Carson Wentz

Former Eagle Carson Wentz and Colts Eliminated After Shocking Loss

Former Eagle Carson Wentz and the Indianapolis Colts failed to make the playoffs after a shocking loss to the 2-14 Jacksonville Jaguars.

Wentz comes up small, Colts eliminated after shocking loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Carson Wentz's sixth NFL season ended the same way as his first five.

Without a postseason win.

When Chris Boswell kicked an overtime field goal to give the Steelers a 16-13 win over the Ravens Sunday in Baltimore, it officially eliminated the Colts from playoff contention and meant Wentz will go into his seventh NFL season without playing a postseason game from start to finish.

Earlier Sunday, the Colts – 14 1/2-point favorites – lost unthinkably to the worst team in football, the 2-14 Jaguars in Jacksonville.

A win would have clinched a playoff berth for the Colts, and even with a loss they could have locked up a postseason berth if the Ravens beat the Steelers, the Dolphins beat the Patriots and the Raiders beat the Chargers.

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But it wasn’t to be.

With so much at stake, Wentz came up incredibly small, turning in the kind of performance that’s become all too common for him in recent years.

His fumble early in the third quarter led to a Jaguars field goal and his interception later in the quarter set up a Jacksonville touchdown.

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According to Stathead, this was the first time the Colts lost as a favorite of 14 ½ or more points since 1968, when they were 18-point favorites over Joe Namath and the Jets in Super Bowl III at the Orange Bowl but lost 16-7.

Although Wentz padded his stats with a meaningless touchdown drive in the final minutes, through 52 minutes against the NFL's 31st-ranked defense he was 9-for-20 for 100 yards with no TDs, an INT and a lost fumble and was sacked six times.

So the Eagles with 23-year-old Jalen Hurts and his $1.5 million average annual salary are in the playoffs, and the Colts, with 29-year-old Wentz and his $32 million average annual salary, are out.

Say what you will about Howie Roseman, the Eagles robbed the Colts in this deal, ridding themselves of Wentz and gaining a 1st-round pick that at worst will be No. 18 in the 2022 draft this spring as well as a 3rd-round pick in this past draft that indirectly became Milton Williams.

The Colts have now lost seven straight games in Jacksonville. Since 2015, the Jaguars are 7-0 at home vs. the Colts and 26-80 in all other games.

Wentz is the first quarterback in NFL history drafted with a top-10 pick to start at least 80 games in his first six seasons but not start and finish a playoff game during that span.

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Wentz, the 2nd pick in the 2016 draft, will reach his 30th birthday next December not only without a playoff win but with only one career postseason completion, a three-yarder to Boston Scott before he suffered a concussion in the 2019 wild-card game at the Linc against the Seahawks.

The Colts lost their first three games this year, then went 9-3 before losing their last two games as at least a touchdown favorite – at home vs. the Raiders and Sunday in Jacksonville – to finish 9-8.

Because Wentz played 75 percent of the Colts’ snaps, the 2nd-round pick the Eagles got when they shipped Wentz to the Colts became a 1st-rounder, and since the Colts are out of the playoffs, that pick will be at worst No. 18.

And next year the Eagles will be rid of the massive amount of dead money that Wentz counted against their cap this year. Wentz’s $33,820,608 in dead money was an NFL record.

Wentz was 18-11 in his first two seasons with the Eagles but is 22-29-1 since the start of the 2018 season.

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