Entering Monday night’s game, the Seahawks’ defense hadn’t been its usual shutdown self. In the previous 10 matchups, the opposing quarterback eclipsed 300 passing yards seven times. Quarterbacks surpassed 397 passing yards four times.
But when Carson Wentz and the Eagles played that same defense, the outcome was far different. Wentz continued a downtrodden season with 215 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. A 33-yard Hail Mary that deflected before falling into Richard Rodgers’ hands with 12 seconds remaining made that stat line look better.
Wentz leads the league with 15 interceptions to go with his 16 touchdowns and 58.1 completion percentage. He’s been sacked a league-high 46 times — his offensive line doesn’t help matters, but Wentz has missed open looks, too.
And the former North Dakota State quarterback’s rating has dropped to 73.4, putting him in some elite company — for all the wrong reasons. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and NFL Research, Wentz is the sixth quarterback since 1950 to experience a passer rating decline of over 24 points compared to his average from the previous three seasons.
The others: Y.A. Tittle, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Joe Theismann and Mark Rypien. For most of those quarterbacks, that sharp decline came at the end of their careers. All besides Rypien retired following the season they experienced a major dip in production.
Wentz is only 27, though, and he’s under contract through 2024.
• Andy Kostka can be reached at akostka@washingtontimes.com.
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