ARLINGTON, Tex. — Carson Wentz tried to be positive.
He tried to say he still trusts his receivers. He tried to say the mistakes are fixable. He tried to say the Eagles’ biggest problem is simply execution.
But there was just no sugar-coating the 37-10 loss to the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Sunday night.
What was the mood like in the locker room?
“Frustrated. A little embarrassed,” Wentz said. “You know, we didn’t show up. We didn’t show up. They beat the crap out of us and we’ve got to be better. But, like I said, I’m confident that we’ll get things fixed. This is a ticked-off group. We’re going to rebound from it and I’m confident we’ll be all right.”
Wentz doesn’t get a pass either. He didn’t play well enough on Sunday night and admitted as much. He fumbled twice and threw an interception.
But he didn’t get much help either. His offensive line — you know, the O-line that was supposed to be the best in the league — had breakdowns that went well beyond rookie Andre Dillard making his first start.
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And his receivers certainly didn’t do much to help.
Answering the first question of his press conference on Sunday night, Wentz again said he has trust in his receivers, but it’s fair to wonder if that’s true. Because at this point, he really has no reason to trust them.
Perhaps there was a rare glimpse into his frustration when asked about the deep ball Nelson Agholor failed to catch. Wentz would only be human if he were frustrated about his receiver’s failure to make that play.
“I thought we had a touchdown when I threw it,” Wentz said. “I didn’t see the end result. I was on the ground, so I didn’t get a chance to see. When I threw it I thought we had a good one there, but I’ve got to make a better throw obviously and hopefully get it into the end zone next time.”
To me, that sounded like Wentz saying he did his job on that play. ... Then he realized what he was saying.
Poor play from receivers has been a trend, just like slow starts from the offense. Both plagued the Eagles again on Sunday.
The problem with saying things will get fixed is that it hasn’t happened yet. The Eagles again on Sunday got off to a terrible start. Thanks to two turnovers in the span of three offensive plays, the Eagles gave the ball to Dallas in great field position early and they did it twice.
“It sucks. It definitely sucks,” Wentz said. “It’s something we’ve got to get fixed.”
There were still nine minutes left in the first quarter when the Cowboys went up 14-0. The Eagles have now been down two scores in the first halves of six of their seven games in 2019.
And after seven games, the Eagles are 3-4 and have been outscored by a combined 45 points in their last two games.
But Wentz kept saying he thinks the Eagles can fix these mistakes and right the ship.
I asked him why he believes that.
“Because I’ve been with these guys,” Wentz said. “I’ve been with these guys. I know what we’re all capable of. I know if we all just stay together we can bounce back. We had a rough night. At the end of the day, we had a rough night. We’re all confident, and move on and learn from it. But again, I’m extremely confident to get this thing going in the right direction.”
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