Carson Wentz On Zach Ertz: “He Knows Where He Needs To Be”

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated injury-plagued Washington Redskins 28-13, on Monday Night Football. Right from the start, the Eagles imposed their tempo of the game, as they dominated on both ends of the field.

It was Philly’s sixth win this season, second in a row, and they just might be back in the saddle when needed the most. Champs have realistic chances of reaching the playoffs, although there are some tough opponents down the road.

Carson Wentz threw two touchdown passes one to Golden Tate and another to Jordan Matthews. In total, Wentz had 306 yards, with 27 completions from 39 tries, along with one interception.

Wentz was very spontaneous after the game, when talking about his receiving corps. He praised several of his teammates, stating that they got along just fine last night.

Golden Tate made his first touchdown as an Eagle, and the former Detroit Lions took four games to achieve such a thing.

Another awesome backyard football play from Carson Wentz, beautiful touch on this throw to Golden Tate pic.twitter.com/iYZg1YZnNi

— Kansas More Chaints (@AdrianFedkiw) December 4, 2018

“Tonight, he made some great plays. He made some great plays after the catch, too, which is big. It was good to finally get him in the end zone too.” Wentz said.

And really Tate collected 85 yards in seven receptions, showing his full potential for the first time since arriving at the city of Brotherhood love. In the first three games, the 30-year old had 97 receiving yards combined.

But what marked the night was Zach Ertz record. Sixth season tight end from Stanford, became the player with the highest number of receptions in one season in Eagles’ history.

During the third quarter, Ertz caught his 91st pass since the beginning of this campaign, surpassing Brian Westbrook’s old record from 2007, when he had 90 catches. He added two more until the end of the contest, and there are yet to come four more matches, so he has plenty of chances to improve that figure.

Wentz and Ertz are a cornerstone duo of Eagles’ offense, and the chemistry these two have, is hard to describe. Philly’s quarterback tried to explain that at the press conference.

“He just completely understands the game, from almost a quarterback’s view,” said Wentz. “He knows where he needs to be. He knows coverages. He knows when I’m supposed to be ‘hot,’ all sorts of things.”

These two were excellent during the previous season until Eagles’ QB suffered a tough injury. However, Ertz believes that they took the game to the next level in this campaign.

“Yeah, I think this year it’s definitely taken that next step,” Ertz said. “I think last year we were playing at a high level, but this year we’ve taken that next step.

Eagles TE Zach Ertz, after big win over Washington: pic.twitter.com/321CXbohpC

— Nick Fierro (@NickFierro) December 4, 2018

If they continue to cooperate like this, Jason Witten’s single-season receptions record, for a tight end, might be endangered. Back in 2012, legendary TE of the Dallas Cowboys had 110 caught passes.

Ertz’s rhythm, if continued, promises 115. Now, it is up to him and Wentz to keep the tempo.

Eagles are now 6-6 and tie the second spot in the NFC East along with the Washington Redskins. The champions are just one win behind the Dallas Cowboys against whom they play next week in Arlington.

It is a defining game for Philadelphia, who need to win in order to preserve the chances of winning the division. Dallas started to rise after defeating Philly four weeks ago. Since then the Cowboys are looking pretty much unstoppable.

After this game, comes even a tougher one, because the Eagles travel to Los Angeles to meet the Rams. The last two games of the season are against high-flying Texas at Lincoln Financial Field and a road trip to Washington.