A Bittersweet Journey
Imagine being on the cusp of NFL glory, only to watch from the sidelines as your team clinches the ultimate prize. That’s the bittersweet chapter Carson Wentz lived through in 2018 when an untimely injury restricted him from leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl. Now, imagine stepping into the biggest moment of your career and delivering a story straight out of a Hollywood script. That’s what Nick Foles did when he replaced Wentz as the starting QB and led the Eagles to glory. The result is the same—maiden Super Bowl title, but the point of view? That’s absolutely different. On one side, when Foles will be remembered as the first-ever QB to lead Philly to their first-ever title, while Wentz’s name is probably gonna remembered as just another QB.
Wentz’s Candid Reflection
But what if Carson Wentz gets a chance to turn the tables, or should we say, flip the history pages? On Wednesday, the Chiefs’ backup QB, Wentz, was asked, “If you had to trade place with any quarterback in the NFL history for one day, who would you pick and what would you do?” His response? First, nostalgia hit, then some bittersweet memory, and then came that wishful answer with a slight grin. “Wow, that’s a big question. Trade places with anyone? For a day,” he started. “Well, I don’t know. I mean, I’m not gonna lie. I would love to trade places with Nick Foles and go win that Super Bowl back in the day (2018).”
Past Achievements and Setbacks
Ever since the Eagles drafted Wentz back in the 2016 NFL draft, the guy started every game that he played. His rookie season? Exceptional. He completed 379 out of 607 attempts for 3,782 yards and racked up 16 TDs. His sophomore season? Even better. He played just 13 games and recorded another 3,000+ season with a solid 33 TDs with a playoff berth. However, Wentz ruled out of the postseason following his knee injury. Then came his 2018 season when he recorded his third straight 3,000+ yards in just 11 games. Now, you can say the guy definitely deserved to win a Super Bowl. The catch? He had to miss out second consecutive postseason due to a back injury. The team revealed that they didn’t want to risk further injury and decided to put him on IR. Later, Nick Foles stepped in as a replacement and led the Eagles to their maiden Super Bowl title.
Moving Forward with the Chiefs
Sure, Carson Wentz couldn’t have the ending of that season he would’ve wanted, but the thing is—he has moved on and is now looking ahead to his future with the Chiefs. After all, the QB stated, “After that season, that would have been a pretty cool ending to that season, but it was still pretty sweet, nonetheless.” And that’s how his 2018 season wrapped up on a dramatic note.
Challenges Faced in 2018
Prior to the 2018 regular season, Wentz was ranked third overall in the top 100 NFL players of that year. Then the season began, and the QB missed out on starting a couple of games while recovering from his ACL injury. The QB got his starting role in the third week of that season. And when he returned, he recorded 255 yards for two TDs. However, under Wentz’s leadership, the Eagles had a mixed performance. But the mixed performance wasn’t the only highlight of 2018.
Teammate Criticism and Reflection
In week 12 of that regular season, an anonymous Eagles player revealed that the QB was negatively impacting the team. Sounds pretty wild, right? Well, according to the player, Wentz was continuously locking in on the tight end, Zach Ertz, and yeah, that threw the whole offense out of sync. And that didn’t stop there. You see, after the Eagles won the Super Bowl, the team’s players were anonymously interviewed by Joseph Santoliquito of PhillyVoice. The kicker? Many of them found their QB selfish and egotistical. Yeah, you read that right. That resulted in Wentz being ranked 96th by his fellow teammates among the top 100 NFL players of that year. Talk about a downgrade in a mere one year.
