At 2-0 without committing a turnover, Philadelphia Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz is showing he’s ready for the NFL. But Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will test him to see just how advanced he is.
There is a lot of hoopla around Philadelphia Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz these days. So far, he’s come in and handled himself like a veteran, leading the Eagles to 2-0 so far. The big test for rookies in the NFL comes before the ball is snapped.
And Wentz has passed two so far, changing protections and getting the team out of bad plays. But he has a big test coming up against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday. The Steelers are notorious for dominating opposing rookie quarterbacks.
Since 2004, they have played against 21 of them and lost to only two of them. One of those loses came on the final week of the regular season in 2007. The Steelers had nothing to gain in that game so they rested most of their starters for the playoffs.
The other came in 2012 when the Steelers lost five fumbles and threw three INTs and lost 20-14. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, now with the Tennessee Titans, built the 19-2 record. But his replacement, Keith Butler is a disciple of LeBeau’s.
So we will still see a lot of disguised coverages and exotic blitzes, with the looks changing often. Wentz has succeeded so far by using a dummy-count to get the defense to tip their hand. And the games begin between Wentz and the Steelers defense from there.
While all this is going on, Ben Roethlisberger is going to put points on the board!
So if Wentz comes out of this game with a win, he’s really the man!