By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Quarterback Carson Wentz led the Philadelphia Eagles in rushing yards Sunday with 55 yards, much of which came on a 24-yard run late in the fourth quarter. Tight-end Zach Ertz knows that can't continue to be the case if the Eagles want to compete for a playoff spot.
Following the Eagles' Week 2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Ertz met with the collective media, which included John Clark of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, and admitted that the team's gameplan today was not ideal:
Zach Ertz
"You cant be throwing the ball 40 times in a game… Thats not ideal… We want to be a balanced offense"#Eagles🦅 pic.twitter.com/sdUWpjGnPS
— John Clark CSN/NBC (@JClarkCSN) September 17, 2017
Ertz being the one to say this is rather interesting, for a few reasons.
The first is that Ertz would seemingly benefit from the team not running the ball frequently. Though he's improved his blocking, Brent Celek remains the best blocking tight-end on the Eagles, so the team running the ball more frequently may mean that he's on the field (or featured in the play) less frequently.
With that said, Ertz made the playoffs in his rookie season, and has yet to return since then. He understands that for the Eagles to be a playoff team, and for the passing game to progress, the Eagles need to at least be able to keep defenses honest with the threat of running the football.
The Eagles, as they showed for a stretch during the third quarter today, are capable of getting hot moving the ball through the air. Wentz is in his second season, while Ertz has played well through two weeks, and the team has new weapons in the form of Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery. But there needs to be balance in the offense, and through two weeks there hasn't been.
Constructive on Carson: Turnover, Sacks Doom Wentz late
To be fair, in Week 1, LeGarrette Blount did run the ball 14 times, while Wendell Smallwood and Darren Sproles were also mixed in. Wentz threw the ball 39 times, which is slightly more than what Ertz is saying is ideal, but that happens sometimes. The Eagles won their Week 1 game, despite their running game only producing 58 rushing yards.
In this afternoon's loss, Blount touched the ball just once in the game. Sproles, who is a 33-year-old complimentary weapon, led the team with 10 carries for 48 yards. Smallwood, who appears to be the only person currently on the roster potentially capable of getting the bulk of the carries, had just four yards on three caries today, which comes after he had four yards on four carries in Week 1. Corey Clement was also dressed today, but didn't see any carries on the limited snaps that he was on the field for.
Color commentator Charles Davis remarked a few times throughout the day about how neither team seemed committed to running the football. The Eagles didn't abandon the run today because they were down big and needed to throw to catch up – they were close for a majority of the game, making this an ideal week to stay committed to the run. Doug Pederson just didn't seem interested in doing that.
Whether it involves committing to the run with those currently on the roster or acquiring a player not currently with the team, Ertz is correct in assessing that there needs to be more of a commitment to the run moving forward. With Ertz and some new weapons, the Eagles have a good enough passing game to compete for a playoff spot. Thus far, the same can't be said about the team's running game.
