Critiquing Carson

Carson Wentz is a great young QB. He’s big, strong and athletic. He can make every throw. He can scramble away from pressure and fire a strike 50 yards down the field. He’s accurate. He puts good touch on his throws.

Off the field, Wentz is just as good. He is a natural leader. He is very driven, willing to do whatever it takes to win. You don’t have to worry about Wentz getting in trouble.

He sounds perfect, just what you would want in a franchise QB.

While Wentz is great, he is human. He’s not perfect. And Wentz would be the first person to tell you that. It is okay to be critical of him.

Good criticism takes nuance. Let’s take Monday night for example. Wentz played well and led the Eagles to a key win. The offense put up 28 points. Wentz threw for 306 yards and 2 TDs. On the surface, that looks like a darn good game.

Beyond the numbers, there were some highlight moments.

#WentzDay in #DallasWeek

We saw a lot of 2017 Carson Wentz in the #Eagles #MNF victory, including this ad libbed 1st down floater to @ShowtimeTate #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/gd9GAlvKCC

— Armchair Bird Gang (@ArmchairEagles) December 5, 2018

https://twitter.com/nelsonagholor/status/1070376632265846784

CaRsOn WeNtZ dOeSn’T mAkE pLaYs WiTh HiS lEgS pic.twitter.com/vKYq3eZruP

— Patrick (@pmc1423) December 4, 2018

That’s really impressive. You can see how physically gifted Wentz is on those plays. He is a special player.

But again, he’s not perfect.

There were some bad moments in the game as well.

Carson Wentz is good, folks.

But these throws need to be automatic if this #Eagles team takes the next step and makes a push for the playoffs.

Plain & simple. pic.twitter.com/mZfsl9kC75

— Tyler Steege (@TSteegeNFL) December 4, 2018

The Carson Wentz redzone INT from earlier.pic.twitter.com/UFry7eszhk

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 4, 2018

There was an overthrow of Dallas Goedert on a play that had some potential.

There was an overthrow of Nelson Agholor on a play that had TD potential.

No one expects Wentz to make the right read or the perfect throw on every play. No QB, not even Mark Sanchez, can do that. But a player of Wentz’s caliber needs to be held to a very high standard.

One of the reasons the Eagles aren’t scoring as much this year is that Wentz is making some key mistakes. We can talk about Frank Reich and John DeFilippo all day, but the truth is that a couple of better plays from Wentz on Monday night and the Eagles put up another 10-14 points.

Wentz is a great QB and the Eagles are lucky to have him. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore his mistakes.

Wentz did a poor job at the end of the Carolina game. There is a difference in pointing that out and calling him a choker who can’t win close games.

QBs need practice. They need reps. Wentz missed a lot of offseason work because he was focused on rehabbing and not playing football. You can see some sloppiness in his play. Having a full offseason will do him a world of good.

Wentz has improved in some areas this year. His arm is stronger than ever. His completion percentage is up, almost at 70 percent. His chemistry with Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery has been really impressive. There is a real connection between them.

If the Eagles are going to beat the Boys, Rams and Texans in the next few weeks, Wentz needs to be at his best. The Eagles are going to need to score points and avoid mistakes. They will need to take advantage of big plays when they become available.

It will be interesting to see if Wentz can pull this off.

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