PHILADELPHIA — Carson Wentz has been a spectator the past two seasons when the Eagles made the playoffs. He was out with a knee injury when Philadelphia won its first Super Bowl by beating the Patriots after the 2017 season. And he was sidelined with a back injury a year ago when the Eagles advanced to the divisional playoffs before losing to the Saints.
Playoff appearances, even Super Bowl victories, are a bit hollow for injured players who don’t actually participate. Wentz watched as his replacement Nick Foles was the Eagles quarterback for their past two post-season appearances — including Super Bowl LII, in which he was named MVP.
Now Wentz gets his chance to experience what all that really feels like as he makes his first postseason start Sunday against the Seahawks in a first-round NFC wild-card game at Lincoln Financial Field.
“I’m just grateful to be healthy and to be in this moment with these guys and to be on the field,” Wentz said this week. “I’ve been on the sidelines the last few years for these games, so I’m pretty pumped for the opportunity.”
The playoffs are different. Anyone will tell you that. The speed of the game increases, and so does the pressure and the heightened expectations. It can be an unnerving experience for a quarterback making his first start in the playoffs, but Eagles head coach Doug Pederson doesn’t want Wentz to be overly hyped.
“In Carson’s case, he doesn’t have to focus on nothing more than just continue to lead this team and continue to do the things that have made him successful down the stretch,” Pederson said. “I don’t want to add any more stress or pressure on him. It’s a one-and-done mentality. But I want him to play free.”
It’s fitting the Eagles are playing the Seahawks to see who advances to the NFC divisional round. The Seahawks, who earned a wild-card berth with an 11-5 record, beat the Eagles 17-9 at the Linc on Nov. 24. It was a game in which Wentz was guilty of four of the Eagles’ five turnovers, throwing two interceptions and losing two of three fumbles.
The loss dropped Philadelphia to 5-6 en route to 5-7. But they would win their final four games to finish 9-7 and win the NFC East.
“We did some things, OK. It was just the turnovers,” Wentz said of that loss. “That’s something you can’t do against a good opponent with a good defense. We have to take care of the football.”
In some respects, that loss seems a lifetime ago. The Eagles beat the Giants in overtime, then the Redskins, Cowboys and the Giants again, to capture the division title. Wentz threw seven touchdown passes and zero interceptions during those four games, boosting his confidence going into the postseason.
“Everyone feels the sense of urgency,” Wentz said. “But I don’t think anything changes. We know what we have to do offensively. We have to take care of the football. We have to stay on the field and we have to put points on the board.”
That last part has been hard to come by against the playoff-tested Seahawks. The Eagles have averaged just 12.4 points a game over their previous five meetings against Seattle.
“It’s come down to our lack of execution,” Pederson said. “We have to make sure the guys are focused in this week. Everybody is going to be excited. Seattle is going to be excited. We’ve got to handle that excitement.”
The Eagles feel like they’ve been in playoff mode for the past four weeks, needing to win every game to capture the division title. Seattle, losers of three of their last four games, has taken notice.
“They’ve rallied well and played like a championship team down the stretch,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said. “To put together the four games to win [the NFC East] shows their leadership from the coaches on down is really strong. I admirably watched them hang tough and put a great finish on the year. They’ve overcome tremendous odds. It’s a big survival challenge for both teams.”