total interceptions. Last year he didn’t record his fourth pick until late October.

After the Rams loss, Pederson was asked point blank by a reporter: what is behind Wentz’s bizarre, sudden regression?

The Eagles head coach seemed genuinely mystified by it. He had no serious explanation.

“It’s a good question,” he replied slowly.

Eventually, Pederson tried to zero in on a more specific answer – but even then he failed.

“I guess you could point to a lot of different things,” he said.

“Missing OTAs, not having all the necessary, maybe, reps during training camp, missing preseason games, whatever it might be, the timing of things with what we do in the passing game.

“Just missing these throws. They’re throws that he typically would make the throw and it’s a little bit too on the receivers. Sometimes the receivers need to make the catch as well. Those are things we have to continue to work.”

The problem for Philly right now is that Wentz’s failures don’t feel like one-offs – they feel like the beginning of a trend. His passes on Sunday were way off the mark on a troublingly frequent occasion. Multiple feet off.

Moreover, on his final 13 passes, Wentz completed only five of them. That means whatever bad juju he is currently dealing with is unlikely to be exercised by next week.

Last year, the Eagles signed Wentz to a four-year, $128 million deal. The thinking there was that Philly would have its quarterback position secure for a very long time.

Now that is looking like a serious miscalculation.

Fans are already quietly beginning to call for rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts to come in and reignite a fire under the Eagles’ stalled offense, and that chatter will only grow louder if Wentz continues to struggle.

Fortunately for the Eagles, they have two very winnable games in front of them – the perfect opportunity to get Wentz back on track.

The Cincinnati Bengals are on deck and should pose little threat. At the moment they are the Joe Burrow Show and not much else. After that is a Nick Bosa-less San Francisco 49ers squad that has been ripped apart by early-season injuries.

There is no excuse for Wentz and Co. not to be at the very least 1-3, if not 2-2, heading into am October 11 showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers that they will likely lose.

If the Eagles do end up falling in both of their next two outings, Wentz getting benched will suddenly become a very legitimate possibility.

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Charles Kruger

Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7's go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.

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