Who/What Broke Wentz?

Let’s start with those teammates. To build what ended up being an insurmountable 17-point half lead, the defense had to step up. It did. The Eagles defense held the Saints to their lowest EPA per play output of the season in a first half at -.40.

It was the Saints' lowest since a 2018 Week 13 loss in Dallas. And it was the second-lowest output the Eagles defense has allowed all season, just barely trailing the first half from the Ben Dinucci-led Cowboys in Week 8. A good start — it helps to not play from behind.

And what of the offensive supporting cast that, as the weeks went by, seemed to be getting just as much heat from the media as Wentz himself? The running game came alive in that first half. While it did turn into a pumpkin in the second half as the Saints defense clamped down, the Eagles got just enough out of the ground game early.

The team averaged 6.9 yards after contact on 13 designed runs in the first half — their third-highest in a half this season. They hit 9.4 yards after contact on nine carries against Pittsburgh and 7.4 on 13 carries against the Giants in Week 10. It’s the highest yards after contact per attempt in a first half the Saints have given up since 2016.

You can’t live in a world where you expect runners to average that many yards after contact, but for one game you’ll take it. You’ll also take an 82-yard untouched Miles Sanders touchdown run any day of the week.

The pass catchers also did their part with the ball in their hands. First, they didn’t drop one pass — the first time all season they’ve cleared that low bar. They also gained the most yards on screen passes this season. And overall their yards after catch per reception was their best since 2018. That 7.2 YAC per catch was also the highest the Saints defense has given up this year, assuming we don’t count whatever happened in Denver a couple weeks ago.

Let’s move on to the offensive line, whose cumulative pass-blocking grade was the second-highest in a game this season. Their highest was against a woefully inefficient Bengals pass-rush group, so performing at a high level against a Saints defensive line that welcomed the return of Marcus Davenport is solid accomplishment.

Getting season-best play from your receivers, running backs and offensive line gave Hurts the cushion he needed to control the situation and not have to be the playmaker in the passing game that he isn’t quite yet. Having a lead throughout the game meant Hurts only had to drop back 36 times. Twenty-one of those were straight dropback attempts, while 15 had either an RPO, a play-action, a screen or a rollout.

Unfortunately, his passing grade of 40.9 was the second-lowest in a game this season by an Eagles quarterback. A lot of passing yards came on busted Saints coverages. Hurts wasn’t asked to go through progressions.

The game plan from a passing standpoint was basic, with a lot of so-called “Day 1 installs” like 4 Verts and Mesh. Marshon Lattimore busted on a long catch and run on Mesh, while Kwon Alexander busted on 4 verts in the first half. The throwing game was not pretty. Hurts missed a wide open Jalen Reagor on a nice design implemented off play-action by Doug Pederson. Besides that, there weren’t even many deep passing attempts.

And yet, even with the abysmally low passing grade, the Eagles' EPA per passes was .13 — their second-highest in a game this season.

Hurts brings an ability to gain yards with his legs. His 106 rushing yards were the second-most in a game this season by any quarterback. He averaged 11.3 yards per scramble attempt, with each one going for a first down. It was also the first time since Week 2 against the Rams that an Eagles starting quarterback didn’t take any sacks. Wentz, of course, leads the league in sacks taken with 50 — 11 more than anyone else.

The entirety of the Eagles offense had been failing, from the head coach to the quarterback to everyone else on the field. For one game at least, the whole unit pulled in the same direction to upset the Saints and stay barely alive in the race for the NFC East playoff spot.

Jalen Hurts didn’t prove that he’s the answer to the Eagles' quarterback question, but he didn’t fail the test — and that’s important. Wentz had failed almost every test this year.