You can tell Doug Pederson is tired. But he is the cause of his own misery.
I’m sure he’s exhausted with defending his quarterback. Twelve weeks into the season, this is no longer “a rough stretch.” Excuses piled as tall as the Empire State Building wouldn’t be enough to explain the season Carson Wentz is having.
It’s that bad.
And Pederson knows it.
Every week, reporters ask Pederson if he plans to make a switch at quarterback, and without fail, he quickly shuts it down.
“No.”
Wentz has been a disaster this year, and there’s an argument that he has been the worst starting quarterback this season, leading the league in interceptions with 14.
But since he’s in the worst division in the league, that isn’t entirely reflected in the Philadelphia Eagles 3-6-1 record.
They lead the NFC EAST.
Just pitiful.
This week, Pederson looked like he was genuinely internalizing the routine question, truly thinking about the guy he has advocated for under center, whose performance has not materialized.
“You’re not making that move, Doug, to a different quarterback?” a reporter asks Pederson Wednesday.
“*a long pause* Not today on Wednesday, no,” Pederson responds with a smirk.
“Possibly for Monday?” the reporter asked back.
“Ummm, I’m focused on getting better today… I would say no,” Pederson replies.
Doesn’t seem like a confident coach to me. And at this point, he’s probably tired of standing in front of a digital screen daily, fending off very valid criticism of his quarterback.
But you know what? He has the power to change that.
Yesterday, Mina Kimes gave the best description of the Eagles’ offense.
A “tornado of suck.”
That is what they look like.
And the argument “they have a lot of injuries on offense this year” would be valid, but their offensive line has not been a consistent problem.
It’s Wentz.
He’s holding on to the ball too long, throwing into double coverage, and has terrible mechanics. He does not look like he did two years ago, when he was en route to being the league MVP before getting hurt.
People always talk about the infamous 2017-2018 season, but even if Wentz gets back to his play in 2018-2019, people would probably shut up.
And for what it’s worth, ESPN’s Jordan Schultz posted a poll yesterday, asking fans if Wentz should be benched for Jalen Hurts? Not only did fans chime in, but current NFL players gave their take as well.
Most notably, D.K. Metcalf
He said, “I voted yes.”
That might have been Metcalf trolling, as the Eagles play the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night. But whatever Metcalf’s reasoning is, it is fair to question: What the Eagles are doing?
Pederson hinted Monday that a decision to pull Wentz could be sending a message to the team that the season is over.
“No, don’t misunderstand what I was saying,” Pederson said. “What I’m saying by that is ‘I don’t want to send the wrong message to the football team that anything is over.’ Sometimes at that position, this late in the season, when that happens, sometimes people take that as, ‘OK, we’re kind of looking at the next year or preparing for next season,’ whatever it might be, and giving some of these young guys an opportunity to play.”
But after all, the Eagles are in the worst division in the NFL. A college team like Alabama or Clemson might have a shot at beating one of these teams because they are just that horrendous. So would pulling Wentz end the Eagles season?
Probably not.
It reminds me of the message earlier this season sent by Washington head coach Ron Rivera when he decided to pull Dwayne Haskins because he felt they could “step up in the division” under Kyle Allen.
Whoever wins this division will be the epitome of subpar and likely wouldn’t even be able to beat some of the top teams in college football.
It is that bad.
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