Eagles Defense Bracing for Russell Wilson Challenge

Two years ago, on Dec. 3, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz went to Seattle as the frontrunner in the NFL’s Most Valuable Player race.

The Seahawks won that game, but Wentz stayed in the conversation with a 348-yard passing day and one touchdown. He completed 29-of-45 passes, though Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw for three scores in a 24-10 win. A week later, Wentz tore two knee ligaments against the Los Angeles Rams and his season and MVP candidacy were over.

This week, Wilson comes to Philadelphia as the MVP frontrunner. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson is in the conversation, too, as is New Orleans Saints receiver Michael Thomas, but Wilson’s numbers don’t take a backseat to either of those two.

Wilson could possibly be having the best season of his eight-year career. Seattle coach Pete Carroll was asked on a conference call earlier this week if he believed his quarterback, now 29, was performing at his highest level yet, and if so, why.

Carroll gave credit to offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who is in his second season. That familiarity, Carroll believes, has helped immensely, but so too has being in the league for eight years.

“There’s always room for growth and improvement and Russell being a great competitor keeps hacking away at it,” said Carroll. “He’s in more control and command of the game than he’s ever been.”

Wilson has thrown 23 touchdowns to just two interceptions and is completing 68.5 percent of his passes. His 114.9 passer rating is tops in the NFL.

He is still a danger with his legs, but he hasn’t had to run as much in previous seasons with the emergence of Chris Carson (853 yards, 4.3 yards per carry). Still, Wilson has run for 256 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and three scores, and, even if he doesn’t set sail up field as he once did, he is still a master at making plays with his scramble ability.

“When you go against a quarterback like that, I really don’t think rush lanes are that important because he bounces around,” said defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. “He’s going to make plays. Thing is how many plays can we stop. I think the guys up front we’ll bottle him up and get him on the ground.”

The Eagles defense has been surging since getting players such as cornerbacks Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby and defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan healthy again. Since Week Eight, the Eagles lead the league in yards per game allowed with 238 and yards per play at 4.2.

Wilson will put those stats to the test and presents a far different dilemma defensively than Tom Brady did when the New England Patriots visited last week.

Brady is 42 who stays in the pocket and likes to get rid of the ball quickly. Wilson is always on the move and does a great job keeping his eyes down the field looking for an open window.

“Well, there's scrambling quarterbacks, there's running quarterbacks, there's drop-back quarterbacks, there's quarterbacks that are good from the pocket, there's quarterbacks that are good outside of the pocket, there's quarterbacks that can throw on schedule, there's quarterbacks that can create on their own, and he's all of the above,” said Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

Added Mills: We got to contain him. Their offense starts with No. 3 and ends with No. 3 so if we take care of him we’ll be in good shape.”

That is obviously something much easier said than done.