Eagles News: “Carson Wentz is a broken quarterback”

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Eagles dumbing down ‘broken’ Carson Wentz’s approach ... and it’s not working - NJ.com
According to a person with knowledge of the Eagles’ plans, head coach Doug Pederson and his offensive assistants have tried to design plays to create at least one open receiver immediately after the snap and have encouraged Wentz to throw to that receiver for several reasons: The strategy eliminates Wentz’s need to run through progressions, which inexplicably has proven challenging for a quarterback in his fifth season; It gets the ball out of his hands quickly, because Wentz, who has been sacked 40 times this season, gets jumpy and panicky in the pocket on pass plays that need time to develop; And it attempts to build his confidence for the more difficult throws he undoubtedly will have to make. But the Eagles, 3-6-1, are discovering defensive coordinators aren’t stupid. They see how Pederson is trying to prop up his quarterback and often are taking away that first receiver while also stunting and blitzing to put pressure on Wentz, betting he will panic and make mistakes. It seems to be working: Wentz, who has been hit repeatedly, has thrown a league-high 14 interceptions. “Carson is a broken quarterback,” the person said. “Even when he throws a good ball, he’s skittish and unsure.”

Doug Pederson initially hesitates to name Carson Wentz the starting quarterback for Week 12 - BGN
For Pederson personally, he notes that he doesn’t listen to the radio or read print media, because his focus is on the team and helping the team get better and improve. He understands that his job is also to make tough decisions with the roster and who does and doesn’t play, but every coach and player has a ton of pride. He knows that everybody outside of the building has their opinion, and he respects that, but he has to do what he feels is in the best interest of the team. When asked if Wentz was still the starter, Pederson said that he is the starter for Wednesday’s practice, but wasn’t yet looking ahead to Monday. But then agreed he would say that Wentz is their starter on Monday.

Stay Or Go, Bench Or No? - BGN Radio
Jimmy Kempski and Brandon Lee Gowton ask if several key members of the Eagles should be staying or going or if they should be benched or not PLUS thoughts on the Browns loss, a preview of the Seahawks and NFC East Picks! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

The Look Ahead #12: Thankful for Turkey Day Previews + Your Favorite Games of the Week - The SB Nation NFL Show
Brandon Lee Gowton (Bleeding Green Nation) and Ed Valentine (Big Blue View) preview the games you’re most excited to see. If you want to vote on those yourself, click here to sign up to be part of SB Nation Reacts. Thanksgiving Day game previews! Which Thanksgiving side needs to go?! Can the Steelers remain undefeated against the desperate Ravens? Will the Titans get revenge against the Colts? Can the rollercoaster Bucs test the defending Champion Chiefs? Dealer’s Choice: Giants or Bengals? [BLG Note: I filled in for my buddy Stats on TLA this week. Check it out!]

Eagles mailbag: How realistic is a trade of Carson Wentz this offseason? - PhillyVoice
It’s not realistic. If you trade Wentz, it’s $33,820,608 in dead money, and that’s sort of where the discussion ends. Back in February, in researching a deep dive piece on Alshon Jeffery, I asked Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap to give me the biggest dead money hits in NFL history. [...] If the Eagles were willing to trade Wentz and take on $33.8 million in dead money, it would be the biggest dead money hit in NFL history by a country mile, clearing the previous dead money hit leader (Cooks) by $12 million. Using $176,000,000 as a temporary 2021 salary cap number (ultimately, it’ll likely be a little higher), Wentz’s dead money hit would take up 19.2 percent of the Eagles’ cap. So there’s that.

NFL Power Rankings Week 11: What each fan base should be thankful for - The Athletic
27. Philadelphia Eagles. Be thankful for: Your memories from the 2017 season. It’s hard to come up with anything else for this team. They’ve been boring to watch for the third straight year. They’re old, expensive and bad and have little flexibility to improve the roster for 2021. Maybe Carson Wentz will improve and the coaching staff will figure some things out, but there are no signs of that. Barring a playoff appearance, Eagles fans only have to watch this team six more times. Then they can break out Super Bowl LII on the DVR and remind themselves of a simpler time.

Where does the Eagles’ salary cap situation stand for 2021? - Inquirer
But Howie Roseman got himself into this bind partly by borrowing against the future. He also gave out some bad contracts. He kept pushing money ahead, though, to keep the core of the team together and to make another Super Bowl push. That just hasn’t happened, and what he has left himself with is a still-aging roster that has declined. The Wentz contract, more than anything, has tied Roseman’s hands. He had the benefit of his rookie deal from 2016-19, and a relatively low cap number in 2020. But the number skyrockets in 2021 ($34,673,536) without any plausible way out with a near $60 million hit in dead money if the Eagles were looking to move on from the 28-year-old quarterback.

Next four weeks are a huge opportunity for Seahawks defense to show it’s turned a corner - Field Gulls
Carson Wentz is literally the most sacked quarterback in the league, while Daniel Jones is 4th. Sam Darnold and Joe Flacco have been sacked a combined 26 times, which would otherwise rank in the top-10 for a single player. Alex Smith’s comeback story has been equal parts inspiring and horrifying, but his ANY/A is 5.00. Dwayne Haskins got benched with 4.92 ANY/A. Smith’s intended air yards per pass attempt is lower than Drew Brees. Smith’s completion percentage is high but he’s barely trying to push the ball down the field... which frankly describes a lot of pre-leg break Alex Smith’s career. I think it’s fair to say that the Seahawks defense is just not going to be elite this year. As long as the offense remains elite, I think even league-average performance from the defense is enough to make the Seahawks serious Super Bowl contenders. That means they should be able to drop the hammer on the objectively awful offenses.

Your NFL Week 12 Matchup Guide: Patrick Mahomes vs. Tom Brady Is a Battle of GOATs - The Ringer
Russell Wilson started the season great, but has recently been bad. Carson Wentz started the season bad and has remained bad all year. (Maybe Wentz is having a better year—some people prefer consistency.) While Wilson leads the NFL in touchdown passes (30), Wentz leads the league in interceptions (14). If these guys have anything in common, it’s getting sacked. Wentz has been sacked 40 times in 10 games, a tidy 4.0 sacks per game, which puts him on pace for 64 sacks this season—that would be the fourth most ever. (Two of the three marks ahead of him were set by David Carr on the expansion-era Houston Texans. The third is from fellow Eagle Randall Cunningham). But while Wentz is the most-sacked QB this season, Wilson is second with 33. Wentz and Wilson’s common ground is literally hitting the ground. But perhaps even funnier is that despite everything separating these teams, the Eagles are alone in first place in their division, and the Seahawks are not. The real stakes of this game are continuing to mock the NFC East, because if Philly beats Seattle, all those jokes will lose a little luster.

Dallas Cowboys strength and conditioning coordinator Markus Paul has passed away at the age of 54 - Blogging The Boys
Tuesday was an unsettling day for the Dallas Cowboys as their day began with a non-Covid medical emergency involving the team’s strength and conditioning coordinator Markus Paul. There were a number of reports throughout the day concerning Paul’s status, but the Dallas Cowboys released a team statement just after lunchtime that described the emergency that happened in the morning and extended their thoughts towards Markus Paul, his family, and his friends, all while asking for support for their team member. Wednesday evening brought with it the terrible news that Markus Paul passed away. He was 54 years old. The Dallas Cowboys released an official statement. It included statements from both Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy.

Brandon Allen to start at QB Sunday for Bengals vs. Giants - Big Blue View
Allen’s only NFL game action came last season, when he started three games for the Broncos. Denver went 1-2 in those games. Allen completed 39-of-84 passes (46.4 percent) for 515 yards with 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, a passer rating of 68.3 and a QBR of 35.4. Allen was just added to the Bengals’ 53-man roster from their practice squad on Monday.

Olivier Vernon earns AFC Defensive Player of the Week honor - Dawgs By Nature
Cleveland Browns defensive end Olivier Vernon was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday. The honor comes after Vernon posted three sacks, including one that resulted in a safety, of quarterback Carson Wentz in Cleveland’s 22-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Packers place Montravius Adams, James Burgess on IR - PFT
The Packers also claimed [former Eagles] defensive tackle Anthony Rush off waivers from the Bears, Field Yates of ESPN reports. Rush appeared in four games for the Seahawks this season, making six tackles and half a sack.

The 4 advantages of a stay-at-home Thanksgiving in 2020 - SB Nation
It’s Thanksgiving, and normally you’d be spending the days leading up to the Holiday thinking about how you plan to avoid awkwardness, or coping with the anxiety of travel, or laughing about your family’s traditions. Even though you might be relieved to avoid a lot of this hassle, I’m sure there’s a part of you that’s sad about missing out on it all. That’s why we’re here today: To take lemons and make lemonade, or more appropriate to the season, to take pumpkins and make pumpkin spice latte about this situation. This might be the only year in your adult life where you have a sensible, plausible excuse to avoid gathering — guilt free. This is a precious gift! Take some time for yourself, recharge, and know that we’re all in this together. Every one of us will have our plans altered, and that can be really fun! In case you’re having a hard time seeing the silver lining here, let me help.

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