Wentz gives us a glimpse of his passing skills

It is fair to qualify Carson's Wentz's debut because it came against the woeful Browns, but the Eagles rookie quarterback made several throws on Sunday that would have been notable against any defense.

There were his two touchdown passes, a fourth-down conversion, and several other completions that were thrown into tight windows. But the most impressive, from this vantage point, was Wentz's third-down toss to Jordan Matthews in which he threaded the needle in between two defenders for 22 yards.

It wasn't just the athleticism of the dart that raised eyebrows, it was that Wentz hung in the pocket for nearly five seconds and didn't allow the coming pressure to force his eyes from downfield.

He "just hung in there, hung in there, and it was a nice, tight window throw," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Monday after the Eagles toppled the Browns, 29-10. "Those are the things you see from more veteran type quarterbacks, where young guys tend to want to scramble in those situations."

And most young quarterbacks aren't as athletic as Wentz. One of the concerns heading into the season was that he would come to rely too often on his legs when he had to go beyond his first or second reads. But Wentz scrambled only twice against the Browns.

The pass to Matthews was unique because the play was designed to go to tight end Zach Ertz on the front side against a man-to-man defense. The Browns mixed up their coverage, though, a played zone on the front side and man on the back where Matthews lined up.

"It's a man play on the front side, and I'm on the back side finding the middle void," Matthews said.

Ertz actually found space against the zone, but Wentz read the defense correctly and turned toward Matthews, who was running a "dagger" route across the middle. The receiver wasn't open. The corner had him underneath and the safety was over top.

But Wentz threw Matthews open - if "open" was like the sliver of space you might see between slow dancing teenagers at a mixer. Matthews did the rest and dove for the catch.

"Most of the time if you're on the backside the ball is not coming to you," Matthews said. "All week he said if they go zone, it's coming to that backside dig. We never throw that in practice, but in the game that's what we saw and he hit it."

The completion never happens, though, without Wentz's arm strength. He didn't have to put any mustard on the toss because the ball explodes out of his hand. He had the same effortless motion on the fourth-down throw a series later.

So even though the unblocked rusher up the "A" gap forced Wentz to process and through "hot" quickly, he didn't have to rush his pass to Ertz.

"Was a big-time throw," Pederson said.

Wentz also showed great touch. He feathered fades to Matthews and Nelson Agholor for 19-yard and 35-yard touchdowns, respectively. The former came against man defense with Matthews beating slot corner Tramon Williams to the corner.

"He said he was going to go to me all week on it," Matthews said of Wentz. "We threw it twice, I think, in Thursday's practice. He was telling me, 'If they're going man in this situation and you're inside, I'm throwing the ball to you.' "

Those throws came from the pocket, but, as Pederson said, Wentz "does some of his best work outside the pocket." So the Eagles called plays - particularly off play action - that moved the pocket and allowed Wentz to throw on the move.

A first-quarter pass to tight end Brent Celek and another completion to Matthews in the third - off naked bootlegs - were set up by a running game that Pederson didn't abandon.

The run-heavy game plan was implemented in part to protect Wentz, who aside from playing in his first NFL game was also coming off fractured ribs that sidelined him for the last three preseason games. But Pederson didn't have to dumb down the offense.

Wentz was given the freedom to make checks at the line. Pederson calls in two plays and Wentz either stays with the original call or audibles to the second based on his pre-snap reading. He may use the cadence to get the defense to show its hand.

He killed the original call on his first pass of the game and found Matthews alone, but the receiver dropped the ball. But Wentz later reset the protection on another play when Browns linebackers jumped early and showed blitz.

They rushed up the "A" gap and center Jason Kelce was able to slide over and get a hand on one as Wentz threw to an open Matthews for 28 yards. Pederson has changed about half of the calls in his West Coast offense to one word and it has allowed the offense to get out of huddle and to the line quicker.

"It just gives [Wentz] time at the line to see what he's seeing defensively and then put us in the right play," Pederson said.

Wentz was also given a fair number of run-pass package plays that gave him multiple options after the snap. He never employed the option to keep and run, but it's there if he needs it.

"It wasn't a big part of the game plan this week," Wentz said.

Next week will bring its own challenges. The Bears will likely blitz Wentz as much as the Browns. He was hit at least eight times - several were because he held the ball too long or missed a "hot" receiver.

Wentz was by no means without fault. And he won't have the luxury of playing the Browns every week. But his best moments on Sunday suggest that he has only begun to maximize his abilities.

jmclane@phillynews.com

@Jeff_McLane