News: Jeff McLane analyzes the Eagles' inability to throw the ball downfield Sunday

WoodysGirl

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Wentz throwing deep downfield less of late
Updated: November 2, 2016 — 12:41 AM EDT

Carson Wentz may not have thrown many passes downfield against the Cowboys, but his reluctance to go deep wasn't because Doug Pederson didn't call plays with those routes.

The Eagles quarterback dropped back to pass 46 times on Sunday night, and 19 of those plays had multiple receivers running 20 yards or more downfield. Not every play was designed for a deep option to be the first read, and by comparison to previous games there weren't a high percentage of stretch routes. But upon further review of the coaches' film, shots were taken.

Wentz, for various reasons, just didn't pull the trigger. Mostly it was because his receivers were covered. The Cowboys often had the right defense called to take away the deep ball. But in many man-to-man situations the Eagles couldn't get open.

Open can be a subjective term as it relates to some receivers. Good receivers, as the saying goes, are never covered. But Wentz has become increasingly gun-shy when it comes to targeting his receivers deep and certainly when they have been covered deep.

"Dallas . . . played a little bit more two-deep against us than what we've seen in previous weeks," Pederson said on Monday after the Eagles lost to the Cowboys, 29-23, in overtime. "I thought that Carson was very efficient with the throws he did make. . . . There were some situations there."

Read the rest: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...company_in_failing_to_make_the_big_plays.html
 

Zordon

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hmm so we played a lot more cover 2 than we usually do.
 

gmoney112

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hmm so we played a lot more cover 2 than we usually do.

Probably because we knew Carson wouldn't throw it downfield. Keep everything underneath, because he's going to throw it about 3 yards in the air every play.
 

Clarkson

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Probably because we knew Carson wouldn't throw it downfield. Keep everything underneath, because he's going to throw it about 3 yards in the air every play.

He doesn't trust his receivers 1-on-1 at all. I'm not trying to say he should. However, it's not like we have the greatest of secondaries. With a good enough throw, our CBs can be beat deep. Jordan Matthews isn't bad. His reluctance to attempt even ONE deep throw was certainly detrimental. 2nd and 8, he throws it 4 yards. The defense thanks him.
 

NickZepp

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He doesn't trust his receivers 1-on-1 at all. I'm not trying to say he should. However, it's not like we have the greatest of secondaries. With a good enough throw, our CBs can be beat deep. Jordan Matthews isn't bad. His reluctance to attempt even ONE deep throw was certainly detrimental. 2nd and 8, he throws it 4 yards. The defense thanks him.
Our secondary this years been probably one of the tops in the NFL. Losing Church and Claiborne will hurt that a lot.
 

Plankton

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Wentz is a relatively inexperienced QB in total. He only had 23 starts at North Dakota State - that's not a lot of live fire.
 

ConstantReboot

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Wentz doesn't go through progressions very well. He locks on to his first read almost every time and very seldom looks for another target. It isn't just the Cowboys game, Wentz has played this way all year

He tends to lock onto the first read for too long. Then uses his arm strength into a tight spots. If the first read isn't open he also tends to just dump it off short.
 

Clarkson

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Our secondary this years been probably one of the tops in the NFL. Losing Church and Claiborne will hurt that a lot.

Eh. Claiborne and Jones have been good. Carr still isn't tough to throw on. Church is pretty average. Brown has been nice, though. Biggest difference is Mo playing well, having a legit good CB. But we still don't get any pressure. 1-on-1, our secondary can be beat, especially with the amount of time QBs have to throw the ball.
 

NickZepp

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Eh. Claiborne and Jones have been good. Carr still isn't tough to throw on. Church is pretty average. Brown has been nice, though. Biggest difference is Mo playing well, having a legit good CB. But we still don't get any pressure. 1-on-1, our secondary can be beat, especially with the amount of time QBs have to throw the ball.
Just about any secondary can be beat without pressure but against Dallas it really hasn't happened a lot this year. Carr's been real solid this year. And Church is our leader in the secondary. I bet we miss him more than Claiborne.
 

xwalker

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Probably because we knew Carson wouldn't throw it downfield. Keep everything underneath, because he's going to throw it about 3 yards in the air every play.
It's more coverage, less run defense.
 

Alexander

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Their WRs are like the McNabb era and what Reid had done in KC.

Shouldn't be surprising.
 

theogt

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I've said it before and I'll say a dozen more times, but Wentz won't last his rookie contract in Philly. He just doesn't have "it".
 

mattjames2010

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3 of his receivers have butter fingers. I am disappointed (and relieved) Ertz didn't become the TE I thought he would. Picked him up in fantasy football a couple years ago, and he simply just doesn't produce when they need him to.

I fully expect the Eagles to bring in a WR through FA and draft one high next year. May need to start looking for a RB as well.
 
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