In 2017, Carson Wentz was well on his way to winning NFL MVP in his sophomore season before tearing his ACL in Week 14. The Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl with Wentz sidelined, but the future looked bright for the former number two overall pick. Wentz was named second team-All Pro that year, and finished with 33 touchdown passes to just seven interceptions.
It all went downhill from there as a member of the Eagles, however, as Wentz finished with a 17-21-1 record afterward with a quarterback rating of 89.5. The 29-year-old led the NFL in interceptions last year and was benched in favor of rookie Jalen Hurts. This past offseason, Wentz was shipped to Indianapolis for a fresh start. The Colts had been looking for a franchise quarterback ever since Andrew Luck retired out of the blue, and Wentz was reunited with his former offensive coordinator Frank Reich.
Things got off to a rocky start in Wentz’s first season with Indy, as he injured his foot during training camp and had to undergo surgery. The 6’5 quarterback didn’t appear in a single preseason game and looked rusty in his first two regular-season games — both losses to the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams.
Carson Wentz Getting Better
Wentz has slowly gotten better and better as the season has progressed, however. In his last three games, Wentz has a quarterback rating of 128.2 and hasn’t thrown a single interception.
On Monday Night Football against the Ravens, Wentz had his best game as a Colt, throwing for 402 yards and two touchdowns. He’s completing over 65% of his passes so far in 2021 and showed good chemistry with speedy receiver T.Y. Hilton this past Sunday against the Houston Texans.
In Hilton’s first game back from injury, Wentz connected with the veteran wideout four times for 80 yards, including a 52-yard bomb in the second quarter. Wentz leads the NFL in interception percentage so far at 0.5%, having thrown only one through six games. He’s also averaging eight yards per attempt, the most so far in his career.
Although the Colts have stumbled out of the gate at 2-4, the AFC South is still up for grabs. Indy will be in San Francisco on Sunday night this coming week, and following a big divisional matchup against Tennessee at Lucas Oil Stadium, have two easy games against the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Realistically, the Colts will enter Week 11 at 5-5, in a division where 9-8 could certainly place you in first. Once Indy gets players like All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and tackle Braden Smith back, lookout. Indianapolis has yet to have a fully healthy O-line in front of Wentz, so we really haven’t seen them play at their full potential. The sky’s the limit for the Colts talent-wise, and Carson Wentz hasn’t been the problem thus far. Don’t write this team off just yet.
Stay with Knup Sports for more NFL news!
