Three years ago the Eagles were reveling in their newfound identity as powerful MEN OF ACTION willing to travel down unconventional routes others in the NFL dared not take. The Eagles set an NFL record in fourth down conversion attempts with a whopping 29, successfully converting 65% of them, including a fairly memorable fourth-and-goal in Super Bowl 52 that you may or may not faintly recall.

It was a year of brash decisions that led to the greatest fortune we’ve ever seen as Philadelphia Eagles fans. This year? This year the franchise is too scared to bench and hurt the feelings of the downtrodden and clearly broken Carson Wentz to see what they have in the “quarterback factory” approved Jalen Hurts.

Gross.

It’s a far cry from the big balls Doug of 2017, isn’t it? We’d never seen an Eagles coach do what he did that year. From his swashbuckling play calling to his ability to make the tough decisions to wring every last bit of talent out of a roster that faced adversity throughout the entire season was truly amazing. He pushed all the right buttons, turned all the right knobs, ate all the right ice cream, and took us to the promised land.

And now? Who the fuck knows. Is Doug even in charge of player personnel anymore? Nobody knows. What we do know is that whoever is in charge of player personnel, be it Howie Roseman, Jeffrey Lurie, Doug Pederson, an unholy mish-mash of all three, or A MYSTERIOUS MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN, has struck out on just about every single personnel decision to grace this horrendous disaster of a season.

It’s an embarrassing list of roster failures. Wasting a spot on Alshon Jeffery for more than half a season for two unproductive games. Not being able to stand up to a completely washed Jason Peters when he held the team hostage for a raise to play tackle after signing as a guard when there were CLEARLY no other takers for his services. The subsequent failure to drag his bloated corpse off the field in favor of the young, raw, and talented Jordan Mailata. Sticking with a drastically inadequate Nate Gerry because of his “ability to manage a game” but to not actually see any positive in-game results from his efforts.

If they can’t correctly solve the blatantly obvious problems that are Jason Peters or Alshon Jeffery or Nate Gerry, what chance do they have of making the correct decision to bench Wentz to see what they have in Hurts? As Phil so eloquently wrote this week, the shit has clearly hit the fan and there is no longer a reason to keep Wentz on the field for 2020.

Yes, the Eagles are still in “first place” in the most putrid division in NFL history, but is that due to the play of Carson Wentz or in spite of him? He’s broken, plain and simple, and no excuse about the offensive line or lack of weapons is going to make up for the fact that he can’t read a defense in the best of times this year and is abominable at the worst of times.

Every move that is made from here on out should be with 2021 and beyond in mind. There is no fathomable reason that Hurts should not make his first NFL start against the Seahawks on Monday night. Yes, it’s a big spot, but this is going to be the least threatening defense the Eagles have to face for the rest of the year. Let’s see what Hurts can do against one of the worst NFL secondaries under the prime time lights of Monday Night Football.

Why not? He’s played in two national championship games and had to relieve an injured Tua Tagovailoa in the 2018 SEC Championship. That’s plenty of big game experience. Let’s see what we have in him during a lost 2020 to see what needs to be done in 2021.

It’s the logical move, it’s the correct move, but you know it’s a move the Eagles aren’t going to make. Wentz will be plodding around out there, staring down receivers for four seconds until he takes a sack or tosses up a meatball into the waiting arms of a cornerback 15-yards downfield from the intended receiver.

The Eagles can’t see past the hundreds of millions of dollars in cap space that would be allocated to a backup quarterback, the dark pall enshrouding their decision making process, and their reputation as a “quarterback factory” if they bench Wentz. They only see the multitude of minor reasons to not bench Wentz and have turned a blind eye to the one HUGE reason he should be.

The Eagles broke Carson. Carson broke Carson. Through inept game plans, debilitating injuries, woeful supporting casts, and his own inability to overcome blows to his fragile ego, Wentz is a shell of what he used to be. What little remained of his confidence entering this  season was dashed to bits like a watermelon in a 1989 Gallagher encore.

It’s time for the quarterback factory to halt production on the old model and turn their eyes to a new design.