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Against Saints, Eagles See a Carson Wentz We've Never Seen Before

NEW ORLEANS - This was a Carson Wentz we've never seen before.

Throwing balls up for grabs. Making poor decisions. Unable to get into a rhythm. Making mistake after mistake.

And never being able to fix it.

Wentz stumbled through the worst game of his three-year NFL career Sunday against the NFL's 31st-ranked pass defense.

The 48 part of 48-7 wasn't that surprising. The Saints have been doing this to everybody.

The 7 part was shocking, considering the Saints had been allowing nearly 30 points a game.

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"I've played a lot of football games in my career and this is one of the worst losses I've ever been a part of, and yes, it's frustrating," Wentz said. "It's frustrating all the way around. Offensively, defensively, special teams. We just got beat. We have to be better, and it starts with me."

Until Sunday, Wentz had been able to overcome his slow starts with big finishes.

Against a Saints defense that had given up 19 touchdowns and had just six interceptions while allowing a monstrous 108.8 passer rating through nine games, Wentz was 19 for 33 for 156 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

"The last couple weeks, it's (been) frustrating," Wentz said. "I definitely take a lot of it on my plate, on my shoulders. I have to come out better."

How bad was Wentz?

• He became the first Eagle to throw three interceptions and no touchdowns in a game since Matt Barkley against the Cowboys in 2013, the first starting QB to do it since Donovan McNabb against the Panthers in the 2003 playoffs and the first in a regular-season game since Ty Detmer against the Colts in 1996.

• Wentz's 31.9 passer rating is lowest by an Eagles starting quarterback in 11 years, since A.J. Feeley had a 30.0 rating against the Seahawks in a 28-24 loss at the Linc.

• It's also worst against the Saints since Mark Sanchez had a 27.0 rating in a 24-10 win over the Jets in 2009.

• Wentz saw his NFL-record streak of games with at least one TD pass and one or fewer interceptions end at 22.

• Wentz also saw his streak of consecutive games with a passer rating of at least 83 end at 21, three short of Peyton Manning's record streak of 24.

The Eagles have now lost five of their last seven games after a 2-1 start, and Wentz, like everybody else, has no answers.

"We know what we're capable of," he said. "I know. The product that we're putting out there is not up to our standards. I'm not playing up to my standards. I think you go down the list and everybody is saying that.

"But we know the guys we have. We know the talent we have. We know the chemistry we have. It just hasn't clicked out there all together. At the end of the day, all that really matters is the guys in that building. The guys in that locker room. We all believe. That belief is never going to go anywhere. You'll never see us quit."

Wentz's numbers until Sunday were exceptional, but the Eagles are a 4-6 team that's won two games since Week 3.

Wentz needs to be better. He needs to start better. He needs to finish better. He needs to be more consistent. He needs to raise the level of the people around him.

Without Wentz playing at an elite level, this team has no chance.

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