By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles entered their Week 7 matchup against the Washington Redskins as the only team in the league that hadn't lost at least two games. The folks in Las Vegas quickly have made the Eagles one of the Super Bowl favorites, and Wentz one of the odds-on favorites to win league MVP in his second season.
Here are my in-game notes on Wentz's performance against the Redskins:
First Quarter
Drive One
- After holding the Redskins to a field-goal on the opening drive of the game, Wentz and the Eagles began their first drive of the game on their own 25.
- On the first play of the game, Wentz hit Alshon Jeffery for a short gain, but it was called back for a push off. The next play was also called back after Zach Ertz illegally blocked a defender in the back. That pushed the Eagles all the way back to the nine-yard line. Guess what happened the next play? Lane Johnson got called for a holding penalty, which negated a Wentz run and pushed the Eagles to a first-and-30. Before the next play could even take place, the Eagles got called for 12 men in the huddle. It was strange sequence.
- On second-and-33, Wentz attempted to hit Torrey Smith deep. He instead threw an errant deep ball, one that looked like a pass he would have made a year ago to Bryce Treggs. Quinton Dunbar picked off the ball, ending a disastrous first drive.
Dunny tracks it down & hauls it in! #Redskins ball: ✅#HTTR #WASvsPHI pic.twitter.com/8AwlB21mn6
— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) October 24, 2017
Second Drive
- After a 22-yard return from Kenjon Barner, the Eagles began their second drive on their own 45. Wentz was unable to connect with Ertz on a roll-out to the right.
- Wentz was smothered by a group of Redskins on third down, which was led by Ryan Kerrigan, who has feasted against the Eagles. The Eagles had a three-and-out on their second drive.
Third Drive
- After two runs for minimal gain, Wentz connected with Jeffery on a third-down slant for 13 yards. The team's success through the air on third down this year is part of the reason they entered the evening 5-1.
- With the pocket collapsing on the following play, Wentz ducked out of the pocket and ran to the left side for another first down. That ended the first quarter.
Second Quarter
Third Drive (Cont)
- On first-and-10, Wentz decided to keep the ball and attempted to throw a short slant to Nelson Agholor. The pass was broken up.
- On second-and-10, Wentz didn't have a chance to breathe, as Zach Brown broke through the offensive line and sacked him for a 10-yard loss.
- Wentz did connect with Agholor over the middle, and even after a juggle, he was able to make a short run. He wasn't able to extend the drive, but the 11-yard gain put the Eagles in field-goal range. Jake Elliott to the surprise of no one at Lincoln Financial Field, drilled the field-goal to tie the game.
Fourth Drive
- Following a Chris Thompson touchdown, Wentz and the Eagles began their first full drive of the second quarter on their own 25.
- After a Blount run on first down, Wentz, who had a rare clean pocket, attempted to hit Jeffery down the field. The throw, which wasn't especially impressive, wasn't hauled in. However, Jeffery appeared to be held on numerous point in his route. A flag wasn't thrown.
Refs totally missed this holding call on Washington during Wentz’s deep pass for Alshon Jeffery (via @DraftDiamonds) pic.twitter.com/e86YyK83zK
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) October 24, 2017
- Wentz, with the pocket collapsing, was unable to connect with Agholor on third down. Bashaud Breeland had solid coverage on Agholor. This led to the second consecutive three-and-out.
Fifth Drive
- Following a touchback on a punt, the Eagles began their fifth drive on their 20. Despite a low pass, Wendell Smallwood hauled in the pass for what turned out to be a six-yard gain.
- After a Smallwood first down rush, the Eagles went with two consecutive up-tempo, no-huddle plays. The first was an angry run by Smallwood for eight yards. The second time, he got stopped at the line. Wentz was able to dive forward for the first down on the next play.
- On first down, Wentz ducked away from one defender, but as Jon Gruden said after the play, he failed to get rid of the ball after that, leading to a sack. Wentz did fumble the ball, but was able to recover the ball. He still needs to cut down on these plays. I'll continue to say it: he does great things when certain plays break down, but there are times when he needs to know when to say when.
- On the next play, Wentz hit a wide-open Mack Hollins in stide for a 64-yard touchdown. It was encouraging throw by Wentz, who has been inconsistent on deep passes this season and had struggled on his first two deep passes of the game.
All @mackhollins does is catch first downs and touchdowns. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/PeCn4oe62D
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 24, 2017
Sixth Drive
- On the first play of drive six, Wentz took off and ran for a first down. The Eagles got another five yards tacked on after
- On a crossing pattern, Wentz hit Ertz on 46-yard gain on the following play. Smallwood did a good job giving Wentz extra time, and Ertz put the Eagles in the redzone on another no-huddle play. It was smart of Pederson to have the offense, which had been stagnant early in the game, go into the no-huddle.
- Wentz dumped the ball off the Smallwood on second-and-11, which was a wise move as the play went for an eight-yard gain.
- On third-and-three from the 11, Wentz threw a fade to Jeffery, which drew a defensive pass interference penalty. I'm not sure Wentz would have thrown this to pass to any other receiver, but he knows that with someone as physically gifted as Jeffery, there's a good chance that he either catches it or draws a penalty.
- After Blount failed to punch it in, Wentz connected with Ertz, who ducked under a defender for a touchdown, completing an 80-yard touchdown drive. This was Ertz's fifth touchdown grab of the year, a new career-high. As pointed out on the telecast, all of Ertz's touchdowns have come in the redzone. Certainly, he's improved this year, but his redzone success probably hasn't been hurt by the fact that he's got Jeffery and Blount playing with him on offense:
Ertz hits the brakes, walks in for six. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/N2Rqc9kWqB
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 24, 2017
Third Quarter
Seventh Drive
- After a short run to open up the second half, Wentz connected with Nelson Agholor for a 14-yard gain. While the gain was nice, the team may have taken a bigger loss on the play, as Jason Peters went down with what appeared to be a major knee injury.
- After a long delay as Peters was taken off the field, Wentz connected with Agholor for a first down over the middle of the field.
- Wentz connected with Trey Burton for seven yards on the following play.
- On second-and-three, Wentz took a shot deep for Marcus Johnson. He wasn't especially open, and Wentz missed him a little deep. Of course, it's much better to miss deep than to miss short.
- Wentz kept the ball on third down on a read-option with Blount, rushing for a 21-yard gain and another first down.
- On the following play, Wentz connected with Ertz for another first down, putting the team inside the ten-yard line.
- On second-and-goal, Wentz had Jeffery open, but threw it high. You still get the feeling that things are going to click at some point for these two.
- On third-and-goal with the pocket collapsing, Wentz hit Corey Clement in the corner of the endzone on a wheel route for his third touchdown pass of the game.
Hey @cj_wentz, ummm what?
#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/rCJGQYFgzO— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 24, 2017
- Without going back and reviewing each drive of his career, this felt like the defining drive of Wentz's career. After potentially losing his Hall of Fame left tackle, Wentz took control of the drive. Even after missing Jeffery open in the endzone, he came back and made an incredible play on third-and-goal to assure six points.
Eighth Drive
- With a 24-10 lead and momentum firmly on their side, the Eagles went three-and-out on their eighth drive of the game.
Fourth Quarter
Ninth Drive
- After the Redskins cut the lead to seven, the Eagles appeared likely to go three-and-out. Just as it appeared Wentz was sacked, he ducked out of a pocket that was collapsed on him and ran for a first down. Special players make special plays:
Hate when the video game glitches. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/RUJ7S5Zer9
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 24, 2017
- Later in the drive, he connected with Jeffery, who did a good job to create just enough separation between him and Dunbar. If these two ever consistently connect, they will be special together.
- Wentz followed up that by hitting Ertz for the fifth time on the night for another first down.
- On the following play, Wentz connected with Agholor for his fourth touchdown of the game. Besides giving the Eagles seven points, this allowed Agholor to surpass his previous career-high of 365 receiving yards in one season:
(running out of Carson Wentz captions)#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/7JEG5XI3mm
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 24, 2017
10th Drive
- After the Eagles picked Cousins off in Redskins territory, Blount ran the ball three consecutive times and was unable to pick up a first down. Luckily, the Eagles have one of the NFL's best kickers and were able to tack on three more points to take a 34-17 lead.
11th Drive
- Wentz did not throw on the 11th drive. After Clement struggled to hold onto the ball on his first carry, Blount ran on every play the rest of the drive. Elliott, perhaps to avoid another drug test, didn't connect on the 45-yard field goal attempt.
Week 7 Takeaways
- Since Ertz suggested that Pederson and the Eagles were throwing the ball to much after a Week 2 loss, the offense as a whole has had much more balance. The Eagles did have quite a mix of explosive plays and short drives tonight, but Wentz only threw the ball 12 times in the first half and 25 times overall.
- Wentz also led the Eagles in rushing, as he posted a season-high 63 rushing yards.
- I can't say enough about how Wentz rallied the team after Peters was injured and took more than 10 minutes to get off the field. There seemed to be an energy in the stadium and on the rest of the offense after Peters went down. But beyond just being part of a great offensive drive, Wentz took things into his own hands. He had a 21-yard run after selling the handoff to Blount extremely well. He hit Ertz for another 21-yard gain. And even after missing a touchdown pass he should have made, he made a pass that 90 percent of the quarterbacks in the NFL can't make on third-and-goal for a touchdown. Those are the type of drives that elite quarterbacks lead.
- With national pundits beginning to talk about Wentz as an MVP candidate, the Eagles started slowly. But Wentz rallied the team and delivered one of the best performances of his young career. I'm not one for narratives, but Wentz has played at an elite level this year and to this point, he's the league MVP.
