LOS ANGELES — The thousands of Philadelphia Eagles fans that annexed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, that turned the seating bowl into a green-and-white party before, during and after their team’s absurd victory over the Rams in one of the more absurd N.F.L. games this year, could tell their friends they were there when Carson Wentz threw four touchdown passes to set the franchise’s season record.
They could say that they watched their team clinch the N.F.C. East, outlasting the formidable Rams by 43-35. They could say they watched the Eagles reach 11-2, best in the N.F.L., and reclaim the No. 1 seed in the rugged N.F.C., enhancing their chances of a first-round bye.
They could say all that, but when they glance at their ticket stubs, they will not.
Because late in the third quarter Sunday, Wentz absorbed hits from both sides as he dived headfirst toward the end zone, and the collisions contorted his left knee in an odd way, and even though he stayed in four more plays to guide Philadelphia to a touchdown, he hobbled toward the tunnel with a towel over his head — a sight about as soothing as Ronde Barber’s closing down the old Veterans Stadium with an interception for Tampa Bay in the 2002 N.F.C. Championship Game.
That Eagles team was supposed to reach the Super Bowl, and maybe, just maybe, this one was, too. The Eagles have balance and depth and resilience and swagger. They had Wentz, and now they will not.
After an evaluation, he was ruled out for the rest of the game. Eagles Coach Doug Pederson confirmed Monday that Wentz had a torn A.C.L. and would be out for the season.
Continue reading the main story“We knew he wasn’t coming back when he walked into the tunnel,” Philadelphia receiver Torrey Smith said. “When a guy like that goes in — you know how tough he is, he would fight through anything.”
Afterward, Pederson picked an interesting word to describe the mood in the locker room: “jubilation.” It might have been jubilant in those rapturous first few minutes, when Brandon Graham ran off the field flapping his arms like an Eagle, but the euphoria subsided by the time players had showered and dressed, filing out of the locker room with N.F.C. East champion hats atop their heads but stoic looks on their faces.
“I’m excited we won,” said Nick Foles, who took over for Wentz with 13 minutes 58 seconds remaining and guided the Eagles to field goals on the ensuing two possessions, “but at the same time, I’m dealing emotionally with seeing him go down.”
The Eagles are deeper than Oakland was last year, when a Week 16 injury to Derek Carr destroyed the Raiders’ Super Bowl hopes. But Wentz’s absence could have a similar effect. It will also reverberate beyond Philadelphia, yanking a marquee player off the field for the playoffs and upending the N.F.C. postseason.
The last two weeks have functioned as an abbreviated round-robin, with six of the conference’s top seven teams matching up against one another. The Vikings beat the Falcons, who beat the Saints, who beat the Panthers, who beat the Vikings. The Seahawks beat the Eagles, who beat the Rams, who beat the Saints.
So, yeah.
That cannibalization, though, only reinforced Philadelphia’s standing atop the N.F.C. hierarchy. The Eagles had withstood season-ending injuries to starters at left tackle (Jason Peters) and middle linebacker (Jordan Hicks), and to the slippery running back Darren Sproles and to their best special-teams player (Chris Maragos). Still, 11-2. Still, no Wentz.
“Do we have a quarterback on the roster?” safety Malcolm Jenkins said.
Yes.
“O.K. then,” Jenkins said.
Fortunately for the Eagles, that quarterback is Foles, who started the team’s last playoff game, a home defeat to New Orleans four years ago, and whose inability to secure that job long-term initiated a sequence of moves that precipitated Sunday’s tantalizing matchup: Wentz, the second pick in the 2016 draft, opposing Jared Goff, whom the Rams selected No. 1.
In March 2015, Philadelphia traded Foles to the Rams for Sam Bradford, and when neither thrived in their new setting, both teams traded up to select the quarterback they coveted. (Foles ended up back with the Eagles two years later, signing as a free agent.)
What the Eagles loved about Wentz, among other things, was his improvisational ability, a sense of how to extend plays within the team’s offensive structure.
That style is enchanting when he dodges pass-rushers or sheds tackles.
“That’s the way he plays,” center Jason Kelce said. “That’s one of the things that makes him an incredible player in this league.”
That style is reckless when he does not protect himself, or the ball, as happened last week in Seattle when it was ripped out as he dived toward the end zone, wiping out a possible touchdown. Or on Sunday, when Morgan Fox and Mark Barron sandwiched Wentz on his 2-yard run for a touchdown that was negated by a penalty. Pederson said Monday it was possible that Wentz sustained a non-contact injury, that he actually hurt the knee before he dived.
Pederson noticed that Wentz looked a little “hobbly” when he got up, but teammates said Wentz betrayed no hint of injury when he entered the huddle.
“Didn’t say a word,” receiver Alshon Jeffery said.
If Jeffery noticed Wentz’s feet anchored in the grass as he whipped touchdown pass No. 4 to him moments later, seemingly reluctant to put weight on that knee, he, too, did not say a word.
Foles lacks Wentz’s mobility and elusiveness, and his promotion will restrict the Eagles’ ability to call run-pass options, a staple for Wentz. Philadelphia will probably rely ever more on its rushing attack and defense, which is partly how Minnesota has thrived under its backup quarterback, Case Keenum.
But the Eagles’ staff is confident in Foles, who, however much of an outlier it was, threw for 27 touchdowns against two interceptions for Philadelphia in 2013. So confident that Pederson, with the Eagles facing third-and-8 at their own 23 with 1:52 left and a 2-point lead, decided not to force a Rams timeout by running the ball, opting instead for a pass. Foles connected with Nelson Agholor for 9 yards and a first down, allowing the Eagles to drain the clock down to 7 seconds before they punted.
“People ask me, ‘Why did you throw the ball?’” Pederson said Monday. “Because I’ve got confidence in Nick. I’ve got confidence in the guys. That’s what I’m going to continue to do. I’m going to continue to stay aggressive. I’m going to lead this football team. It falls more on my shoulders than it does these players. That’s why they need to stay encouraged. That’s why they need to stay excited about this opportunity we have in front of us.”
In the locker room Sunday, Wentz awaited his teammates, and he congratulated them as they arrived. He limped out, his knee entombed in a brace, and fixed himself a plate of Mexican food before being ferried away on a cart. It chugged up a ramp, and toward a team bus. Wentz was there, and then he was gone.
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