Eagles’ Carson Wentz’s legs propel team to their first win of the season | QB report card

The Eagles (1-2-1) finally won their first game of the season Sunday, defeating the San Francisco 49ers (2-2) 25-20. Playing without DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor, and Dallas Goedert, quarterback Carson Wentz played his best game of the young season.

Wentz still exhibited some issues at times, but he came alive in the fourth quarter and drove the Eagles offense to what would become the eventual game-winning touchdown. Heading into Sunday night’s game, there was a thought of maybe grading Wentz’s performance on a curve because he was missing so many receivers. Instead, it looked at ties as if not a lot had changed.

Here is the breakdown of Wentz’s performance in Sunday’s win:

Final Stats

Wentz finished the game Sunday, completing 64% of his passes (18 of 28 passes) for 193 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Wentz’s quarterback rating of 81.4 was easily his highest rating of the season.

Wentz had entered the game with a rating in the low 60′s (63.1). Wentz led the Philadelphia offense to points in 3 of the 10 possessions in the game.

Wentz also ran the ball seven times for 37 yards and a rushing touchdown.

Best Throw

Wentz threw his best pass of the season when he threw an accurate, deep sideline pass to Travis Fulgham for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Wentz put enough air under the ball to allow Fulgham to run under it, and he also led Fulgham, essentially throwing him open. The fourth-quarter pass gave the Eagles the late lead.

Spreading the ball around

Even with a mostly unrecognizable cast of receivers surrounding him, Wentz completed the ball to seven different receivers. With tight end Zach Ertz drawing a lot of the 49ers defense’s attention, Wentz targeted Greg Ward the most, throwing the ball his way seven times.

Wentz did trust his newer receivers at crucial times. He found wide receiver John Hightower on a fourth-down slant play in the fourth-quarter. He also found Fulgham on that touchdown play. He also checked down to running back Miles Sanders when there was nothing down the field.

Grade: B

Accuracy

Wentz still struggled with his accuracy. Although he made better decisions and threw the ball away when receivers were not open, he did miss some easier throws when the opportunities arose.

Wentz tried to throw across this body, and the ball wobbled on a deep sideline pass to Richard Rodgers, but the 49ers were able to deflect the ball away. Wentz also had running back Miles Sanders breaking open toward the middle of the field in what would have been a big play, but the pass was low, and Sanders had trouble corralling the pass.

Grade: C-

Mobility

For the second straight game, Wentz looked good using his legs. Wentz did a great job escaping the 49ers pass rushers to extend plays and pick up first downs.

One thing Wentz did well, especially on the touchdown run, was the ball fake he gave on the read-option. He rode the fake in Boston Scott’s midsection and forced the defensive end to commit to Scott, allowing Wentz to get the edge.

The Eagles also rolled him out on several bootlegs to move the pocket and keep Wentz from staying stationary and facing the 49ers pass rush. Wentz also used his legs to elude the rush when they eventually got to him.

Grade: A

Turnovers

Wentz tried to extend a third-down play when he threw a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and picked off by linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. The interception was the seventh of the season for Wentz, matching the total the quarterback had all of last season. Even with all the runs he had Sunday night, he did not fumble.

Wentz still has to corral the turnovers and take better care of the ball.

Grade: C

Overall

When the Eagles needed a good performance and leader when missing so many players, Wentz delivered at the right time. His mobility helped keep the 49ers defense off balance, and his fourth quarter performance was clutch.

He still has a ways to go to be back to being an elite quarterback. In the dreck that is the NFC East right now, he is the quarterback of a first-place team. Wentz now has to prepare for a rested Pittsburgh Steelers team.

Grade: B

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Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.

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