Eagles’ Carson Wentz benched against Packers, Hurts gives a spark in relief | QB Report Card

Could the Eagles move forward with Jalen Hurts as their starting quarterback for the rest of the season?

The decision made by head coach Doug Pederson could in the third quarter of Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Green Bay Packers signal it is on the way.

Down 20-3 and the offense struggling once again, Pederson replaced Carson Wentz with Hurts, hoping to spark an offense that had issues sustaining drives against the Packers defense.

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Here are the performance breakdowns for both Wentz and Hurts against the Packers:

Final stats

Wentz: Wentz finished 6 for 15 with 92 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. The quarterback finished the day with a QB rating of 57.4. The offense scored in one of the five possessions it had when Wentz was in the game. Wentz added 3 rushes for 18 yards.

Hurts: Hurts finished 5 of 12 with 109 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Hurts finished with a quarterback rating of 67.7. Hurts was also the team’s second-leading rusher, running the ball five times for 29 yards. The offense scored on one of the four possessions it had when Hurts was playing.

Best throw

Wentz: Wentz found tight end Dallas Goedert for a 41-yard pass on the team’s first drive of the second half. Wentz was able to roll out after the run fake, throw across his body, and floated the pass to Goedert, who was alone in the middle of the field. While it was good for Wentz to find Goedert, he put too much air on the ball, and Goedert had to wait to make the catch. If the pass did not have such a high arc, Goedert could have picked up more yards and potentially run for a touchdown.

Hurts: Hurts Greg Ward in the endzone for a 32-yard touchdown pass. On fourth down, Hurts stepped up in the pocket, ran toward the sideline, and threw to an open Hurts for the touchdown.

Spreading the ball around

Wentz: The Eagles made sure to stick with the run game against the Packers early on, which was the right thing to do, trying to limit the amount of time Aaron Rodgers had on the field. The problem was when the Eagles did try to pass the ball. Goedert saw the most targets (5), catching four passes for 60 yards. Zach Ertz, Boston Scott, and John Hightower were targeted twice by Wentz. Wentz did not target wide receivers Travis Fulgham and Alshon Jeffery.

Grade: B-

Hurts: Hurts was able to find Jalen Reagor for a 34-yard pass along the left sideline. He also tried to find Goedert twice and completed a pass for 6 yards. He also found Ertz for a 20-yard completion. Hurts did target twice, but Fulgham dropped one, and the other pass fell incomplete. As for Jeffery, he threw the ball in his direction once, but the play was called back for offensive pass interference because Jeffery pushed off.

Turnovers

Wentz: Wentz did a good job protecting the ball and did not throw an interception and did not fumble the ball. He made good choices to throw the ball away when nothing was open. It was the second straight week that Wentz did not turn the ball over.

Grade: A

Hurts: Hurts did throw an interception. Facing pressure up the middle and his arm hit, the ball wobbled out of Hurts’ hand and intercepted. Pressure affected the throw.

Grade: C-

Accuracy

Wentz: Wentz had some receivers open, but he was all over the place. He had opportunities down the field, but, as he has done all season, he was off. Wentz saw sustained pressure early and was not able to set his feet and deliver the ball. Wentz’s inaccuracy has been well documented and one of the main reasons he was benched Sunday.

Grade: D-

Hurts: Hurts had Ward wide open but threw the ball too high, causing Ward to land incomplete. He also had Jeffrey on a comeback route and misfired. Hurts had a bad habit during training camp of throwing the ball off his back foot. He did the same thing on some of his throws Sunday. He has to correct that to have some more zip on his passes.

Grade: C

Mobility

Wentz: Wentz was rolled out early on in the game after the run game had some success. After the first 15 plays, he remained in the pocket and the Packers got four sacks in the first half. Wentz was able to elude the Packers rush a few times and saved some yards by throwing the ball away, and even running to pick up a first down when the protection broke down and no one broke open downfield.

The Eagles seem to be resistant for whatever reason not to roll Wentz out of the pocket, an Wentz has looked calm out in space

Grade: C+

Hurts: After Hurts surveyed the field and found no one open down field, he scrambled and was able to get first downs. His mobility was able to create a spark for an offense that needed one. However, as the game progressed, the Packers began to contain Hurts. His legs are one of his best assets and he used them on Sunday.

Overall

Wentz: It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Wentz would be benched, with Pederson finally pulling the trigger Sunday. Wentz could use some time to watch what is going on from the sidelines. Whether it is his confidence or just a decline in his ability, he looks like a shell of himself.

Grade: D-

Hurts: Hurts did what he was assigned to do, come in, breathe life into an offense that had none, and move the team down the field. He had trouble getting completions at the end of the game. Hurts performance had led to a full-blown quarterback controversy in Philadelphia. With the direction the team is trending, Hurts should be the starter in next week’s game against the New Orleans Saints.

Grade: C

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