Carson Wentz was rusty. He didn’t play his best game. He made a few crucial mistakes.
And I don’t care.
Not even a little bit.
Because what Wentz showed me in Sunday’s 20-16 win is that once he shakes off the rust of not playing in 9 1/2 months and rehabbing from a torn ACL and LCL, he’s going to be back playing at an MVP level. We already saw glimpses of that Sunday afternoon.
Aside from the interception and fumble that set up the Colts in the red zone, Wentz’s numbers were pretty good. He completed 25 of 37 passes for 255 yards and had a touchdown. His passer rating was 84.9.
More impressively, Wentz was 9 for 9 for 57 yards on that 11:18 touchdown drive that won the game.
But, you know what, forget about all that for a second. Because the most impressive thing I saw Sunday wasn’t the numbers; it was the flashes. It was seeing Wentz buy time in the pocket, spinning out of trouble, taking hits, Superman diving for a first down.
And getting up after all of it.
It was the fact that Wentz looked like his old self inside and out of the pocket. Sure he scrambled, but he also delivered some beautiful passes to Zach Ertz and found a way to get talented rookie Dallas Goedert going. He did it all without Alshon Jeffery, who will be back soon.
Wentz looked like the guy who should have won the MVP last year, not a guy who is coming off of two torn ligaments in his knee.
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It was the unmistakable buzz that took over the crowd when the Eagles announced the offense before the game and saved Wentz for last. It was the added confidence the Eagles felt all week knowing that they had their franchise quarterback back. It was the fact that even the guys on defense after the game said they make sure to peek up at the giant video boards when the Birds are on offense just to see No. 11 pull off his heroics.
The most telling thing anyone said after the game came from Wentz’s press conference. He was asked if he thought about his injury at all during the game.
“No.”
I believe him.
He’s just one game into his 2018 season. It wasn’t a pristine performance. He showed rust. He made mistakes. But Carson Wentz is special and he’s back on his way to being one of the NFL’s best players. I’ve already seen enough to know that.
It’s going to be a fun season.