Doug Pederson regrets punting for the tie, isn’t ready to consider benching Carson Wentz

When asked to explain his decision to have the Philadelphia Eagles punt with 19 seconds remaining in overtime against the Cincinnati Bengals, Doug Pederson said the following in his postgame presser:

“That’s probably a decision I’ll look back on tomorrow and say we could’ve done something else [...]”

Sure enough, Monday arrived, and Pederson admitted he could’ve done something else. The Eagles’ head coach said the following on SportsRadio 94WIP:

[...] “But looking back on it, I would have probably gone the other way and maybe taken a shot down the field and put the ball up in the air. Looking back on it, with clearer eyes this morning, a lot of things good have happened – DPI (defensive pass interference), illegal contact, could have been an offensive holding, could have been a sack. There’s a lot of things that go into those plays. Looking back on it, that’s probably what I would do.”

The Eagles could’ve attempted a 64-yard field goal with Jake Elliott, who previously made a 61-yard kick in 2017. Or they could’ve tried to throw for a first down on 4th-and-12 from Cincy’s 46-yard line.

Instead, Pederson opted for the tie.

Admitting his mistake now obviously doesn’t solve anything. But I guess it’s better than being stubborn about it.

On a different note, Pederson was asked about potentially benching Carson Wentz and replacing him with Jalen Hurts. He immediately shot that down:

“No. No. You don’t go there. That is a knee-jerk reaction. That is a reaction to things that are sometimes, you know, the aura that is out there. That is not what we believe internally and we are going to continue to get better. Carson is our quarterback. We are going to get it fixed, he is going to get it fixed and you know, we got a long season — we are only a half-game out of first place for goodness sakes. The whole division right now is not playing very good football. So, we are not that far off.”

With Wentz playing as poorly as he is, it’s really not insane to wonder if Hurts could do better. This isn’t to suggest Hurts is the savior and there aren’t many other issues with the offense. But Wentz’s inaccuracy is a major issue. It’s untenable.

The Eagles can’t be surprised that these questions are being asked. They opened this can of worms by drafting Hurts at No. 53 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.

We’ll hear more from Pederson when he speaks with Eagles reporters around noon today.