Eagles have one last chance to embarrass Colts this season vs Tom Brady
By Mike Luciano
The Indianapolis Colts looked like they were the big winner of the Carson Wentz trade. While Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles were looking like a team that would be more at home in the lottery, Wentz and Indy were streaking towards a postseason appearance thanks to a winnable division.
The roles were reversed thanks to a choke job at the hands of the Colts. While the Eagles, coached by a former Indianapolis assistant in Nick Sirianni, made the playoffs as a wild-card team, Indianapolis’ Week 18 loss to the worst team in the league in Trevor Lawrence’s Jaguars sealed their doom.
While Wentz did have a great statistical season after throwing for 27 touchdowns against just seven interceptions, the Colts ended up further away from contending after making the postseason with Philip Rivers in 2020. The Eagles can twist the knife even further in the postseason.
If the Eagles can march into Tampa and take down Tom Brady’s Buccaneers this Wild Card weekend, it might feel like the Colts were handed one extra loss this season. Any success Hurts has in Philadelphia that is not equaled by Wentz has to sting a fanbase that gave up a ton of assets to acquire North Dakota State’s finest.
The Colts would hate seeing Jalen Hurts win in the playoffs.
Hurts completed 61% of his passes and threw for 16 touchdowns. He also did plenty of damage on the ground, amassing nearly 800 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. When you look at his production in totality, he is certainly outperforming his contract more than Wentz.
Wentz is trapping the Colts in the same riddle that the Eagles were locked in. His production has been solid, and there aren’t many better options out there when it comes to replacing him. You can certainly do worse for a starting quarterback than someone with his physical talent.
However, the Colts and Eagles had difficulty getting above .500 despite some solid rosters. The fact that Indianapolis gave up a first-round pick for a player like Wentz and actually ended up further away from a Super Bowl is not a good look for Chris Ballard and the front office.
While Wentz rightfully earned the chance to prove himself elsewhere after an outlier year, 2021 prompted more of the same stuff we saw in Philly. He is immensely talented and capable of being a starting quarterback in this league, but is he really the guy you want as the leader of your franchise?