What grade does Carson Wentz deserve for his performance in Indianapolis’ season-opener against the Seattle Seahawks?
Horrendous offensive line play, inconsistencies along the defensive line and in the secondary, as well as awful play from the linebacking corps are just a few of the reasons why the Colts lost their 8th straight season-opener to the Seattle Seahawks Sunday afternoon.
Frankly, there are a few more issues I could include on this list, but quarterback Carson Wentz isn’t one of them.
As a matter of fact, Wentz appeared to be the only reason Indy even remained in the ballgame for a short period.
“I thought he threw the ball accurately, I thought his post-snap decisions were very good,” Frank Reich said in a conference call with local media members Monday afternoon. “I thought he looked poised, under control.”
Indianapolis’s offensive line, which is regarded as one of the team’s strengths and one of the league’s best units, surrendered 4 sacks and allowed Wentz to be hit over 10 times.
For an offensive line that’s been one of the best pass-blocking units in each of the last three seasons, Sunday’s performance was nothing short of dreadful.
“Overall, the protection aspect was, you know, probably not up to our standards,” Reich said. “We need to be better.”
Perhaps the biggest question of the entire offseason for the Colts’ quarterback was whether or not he would be able to cut down on the turnovers and avoid getting in his own way. Wentz partially answered that question with his performance on Sunday.
In his debut as the Colts’ starting quarterback, Wentz, despite inexcusable and poor offensive line play, went 25-of-38 (65% completion rate) for 251 yards and 2 passing touchdowns. Wentz also had 4 rushes for 23 yards.
While there were a fair amount of quick throws and screen passes, what Wentz didn’t do was try to do too much by himself. Let’s not forget that Wentz also missed five weeks during the offseason with a foot injury and had a small number of practices prior to Sunday’s matchup.
In the face of pressure — quite literally — Wentz showcased his ability to extend plays with both his legs and arm and made some really nice throws. Overall, the Colts had to have liked what they saw from their quarterback.
When factoring in everything from the defensive blunders; to a lack of a running game and terrible offensive line play, Wentz gets a ‘B’ from me. His numbers may not ‘wow’ you, but the Colts’ quarterback looked poised, was decisive, made several really nice throws and showcased enough positive plays to build off of moving forward.
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