Adrian Fedkiw
About a month ago while doing doing some film study, Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich joked with his rookie quarterback Carson Wentz about prolonging a play where he scrambled to his left as he was being chased by a defensive lineman and threw the ball away instead of extend it.
Wentz then asked if it was “free game” to do so.
Reich responded by saying it was free game as long as he was able to make the play.
Ever since that encounter Wentz has played like he has free game, taking a huge step forward in his pocket awareness and escaping it when he’s pressured. We’ve seen Wentz run the ball more the last month so or than he has the entire season.
Whether that conversation is the reason for Wentz’s sudden aggressiveness in his scrambling is unknown, but coincidence or not, Wentz’s elusiveness has been on full display the last few games, especially during Thursday night’s 24-19 win over the New York Giants.
Wentz's ability to sense the pressure and escape the pocket tonight was jawdropping, just has to be careful when throwing the ball downfield pic.twitter.com/cZcHoUycFt
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) December 23, 2016
Wentz has gained 89 of his 157 rushing yards the last five games.
While Wentz’s elusiveness was mesmerizing on Thursday, he did make the one mistake of throwing the ball downfield, which was intercepted by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. It may not have been the best decision to let that one go, but rookie wide receiver Bryce Treggs has to come back for the ball too.
At least we’re starting to see some of the same flashes we had been seeing the first month of the season with Wentz. It’s a positive sign moving forward after enduring a seven-week span when he threw 10 of his 14 interceptions.