Wentz looks sharper but Eagles manage to lose anyway

And they still lost 26-23 in overtime to the Titans, the Titans, by a beautiful, sunny afternoon on the banks of the Cumberland, an afternoon of decisive penalties and hallucinating mistakes. Anyway, on Sunday, Rodney McLeod's loss of safety for the season following a knee injury was a blow to the Eagles' defense, which seems to be looking for ways to get rid of Lincoln Financial Field. (For example, Corey Graham, McLeod's replacement, waived easy conversion to fourth and fifteenth in overtime.)

According to your will, Wentz's 33-to-50 effort (which includes four or five throws and at least as many scraps) can reassure, in the long run, or maybe it's really unsettling.

The argument for finding this reassuring: Wentz is clearly neither rusty nor shy, but after nine months of convalescence and re-education. The attack, with Wentz and Alshon Jeffery (eight catches, 105 yards, one touchdown in his long-awaited return from a shoulder operation), is perhaps not so far from regaining productivity 2017. After all, the Eagles have weapons, even when Corey Clement (quadriceps) and Darren Sproles (hamstrings) are not present on the pitch, even against a really solid defense, like that of the Titans.

The case for this to be disturbing: one day when the Eagles scored very close to Wentz, ranked as the MVP, and where Jeffery posted the best numbers of his career in Eagles, they still managed to dig a 17-3 lead in the third quarter a team of Titans that no one selects for the Super Bowl, a quarter of which lacks full sensations in the hand that passes due to a nervous problem in the elbow.

Wentz was fired four times behind an offensive line that seemed dominant in the second and third quarters, dreadful for most of the first and fourth places, and a bit of both in overtime.

The defense ruined everything, but she had some help. The Eagles got the ball first in overtime and went from 25 to 17 in five crisp Tennessee games, including four with 44 yards and a 14-yard Wentz pass at Jeffery. A touchdown would end the match right here.

But a run of Jay Ajayi lost two yards and then Wentz could not connect to Nelson Agholor or a well covered Zach Ertz. The Eagles therefore opted for a 37-yard placement by Jake Elliott.

This repeated a scenario of the end of regulation time, when Elliott, 30 meters, sent the game in overtime – after Wentz ended up throwing the ball in third and three goals, against the 12 Titans.

"They covered us up," said Wentz, who threw the ball out of the end zone, over Jordan Matthews' head, while it seemed like Wentz could have had the time to go. go somewhere else with her, or even run for the three meters. "A little communication problem there too." I tried to throw it away and keep us in a goal position.

Wentz said that the Eagles "had a chance to finish in the end zone at the end of the (regulation), we had chances to finish in the overtime goal zone." We simply did not run into the red zone as we wanted to, look at all kinds of games in the game and how we did not finish in offense and in team either. "

As he had done on his return a week earlier against the Colts, Wentz enjoyed a solid running game (20 strokes, 109 yards, not counting the two Wentz races for eight yards ). Penalties and penalties prevented Doug Pederson from calling as many points as he might have preferred.

"Too many penalties, when it's the second goal, it will not be the moment to throw the ball," said left-hand goalkeeper Stefen Wisniewski. "It's frustrating, because we played very well in attack, but we left too many games."

Wisniewski said that two of the four bags were on "nakeds" – bootlegs in which Wentz eventually tried to put pressure on him.

"I think we missed a lot of detail and we shot ourselves in the foot," said halfback Wendell Smallwood, who looked strong and steady, racking up 39 yards in just five runs and three passes for 15 yards. "It was our problem all day, we should have finished in the red zone, finished this game when we had a chance."

If Smallwood did more than expected, in the absence of Sproles and Clement, Agholor did less. It was Agholor 2016, dropping passes and fumbling, producing only 22 yards on his 12 targets (five shots).

"I left parts there," said Agholor. "It's my job to make explosive games and help this team, and I've left games there."

Wentz had 93 yards more than he had against the Colts and was not picked up, even though he fumbled on a bag, leading to a Tennessee center placement.

Wentz was asked what detains an offense that occurred 1 in 4 in the red zone.

"I think that overall we are doing too much harm," said Wentz. "I think it's something little here or there and those little things that come in. It's a penalty, a lack of communication, a missed mission." we also make physical mistakes, I'm not too worried, it's frustrating, but it's a feeling we can learn and bounce back from. "

According to Wentz, being hit is part of the game. He noted that sometimes he held the ball too long and that the Titans were successful in defeating the Eagles' calls for protection.

"They did some things really well," said Wentz. "We must be better."

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