What happened to Carson Wentz?

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Wentz had arguably the worst game of his career in a Week 12 showing against the Seahawks.

Carson Wentz was a mess in Week 12.

The Philadelphia Eagles managed to score just nine points against the Seahawks with Wentz turning the ball over four times (two interceptions and two lost fumbles). He threw for 256 yards, many of which came in garbage time — including the Eagles’ only touchdown that happened with 20 seconds left.

It was arguably a career-worst showing for the Eagles’ fourth-year quarterback, who also suffered a hand injury that briefly sent him to the locker room.

It wasn’t exactly an outlier performance by Wentz this season, either. His play has been in steady decline and the Eagles’ offense is struggling. The loss to the Seahawks was the third time the Eagles have been held to just one touchdown in their last five games.

With the postseason still within reach, the Eagles can’t afford to be stuck in neutral offensively. And eventually, they need to start playing well against good teams.

It’s not all Wentz’s fault — the Philadelphia offensive line and the team’s lack of offensive weapons are hurting his play. He deserves a tremendous share of the blame, though. Wentz’s regression is concerning, regardless of the quality of the players around him.

Wentz is making poor decisions and bad throws

His second interception of the game was an understandable mistake, even if it wasn’t the greatest throw. With the Eagles trailing, 17-3, Wentz forced a throw into coverage downfield out of desperation and it was taken away by Tre Flowers.

His first interception was much worse. Wentz badly underthrew across the middle of the field, spoiling a drive that should’ve ended with a field-goal attempt, at least.

But even worse than the turnovers were the incompletions against the Seahawks. Over and over again, he missed open receivers my a mile.

There was no consistency to his poor passes, either. He fired at the feet of receivers:

Wentz lobbed a ball way over the head of running back Miles Sanders on what could’ve been a touchdown:

And he just plain whiffed on an opportunity to move the chains late in the game on fourth down:

It was a shocking display of inaccuracy for a quarterback who was nearly the NFL MVP in 2017, then completed just under 70 percent of his passes in 2018. After finishing with a passer rating over 100 in each of those two seasons, his rating is below 90 in 2019.

Wentz needs a better supporting cast to get back on track

The Eagles started the second half against the Seahawks by benching Andre Dillard. The first-round rookie was starting at right tackle in the place of Lane Johnson and struggled to hold off Seahawks linebacker Ezekiel Ansah in the first half.

Replacing Dillard with Halapoulivaati Vaitai seemed to help the Eagles find some offensive stability, but the absence of Johnson due to a concussion proved costly. According to stats from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, Johnson may be one of the most valuable players on the entire team.

Before Sunday, Wentz had posted a passer rating of 98.1 with his tackle on the field, but that mark fell to 79.8 with Johnson injured, suspended or taking a breather.

It also hasn’t helped that the Eagles receivers have an inability to find separation.

DeSean Jackson was the only reliable deep threat, but he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2 after catching two bombs in the season opener. Nelson Agholor and Alshon Jeffery are also dealing with injuries and were out in Week 12. Even before that, though, Agholor has earned a reputation for drops and Jeffery hasn’t looked at all like a dangerous receiver in the eight games he’s played.

Those absences left unreliable targets like Jordan Matthews, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Greg Ward on the outside. Matthews was signed by the Eagles in November after he was cut by the 49ers, Arcega-Whiteside is a second-round rookie with five career receptions, and Ward was elevated from the practice squad a day before the Philadelphia’s loss to the Seahawks.

As such, Wentz has spent most of his time targeting tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert instead of his wideouts. Ertz led the team in targets in Week 12 with 14, followed by Goedert with eight.

After signing a four-year, $128 million contract in the summer, Wentz’s 2019 season hasn’t gone as planned. He could do himself a favor by hitting the many open throws he’s been missing as of late. But the Eagles may need an offensive overhaul if they hope to ever see him back in 2017 form.