PHILADELPHIA — Carson Wentz waited four years to make his first playoff start. The Eagles’ franchise QB took only eight snaps before he ended another post-season on the sidelines.
Wentz was speared in the back of the head on a helmet-to-helmet hit from Seahawks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney — a bang-bang play that boarded on flagrant — and was knocked out of the game with a severe head injury.
Wentz was finished, and soon, so were the Eagles.
Wentz missed all the playoff fun because of injuries through his first four years, from “Philly/Philly” to “double doink” and, yeah, that Super Bowl win. He stayed healthy this season, led a rag-tag group of receivers to an NFC East championship and set franchise records all the way to a wild-card game at the Linc against the Seahawks.
The question lingered in the locker room after 40-year-old Josh McCown failed to rally the Eagles in a 17-9 loss to Seattle on Sunday — would the outcome have been different had Wentz stayed healthy?
“I’d say yes, if he’s healthy, with the gameplan that we had,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said.
Pederson said a trainer notified him that Wentz needed to be checked out in the sideline medical tent. Wentz then left for the locker room late in the first quarter, never to return to the field.
“I kind of knew something was wrong right away,” Eagles tight end Zach Ertz said. “Just the way he got up. I’m devastated for my guy. Really tough.”
NFL referee Shawn Smith told a pool reporter there was no flag thrown because the contact was deemed “incidental.”
“He was a runner and he did not give himself up,” Smith said.
Clowney said: “I didn’t intend to hurt him. I hope he’s OK.”
Wentz missed the Eagles’ Super Bowl run two years ago because of knee surgery and last year’s wild-card win due to a back injury. Wentz watched from the sideline as Nick Foles became a local legend, leading the Eagles to the franchise’s first Super Bowl title two years ago. Wentz again was a spectator a year ago as Foles sparked an unlikely playoff berth and a wild-card victory.
Once Foles moved on to Jacksonville, the post-season was supposed to belong to Wentz.
He couldn’t even last a quarter.
The Eagles turned to McCown, a journeyman pulled out of retirement and playing in his first career playoff game, to lead them against the Seahawks. McCown fired up the packed Linc crowd when he scrambled 11 yards for a first down late in the second quarter. He gamely tried but couldn’t do much else, going 18 of 24 for 174 yards. On fourth-and-7 from the 10 with two minutes left, Clowney sacked McCown.
McCown looked pained as he crouched in the tunnel leading into the locker room, and was consoled by Ertz, perhaps the final moment of his NFL career.
ESPN hired McCown to be an NFL analyst on the day he announced he was calling it quits. McCown had come out of retirement in August to join his 11th team and play his 17th season, and just five months later, he was instead calling plays in a pinch, one more playoff game Wentz had to cede to a backup.
“You don’t want to be on the field under those circumstances,” McCown said. “But then it’s, OK, here we go, we’ve got to go. We’ve got to get going. Kind of started a little slow. Went faster, but the guys around me and Doug, helped me settle in.”
Wentz played though a patchwork set of receivers to lead the Eagles to four consecutive wins down the stretch and their second NFC East title in three seasons. Wentz started all 16 games for the second time in his four seasons and set single-season team records with 4,039 yards passing and 388 completions.
He became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000 yards without a single wide receiver reaching 500 yards receiving. The Eagles lost starting receivers DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor, released Mack Hollins, signed and released Jordan Matthews and finished with five players off the practice squad — notably wide receiver Greg Ward Jr. and running back Boston Scott — making valuable contributions at the skill positions.
Wentz held it all together, and led the Eagles to consecutive comeback victories to start a winning streak that thrust them into the playoffs.
“The last five weeks, he really put the team on his back and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to get to the post-season, and I’m going to take us there,”’ Ertz said. “And that’s what he did.”
Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick in 2016, took a pair of hard hits in the back against Seattle before Clowney delivered the crushing blow. The crown of Clowney’s helmet connected with the back of Wentz’s head and drove the QB into the turf.
“The guy has battled through everything the last couple of years,” Ertz said. “He’s the leader of this football team, unanimously. Guys love playing for him, no matter what some of the people say.”
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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