Written by Zach Berman at Philly.com
Carson Wentz watched the final five minutes of the Eagles’ 33-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers from the Lincoln Financial Field sideline with good health and a raincoat. Backup Nick Foles entered the lopsided game. Wentz likes when he can take the last snap in a victory formation, but it’s even better when he doesn’t need to take the field at all because the result is already determined.
It was supposed to happen this way against the winless 49ers. The Eagles entered the game as nearly two-touchdown favorites — they covered, by the way — and they didn’t overlook a weak opponent. They are 7-1, their best start to a season since 2004, when they reached the Super Bowl. With the calendar turning to November and the season passing the halfway point, it’s becoming clearer each week that the Eagles are legitimate contenders.
“We’re halfway through the season, we’re right where we want to be,” veteran defensive end Brandon Graham said. “But things can go downhill real easily if you start [impressing] yourself. So we need to make sure … we don’t worry about 7-1 until we get done and they say, ‘Hey, we’re going to the playoffs.’ That’s when we can have a different mind-set. But right now, we haven’t done anything.”
The Eagles dominated a game in which the offense didn’t play especially well. That says much about the Eagles through eight weeks, and it might say even more about the 49ers. The Eagles defense excelled while limiting the 49ers to 238 yards with two turnovers, four sacks, and 12 quarterback hits.
In most of their wins this season, Wentz needed to star. But the Eagles didn’t require Wentz to be spectacular to win Sunday.
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