LANDOVER, Md. _ Just call him the Comeback Kid.
Carson Wentz converted none of his first five fourth-quarter comeback chances of 2019, but he led the Eagles to a win on Monday night against the Giants. He did it again Sunday afternoon, culminating with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Greg Ward, a late-season practice-squad hero, in the Eagles' 37-27 win.
And he had to do it twice.
Wentz led the Eagles (7-7) to the lead early in the fourth quarter but Washington answered and tied the game. Wentz fumbled away a chance to do it again, which helped the home team take a late lead.
All of which set this scene: Down by 3 points, 4 minutes, 52 seconds to play, a .500 record and a clearer path to the playoffs at stake with the Cowboys visiting Sunday.
And ...
Snap: Third-down conversion to Greg Ward, 13 yards. Bang: A 20-yard dart to Dallas Geodert. Zip: 13 more to Ward, then 10 more, then, with 32 ticks remaining, a touchdown with 32 seconds to play. The Birds added a defensive TD on the last play of the game, a bright spot on an otherwise cloudy day for that unit, but it was Wentz who put them in position to win.
And now, Game 15: Bring on the Cowboys.
Miles Sanders, a second-round rookie out of Penn State, passed Shady and D-Jax in the same game. He delivered a career-best 122 rushing yards on 19 carries, caught six passes for 50 yards, ran for one touchdown and caught a pass for another in becoming the most productive rookie in Eagles history. His 687 rushing yards eclipsed LeSean McCoy's record of 637 in 2009. His 1,120 yards from scrimmage passed DeSean Jackson's 1,008, from 2008.
Sanders' 56-yard run early in the fourth quarter set up a second go-ahead touchdown in the second half. He scored the first himself.
Wentz passed for both of the go-ahead TDs. On the first drive of the third quarter Wentz rolled right, out of a collapsing pocket, and zipped a 90-mph fastball past two defenders into the back corner of the end zone. It was a cheeky play: Sanders made a self-defense catch as he fell to the ground, his posterior just inside the pylon for a 17-14 lead. Washington quickly replied, but Sanders' long run preceded a 2-yard pass from Wentz his his favorite target, tight end Zach Ertz.
The Eagles' beleaguered cornerback corps beleaguered some more, against the worst offense in the NFL, thus classified mainly because it was the worst third-down offense in the NFL, a status earned, in part, because it was piloted by the worst quarterback in the NFL, rookie Dwayne Hoskins.
The home team gifted the visitors the absence of Ryan Kerrigan, against whom Kerrigan has justified much of his $61 million in career earnings and four Pro Bowl appearances. Of his 90 sacks, he's recorded 11 { against the eagles, as well as six of his 26 forced fumbles and two of the three fumbles he's recovered, but a calf injury last week landed him on injured reserve.
Washington is a team so dysfunctional that its best player, left tackle Trent Williams, accused them of failing to correctly diagnose a cancerous growth on his head ... for 5 years. Williams held out for the first eight game, reported and complained, and, ultimately, Washington decided to not pay Williams at all this season.
The Eagles needed a pair of specious roughing-the-passer calls, a career day from a rookie, another standout game from a practice-squad star _ but more than anything, they needed resilience from Wentz, the most important player in franchise history.
Amid the production of backup players pressed into action by injuries to principles such as Alshon Jeffery, whether Wentz can be elite in the guts of the game has become a weekly referendum. Wentz entered the season with just four fourth-quarter comebacks. He flopped in his first five chances this season and was 4-for-18 entering last week.
Now he's 6-for-20, with the biggest game of his four-year career looming.
