By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Despite continued struggles throwing deep passes, quarterback Carson Wentz put the Philadelphia Eagles in position for a magical win against the New York Giants in Week 3.
Following their second win of the season, the Eagles traveled to San Diego Los Angeles to take on Philip Rivers and the Chargers. The 3,000 mile trek to Los Angeles was the team's third road game in the first four weeks of the season.
Here are my in-game notes on Wentz's performance against the Chargers:
First Quarter
Drive One
- The first drive started on the Eagles' 32-yard line, with Wendell Smallwood running for a first down.
- After a short run on first down, Wentz hit Smallwood on a swing pass that netted a four-yard gain.
- Following an offsides penalty and two runs from Corey Clement, Wentz threw Nelson Agholor open on a 36-yard completion. It was easily his prettiest pass of the young season:
Bust tho? pic.twitter.com/uXypUkMGOj
— Andy (@SmallwoodpIs) October 1, 2017
- Wentz, after a loss from Clement, made up for missing Alshon Jeffery on what would have been a touchdown last week, as he hit Jeffery over the middle for his second touchdown catch as an Eagle. This capped off an impressive drive, one that featured a good mix between run and pass plays.
It's @TheWorldof_AJ, and we're all living in it. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/HEoGUKQDbs
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 1, 2017
Drive Two
- The Eagles, with a combination of Smallwood, Clement and LeGarrette Blount, opened the second drive heavily focused on running the ball.
- Wentz then hit Smallwood on a well-designed fake end-around, which ended up with Smallwood making the catch and following an escort of lineman for a 24-yard gain.
- Wentz, on another fake-end around, with pressure in his face, hit Blount on the opposite side of the field after rolling right. This went for a 20-yard gain, and was another example of Wentz seeming to like gunslinger type plays.
- On the following play, Wentz took his eye off of the ball before the snap got to him and ended up having to cover up the botched snap. Jason Kelce made a nice snap, Wentz was just attempting to hand it off before he actually caught the ball.
- The drive ended in a 41-yard field goal from Jake Elliott.
Second Quarter
Drive Three
- To open drive three, Wentz threw a dime to Torrey Smith, one that may have been a touchdown had he caught it in motion. Instead, he dropped the ball. These two have left a few touchdowns on the board this season. It is encouraging, nonetheless, to see Wentz starting to make some of these throws when his receivers get open for a potentially explosive play.
Torrey Smith drops the ball more than Nelson Agholor my god, perfect throw by Wentz down the seam pic.twitter.com/bNW8Nae0YO
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) October 1, 2017
- Wentz hit Agholor over the middle after a fake to Blount, giving the team another first down.
- Wentz followed that by breaking out of a collapsing pocket and running for 12 yards, another first down.
- On third-and-13, Wentz made a nice pass to give Smith a chance to make a catch in the endzone. The ball was broken up. Still, a nice attempt, with Elliott hitting another field goal on the next play.
Drive Four
- On a second-and-three, Wentz failed to connect with Jeffery.
- On third-and-three, the Eagles used Agholor as a decoy, with Wentz then hitting Smallwood for a first down. It was a well drawn-up play.
- He followed up the Smallwood reception by hitting Zach Ertz on a slant for a 19-yard gain. Wentz seems to be very comfortable with Ertz, who has tended to clean up some of Wentz's throws this year. On the next play, he nearly cleaned another one up, except Casey Hayward broke it up.
- On third-and-eight, Wentz did a pretty amazing job at avoiding the rush and getting rid of the ball, which kept the Eagles in field-goal range. Elliott then connected on a 53-yard field goal, his third of the day, giving the Eagles a 16-7 lead.
Drive Five
- Coming out of the two-minute warning, Wentz was pressured and dumped the ball off too low to Smallwood, who wasn't able to haul it in. Even had he caught it, he would been drilled.
- After Wentz couldn't quite run for a first down, the Eagles lined up on fourth-and-one. Wentz didn't appear to like what he saw once the team lined up, and the Chargers didn't jump offsides, so Wentz called timeout before an eventual punt.
Third Quarter
Drive Six
- With Mack Hollins in the slot, the Eagles opend the second half on the 25 after a touchback.
- After a Smallwood run on first down, Wentz threw a ball over Jeffrey's head, one that he's lucky wasn't intercepted.
- On third-and-eight, the Eagles curiously elected to run the ball with Smallwood, who came a few yards short of the first down. Three-and-out to open the second half. FOX didn't show a replay – which was a theme all day – but some suggested on Twitter that Wentz may have changed the play after seeing how the Chargers lined up.
Drive Seven
- On the first play of drive seven, Wentz failed to hit Ertz over the middle.
- However, on the next play, Wentz made a nice touch pass to connect with Ertz on a 38-yard pass. The pass wobbled a bit, but it was placed perfectly.
“Carson Wentz can’t throw deep” #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3hrCPD3lL0
— 975TheFanatic (@975TheFanatic) October 1, 2017
- Seconds after Nick Williams hit an inside-the-park home run for the Phillies, Wentz took a shot deep to Marcus Johnson. It was the type of throw that if you take the chance to Jeffrey, who is one of the most physically dominant receivers in the game, you can live with it. It probably didn't make sense to take the shot to Johnson, who really didn't have separation. He's lucky Casey Hayward didn't pick it off.
- On fourth-and-one, Wentz kept the ball up the middle to convert.
- On a third-and-long, Wentz, who was about to take a hit, connected with Jeffrey for a first down.
Casey Hayward has been doing a good job on Jeffery in this game, but Alshon beats him here on an in-route to move the chains on 3rd-and-8 pic.twitter.com/OL3fCPQj80
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) October 1, 2017
- Even despite some impressive plays on the drive, the Eagles were again forced to settle for a field goal. Elliott nailed it again, giving the Eagles a 19-10 lead.
Fourth Quarter
Drive Eight
- The Eagles opened drive eight having had their lead cut to 19-17.
- After a Clement run opened the drive, Blount had his most effective run of the season, as he ran for 68 yards. On a run-focused drive, it was Blount's Marshawn Lynch-esque run that broke things open.
Beast. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Wg1NsBSbVA
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 1, 2017
- On second-and-goal, Wentz broke out of one sack, then as he was about to be taken down tried to force a throw to the endzone again. With a two-point lead, on second-and-goal, you can't do that. You don't want to settle for a field goal again, but that's better than possibly throwing an interception. Wentz has to just live to see another play sometimes.
- The drive ended in a Smallwood touchdown run, as the Eagles finally were able to finish off a drive again.
Drive Nine
- After a spectacular Hunter Henry touchdown cut the Eagles lead to 26-24, the Eagles opened their ninth drive on their own 25 following a touchback.
- Wentz's first completion of the drive came when he hit his security blanket, Ertz, over the middle on a second down.
- Clement would run for a first down on the following play. That led the way to Wentz finally connecting with Smith for a nine-yard catch.
- Clement and Blount eventually combined to run the clock out and give the Eagles their third win of the season.
Week 4 Thoughts
- Though his shot to Johnson in the endzone probably isn't one that he should have taken, it is encouraging that Wentz was able to connect with Agholor and Ertz on deep balls and made a great throw to Smith that he dropped. It doesn't erase the struggles that he's had for much of his young career in terms of deep ball accuracy, but it reminds you that the problem isn't that he can't make the throws, but rather that he hasn't consistently found the right touch.
- Even if public pressure has forced him to commit to a more balanced attack the past two weeks, Pederson deserves credit for how he's taken pressure off of Wentz the past two games.
- Though it has maybe come at the expense of Trey Burton and Brent Celek's roles in the passing offense, it's comforting that Ertz and Wentz appeared to have gelled so well.
- It's starting to feel like a tough month of December – one that features games against the Rams, Giants, Raiders and Cowboys – may decide whether Wentz and the Eagles go to the playoffs. Getting a win like this, in a close game after traveling across the country, was crucial.
