Philadelphia Eagles are benching Carson Wentz and it hurts

December 9, 2020

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson is doing things differently to his predecessor Andy Reid. In 2008 Reid benched Donavan McNabb, only to keep him as the starter in next game - where he refound his mojo.

 

Instead, Pederson named rookie quarter back Jalen Hurts the starter for the upcoming game against the New Orleans Saints.

 

It comes during a bad season for the Eagles. The 30-16 loss to the Packers in week 13 continues the disappointment and while franchise quarterback Carson Wentz has been awful, it isn’t fair to pile all the blame on him.

 

Wentz has been sacked a league-leading48-times, nine sacks more than the next most sacked quarterback, Russell Wilson.

 

The Packers game saw Wentz finally get benched in favor of Jalen Hurts, but the changeup didn’t affect the outcome of the game. Although players get benched all the time this feels a little more than that and it has to hurt the organisation.

 

Because 18 months ago Wentz and the Eagles signed a four-year, $128 million contract extension with $70 million guaranteed - that’s a big cap hit on the bench, for a deal that hasn’t started yet (2021).