Carson Wentz Takes Heat as Vikings Make Announcement for Eagles Game
The Minnesota Vikings will have Carson Wentz under center for the fourth straight game in Week 7, with head coach Kevin O’Connell announcing the decision on Friday. The decision fueled debates already underway, with Wentz scrutinized as a result.
The Vikings will face the team that drafted Wentz No. 2 overall in 2016, the Philadelphia Eagles, in Week 7, and the “revenge game” narrative has been prevalent.
However, an argument was also made against the idea of Wentz’s “revenge” on the Eagles.
Vikings QB Carson Wentz Gets Harsh Truth Before Eagles Game
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo both framed this game as an opportunity for Wentz to exact “revenge” against the Eagles.
He was having an MVP-caliber season with the franchise before a knee injury opened the door for Nick Foles to lead the Super Bowl charge. Still, Wentz spent three more seasons with the Eagles after that. Moreover, memories of his time as a backup on that Super Bowl team linger.
“I don’t think I have anger, but I still have ill will towards Carson Wentz because that video of him saulking in the locker room after the Super Bowl win will never leave my brain,” “Watching the Birds” host John Barchard posted on X on October 17. “His contributions will never match destroying that locker room.”
Some fans pushed back, noting Wentz also helped position the Eagles for that title run.
However, Barchard was not alone in disagreeing with how Wentz is framed coming into this matchup. Again, it was the events that took place between his injury and exit that were in focus.
“Hard to call it a revenge game when the team benched you while you were playing terribly and then acquiesced to your trade request in the offseason, trading you to the coach you wanted to play for,” Eagles Pin-Pull’s Shane Haff posted on October 17. “The Eagles didn’t do wrong by Carson Wentz. Every time a player plays a former team we don’t have to call it a ‘revenge’ game.”
Some fans defended Wentz amid the onslaught of fiery reactions to his facing the Eagles, with the QB’s comments during this past week of preparation – before he even knew he would be the team’s starter – belying the “revenge” narrative.
Carson Wentz Gets Honest About Facing Eagles
For his part, Wentz, who is 2-1 as the Vikings’ starting quarterback, said that there is “not really” any significance in facing the Eagles this week. He has faced them once before, and lost, but that is not why this is “another opponent” for the veteran.
“Maybe earlier in my career, maybe, had different feelings. But at the same time, you look over there, and there’s – I’m not even sure there’s anybody on the defensive side that I played with. It just looks different,” Wentz told reporters on October 15. “A lot of respect for those guys. Because there’s still guys in that organization, there’s a lot of good people that I still have a lot of care for and respect for. But at the same time, that feels like multiple lifetimes ago at this point.”
Wentz also said he was “thankful” for his time with the Eagles.
“They went and got me at a high pick. All the things. It was quite the rollercoaster over there. Winning the Super Bowl, even though I was hurt, right here in this stadium. It was – I’m thankful for so many things. I grew up as a man. I got married, had a kid while I was there,” Wentz said during his media availability.
“There’s so many life changes that took place there. So, grateful for my time there. Obviously, it came to an end rather abruptly. All the things, everybody knows all that. But grateful for all the opportunities I had while I was there.”
Carson Wentz: ‘God’s Writing the Story’
Wentz previously said that he would swap places with Foles for that Super Bowl, but noted that his feelings about the Eagles are “one of those things” and his answer is “different every year.”
“Life’s a journey,” Wentz said. “God’s writing the story, and I’m just along for the ride, so to speak. Doing the best I can, and I’ve grown up as a man. Now, I’ve got almost [my] fourth kid coming here soon. Life’s just different, and it’s one of those things. I don’t take things for granted. I have a different appreciation for things that, maybe, I wish I would have had a little bit different back then. But you live, you learn, and you grow, and that’s all you can do.”
His journey took him to four other teams between leaving the Eagles and joining the Vikings.
This is a full-circle opportunity for Wentz, even if the 2017 Pro Bowler does not see the “revenge” aspect of it.
Brian Flores has fixed one major flaw with the Vikings' defense and it could help Minnesota sustain success this season
The Minnesota Vikings have finally seen sustained success under head coach Kevin O'Connell. Five games into year four, they are 37-19 under O'Connell's tutelage.
They haven't been perfect over the first three years, as O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spent the entire time trying to rebuild the roster while working on winning football games. The majority of reporters and analysts maligned the competitive rebuild, but they proved you can do both at the same time.
We know that the main struggles of this team are. They have yet to figure out how to run the ball consistently, the offensive line can't keep it together for multiple reasons, and the defense allows way too many points at the end of halves.
Vikings two-minute defense has shown significant improvements
The first three years of the O'Connell era showed a major weakness in their defense: they couldn't stop teams in the two-minute drill.
One of the biggest reasons that they haven't been able to do that is due to the nature of how defensive coordinator Brian Flores calls his defenses. He doesn't go into prevent defense, but the coverage and pressure structures are much more simplistic.
This season only has five games played so far, but they have been eons better at preventing their opponents from scoring in the final two minutes.
You can tell that the Vikings are significantly better at maximizing their defensive opportunities in late-game situations. The underlying metrics continue to emphasize a much better-performing unit, including not allowing a single point allowed in the final two minutes of the game.
It needs to be said that this is a much different unit than in previous years. The Vikings overall are second in EPA/play at -0.12 and first in EPA/dropback at -0.23. The biggest factor of that success has been the improvement in the pass rush, especially on the interior.
Now, the Vikings haven't been dominant with the pass rush, but they are getting to the quarterback more than you might think.
- 2024: 49 sacks, 320 pressures
- 2025: 13 sacks (44 projected over 17 games), 97 pressures (329 projected)
Continuing to have a lethal pass rush has been an important aspect of the game, but the focus has been less on the edge rusher and more focused on the interior. Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, Jalen Redmond, and Levi Drake Rodriguez have had the biggest impact in the success of the defense. Flores can just call normal pressure looks.
Biggest takeaway from Dallas Turner's sack: Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen pushing the pocket pic.twitter.com/GndCux3aum
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) September 15, 2025
The presence of an interior pass rusher didn't exist last season for the Vikings. They had to manufacture a pass rush with different looks, blitzes, and long looping stunts. That isn't the case anymore. Sure, Flores still uses all of those elements in his defense, but he doesn't have to use them to generate pressure on a down-to-down basis. This is the main factor why the defense has grown year/year. Getting pressure quickly on the interior is the hardest, but best path to impacting the quarterback.
The big question with the Vikings is how well they will sustain this kind of success. Anytime you have a small sample size, the results can get wonky, but it's a fantastic start in improving an area of the Vikings that has been rough for some time.
