Eagles Armchair: What Happened on Carson Wentz’s interception

By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

A game defined by a fumble and a throw. That's the story of the Eagles first loss of the 2016 season.

But there was a lot more that happened leading up to that, and we're breaking it all down for you.

Going Deep (Literally)

You've probably seen it 100 times by now. Down two, with a chance to lead the team on his first game-winning drive, Carson Wentz took a shot down the field, and ended up throwing the first interception of his young NFL career:

The throw was certainly ill-advised, Doug Pederson admitted as much during his press conference. The head coach said after the game that Nelson Agholor wasn't Wentz's first option, and on the broadcast tape, you can see him work through his progression on the left side of the field before working back to the former first-round pick.

The play was a relatively simple one, with the Eagles running a "drive" concept in hopes of creating some separation and gaining yards after the catch.

Like most west coast offense concepts, the "drive" was created by Bill Walsh. The main goal of this play is to get the ball to Jordan Matthews as he's running full-speed across the formation. Despite this, Wentz should keep his eyes down field with Josh Huff while Matthews' route develops. Wentz's third option is Zach Ertz, who is running a crossing route over Matthews, and could become wide open if Matthews takes the underneath coverage with him. Wentz's check down is Darren Sproles out in the slot. 

That is how the play is drawn up, but according to Chris B. Brown, Walsh also gave his quarterback an option to hit one of the outside receivers, Huff or Agholor in this case, if he liked the coverage. 

In his post-game press conference, Wentz noted that he called an "alert," signalling that he was prepared to go Agholor's way. Based on how tight the Lions lined up prior to the snap, it's conceivable he was expecting Agholor to get by Darius Slay on his deep route.

However, Wentz still works through his progressions and the Lions do a good job sticking with Matthews and Ertz all the way to the sidelines. When he came around to Agholor, the wide receiver didn't really seem like someone who expecting a pass thrown his way, as evident by this gif:

Agholor seems to slow down about 20 yards downfield before he realizes the ball is actually coming his way. In fact, he wasn't the only one who was surprised by the throw, as Slay told the media after the game he was shocked that Wentz made the decision. 

“I was surprised he even threw that,” Slay said. “I was in great position, so I’m like, ‘OK.’ But then I looked in the air and I said, ‘Oh, the ball is coming for real. He’s really throwing this. Oh well, it’s time for his first career pick.’”

Wentz said afterword that he regretted throwing the ball the way he did and should've led Agholor more toward the middle of the field. But with the safety covering the middle of the field, I'm not sure if that would have ended any better for the Eagles.

Despite the late interception, Wentz put together another solid performance, totaling 238 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns, finishing with a QB rating of 102.8. One interception doesn't change that he has played superb football against four NFL teams — or three and Cleveland, if you'd like — and he looks like the quarterback this franchise has been waiting for.

Injury Report

Leodis McKelvin: McKelvin had been out since Week 1 with a hamstring injury and it seems like it flared up on him yesterday. He left the game early in the second half, but after receiving a bit of medical attention, he was back on the field. It doesn't seem like this will be a big issue moving forward, but it's worth keeping an eye on, especially if these aggravations continue. 

Ron Brooks: Brooks left the game right after McKelvin with cramps. After a brief absence he came back in and played in the fourth quarter. Brooks didn't exactly have his best game against Detroit and it's worth wondering if his health played a factor in his sub-par performance. Still, like McKelvin, this shouldn't be an injury that has any long-term effects.

Measurables

273: The Eagles ran 273 offensive plays before committing their first turnover, just three shy of an NFL record. That's very good.

0: The Eagles ran zero offensive plays before committing their second turnover. That's very bad.

1: One week after spear-heading the Eagles rushing attack, the duo of Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner combined for just one offensive snap and had zero touches. Smallwood's snap came on an end around to Huff, while Barner never got to touch the field with Wentz and company.

Last week, Pederson said Ryan Mathews' cut in playing time was due to a nagging ankle injury and he would return to the top of the depth chart once healthy. Apparently he wasn't bluffing. Mathews and Darren Sproles combined for 16 of the Eagles 21 rushing attempts, with the rest divided between Wentz, Huff and Agholor. The Eagles still averaged 5.5 yards per carry, so it's not like their ground attack struggled, but it is interesting to see such a drastic change in playing time from game to game. 

Notable Quotes

"I [expletive] up. I let my teammates down."

-Ryan Mathews on his costly fumble

The Eagles played an uneven game and even though the defense struggled for much of the first half, Mathews' fumble will be the play that sticks in the minds of fans. 

"We're 3-1, still in a good position, we'll learn from it and move on."

-Doug Pederson on the Eagles current status

Pederson seemed surprisingly upbeat for a guy who was just handed his first loss as an NFL head coach. Pederson's attitude seemed like a breathe of fresh air and it will be interesting to see how the team responds to it. Will they regroup, stay level-headed and head to Washington as a motivated team? Or will they struggle to find the fire they played with during the first three games of the schedule and free-fall? Only time would tell.

Weekly Awards

Offensive Player of the Week: Carson Wentz

We ran through his stats up above, but Wentz once again put together a great performance. It's starting to get a bit boring giving him this award, so he may become exempt from it soon, but the fact remains, he was the Eagles best player on offense yesterday. The freedom Pederson gives him at the line of scrimmage has resulted in some hiccups, but it's all a part of the learning process. Wentz has been good so far, but he is learning how to become great.

Offensive Grinder of the Week: Dorial Green-Beckham

This award was Mathews' to lose, and well, he did that. In his place, we'll give it to DGB who looks like he's starting to scratch the surface of his potential. He had three catches for 43 yards and was very close to catching his first touchdown as an Eagle, but an underthrown ball, combined with some aggressive defense robbed him of that. Green-Beckham is an incredibly physical receiver and he punished a Detroit linebacker with a vicious stiff arm after catching a screen pass. The Eagles receivers as a whole have been uninspiring in 2016, but that is much better than the dismal performances they turned in a season ago.

Defensive Player of the Week: Fletcher Cox

Just like Wentz, Cox is becoming too easy of a choice here. Only two tackles for the big fella, but he had a sack and his pressure led to sacks by Vinny Curry and a number of tackles for loss. As a defensive tackle, Cox's numbers will never look too impressive, but his presence is apparent every time he is on the field. He's virtually unblockable with just one offensive lineman and sets the tone for the Eagles defensive front. 

Defensive Grinder of the Week: Nigel Bradham

Things may get scary if Bradham is suspended because he has been the Eagles' best linebacker through the first four games. He had five total tackles yesterday, three of which went for loss. The Eagles tried to shy away from him in the first half and his absence was noticable. He needs to be on the field as much as possible for this defense to succeed.

Three-Step Drop

1. After being absolutely dominated for 30 minutes, the Eagles defense made the proper half-time adjustments in the locker room and shut down the Lions' offense for the remainder of the game. Consider this: the Eagles allowed 199 yards in the first half and just 45 yards and four first downs during the latter half of the game. That's the kind of stuff the team missed during the Bill Davis era.

Jim Schwartz switched up his personnel, adjusted to the Lions quick-hitting offense and shut down Matthew Stafford and company. Despite what he says to the press, it's hard to believe Schwartz didn't want this victory over his former team a bit more than any other opponent. Those halftime adjustments made it clear, this defense can remain an elite unit for the long haul.

2. For the first time all season, the Eagles had all three tight ends at their disposal and their performance was, well, underwhelming. The team still used Matt Tobin as their third tight end during running situations, but the three guys on the depth chart didn't turn in a performance worthy of their pedigree. Zach Ertz caught just three balls for 37 yards after missing the previous three contests with an injury. Trey Burton had just one catch for five yards and Brent Celek received zero targets. 

3. The regression Mychal Kendricks has undergone since being a borderline Pro Bowler in 2013 is absolutely astonishing. In his second year, Kendricks had four sacks, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and 83 tackles. In 2014, he picked up another four sacks and forced three fumbles, but he had just 62 tackles. He put up similar numbers in 2015 after signing a big contract, but things have fallen off a cliff this year.

When it was announced Bradham would stay on the field in nickel situations over Kendricks, it seemed like an act of favoritism by Schwartz, but when the Eagles swapped out Bradham and Jordan Hicks for Kendricks and Stephen Tulloch, it was apparent Kendricks just isn't the player he once was. He's no longer a playmaker, he doesn't even look like passable starter and he's been flat-out bad this year. Kendricks played just nine snaps against Pittsburgh and it looks like his role will continue to trend that way. Maybe this slow start can be attributed to his preseason injury, but with a huge price tag attached to him for next season, it's starting to seem unlikely Kendricks will be an Eagle after 2016.

Who's Next

The Eagles will head to Landover, Md., to face off against a hot Washington Redskins team that is coming off a 16-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens. This will be the Eagles first divisional matchup of 2016 and they have three such games, all on the road, over the next four weeks. If the Birds really want to solidify their status as a playoff contender, they will need to do it now, or else they could be buried before the calendar turns to November.

The Redskins lost their first two games, but they responded with three straight victories and Kirk Cousins is starting to look like the guy who won the division in 2015. The Eagles lost both of their games against Washington last year and haven't beaten the Redskins at FedEx Field since their first game under Chip Kelly in 2013. A win on Sunday would go a long way into establishing Pederson's squad as the class of the NFC East.