The Minnesota Vikings have returned from their European vacation where they spent two weeks and played a pair of International Games in Ireland and London. They split those two results, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers and beating the Cleveland Browns before enjoying their bye week after their return.
They get back in action today, and they will again be led by Carson Wentz, a quarterback who is like the object of a magician's trick on stage. You never know what hat, box or curtain he is going to pop out of or appear behind next. He has started for six different teams in the NFL, which is the most for any quarterback in history. Over the past five seasons, he has not spent more than one campaign with the same team, and this year is backing up J.J. McCarthy in Minnesota.
Turns out, backing up the Vikings second-year quarterback is a full-time job. Last year, the Vikings signed Sam Darnold to back up McCarthy in his rookie season, and the veteran replaced the injured McCarthy before the season started and led the Vikings to their second most regular season wins in franchise history, 14. For the record, the Vikings team with the most wins was the 1998 team that won 15 and were eliminated in the playoffs by the Atlanta Falcons.
Despite his sterling season running the Vikings offense last season, Minnesota was not willing to pay Darnold the paycheck he earned based on his solid year after six seasons of toiling in the NFL without much success. You can’t blame them, they were fully committed to McCarthy to be their franchise leader and expected to have him back this season to take the reins of the Vikings offense. Darnold moved on to the Seattle Seahawks and has continued to play well.
The Vikings, meanwhile, again find McCarthy unable to go based on injuries. This year his injury is not yet season ending, but recent history tells us that McCarthy staying off the injury list is akin to a kid not eating a piece of candy left unattended on the kitchen table.
So, Wentz adds the Vikings to the list of teams he has started for which includes the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders, Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs. Drafted in the first round out of North Dakota State in 2016 by the Eagles, Wentz had the look of a longstanding franchise quarterback when he was leading the Eagles with Most Valuable Player credentials into December when his fabulous sophomore season ended with an injury suffered against the Los Angeles Rams on December 10, 2017.
The Eagles season ended that year in a hail of confetti after upsetting the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. But their final stretch run and romp through the playoffs that season were not directed by Wentz but rather veteran backup Nick Foles, who got the Super Bowl MVP Award.
Wentz has never recaptured the winning rhythm he was enjoying in 2017 before his season ending injury. He toiled three more seasons with the Eagles, then began his yearly shift to a new team. Which brings us to the present time. The Vikings are hoping to capture the same kind of magic from a veteran QB that they got last season with Darnold.
In his first start this season, Wentz led a 48-point assault on the Cincinnati Bengals in a convincing victory. Then across the pond, he mostly struggled in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and narrow win over the talent weak Browns. In the Cleveland game, Wentz was also nursing a sore shoulder which he has fortunately had two weeks to rehabilitate before tomorrow's game against the team that drafted him, Philadelphia.
The Eagles, who have been as good as any team over the past four seasons with a pair of Super Bowl appearances and currently holding the Super Bowl title, have begun a fade as quietly as they ramped up to be good. That is because the Eagles success was anchored where the media and fans don’t focus much of their attention, the offensive and defensive lines.
Both the media and fans are much more enamored by the play of quarterbacks, runningbacks and receivers than they are the men in the trenches. I recall in college watching NFL games on television with a friend who played offensive line on the football team. What I noticed was that he always cheered a beat ahead of me and most of the others watching.
He was watching the play of the offensive line and when they opened a hole he cheered, my response was still waiting for the running back taking advantage of the hole.
It is like that with the Eagles, people in the know saw the strength of Philadelphia before the play of their quarterback and skill position players took advantage of it. Now, the Eagles work in the trenches is down significantly from when it was at its best and the public is slow to react … still thinking the Eagles are among the best of the elite.
They are not.
And tomorrow, the kid they drafted in 2016 is going to have an opportunity to take advantage of their decline.
Qoxhi Picks: Minnesota Vikings (+1½) over Philadelphia Eagles