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Domo: Eagles' rookie Wentz soars again

CHICAGO - For a little while there Monday night, it was déjà vu all over again. On their very first possession, the Eagles went tempo. Or at least a slow version of it. They went no-huddle on their first five plays.

CHICAGO - For a little while there Monday night, it was déjà vu all over again.

On their very first possession, the Eagles went tempo. Or at least a slow version of it. They went no-huddle on their first five plays.

They came out in a three-wide receiver set with running back Darren Sproles moving all over the formation, and rookie quarterback Carson Wentz picked up where he left off last Sunday against Cleveland.

A 9-yard completion to Nelson Agholor, then another 9-yard pass to Dorial Green-Beckham for a first down.

Two short completions to Jordan Matthews, then a quick hitch to Sproles for 2 yards and another first down. Then another quick 9-yard pass to Green-Beckham.

The Eagles drove all the way down to the Chicago 4-yard line before the Bears stiffened and forced the first of three Caleb Sturgis first-half field goals.

But the drive served an important purpose besides giving the Eagles an early 3-0 lead in a game they Eagles would eventually win going away, 29-14.

It gave their young quarterback, who completed eight of nine passes for 45 yards on the drive, an early boost of confidence in his first NFL prime-time road game.

Not that he seemed to need it. This kid may be a rookie, but he seems to have the nerves of a 10-year veteran.

"The throws were possession type throws," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. "They were throws that were out of his hand fast.

"It was a great way to get (Wentz) into a rhythm early and kind of get him settled in."

Wentz said he loved running the no-huddle right out of the gate.

"It was a lot of fun," he said. "For coach to have confidence in me, we talked about it (before the game and he said) if we get a completion, just stay in it and keep going no-huddle like that.

"It gave me confidence early on and it transferred over throughout the game."

Wentz, who completed 22 of 37 passes for 278 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in his pro debut last week, turned in another solid interception-free performance against the Bears.

With Monday night's win, he became only the fifth rookie quarterback since 1970 to win his first two starts to open the season.

He completed 21 of 34 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown pass to tight end Trey Burton.

"I thought he played well, obviously well enough to win," Pederson said. "He took care of the football and stood in there and made some nice tough throws.

"Was it perfect? It was by no means perfect. But at the same time, he was seeing things really well. And he's commanding the huddle, and the dialogue on the sideline with players and coaches and him is something that a nine- and 10-year vet would do. It just shows his maturity and the ability that he has to play quarterback."

Wentz, who made just 23 starts at North Dakota State before the Eagles took him with the second pick in the draft this spring, clearly wasn't intimidated by the big stage of Monday Night Football.

"It was a cool stage," he said. "Monday Night Football, everything was sweet. But it was (just another) football game and we came out of it with a win."

The Eagles' offense was missing their top pass-catching tight end, Zach Ertz, who sat out the game with a rib displacement. Ertz caught six passes from Wentz in last week's win over the Browns.

But it didn't seem to matter to Wentz. Burton, who came into the game with just three career receptions, was targeted seven times and caught five passes for 49 yards, including the third-quarter touchdown catch that gave the Eagles a 22-7 lead at the time.

Jordan Matthews, who Wentz targeted 14 times against Cleveland, and who had seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown in that game, was targeted nine more times Monday night and had six catches for 71 yards.

It should have been more. Matthews got a step on Bears cornerback Bryce Callahan late in the second quarter, and Wentz laid a ball right in his hands for what should have been a 35-yard touchdown. But Matthews couldn't hang on to it.

Earlier in the first half, Wentz had a 19-yard completion to tight end Brent Celek erased by a holding penalty on center Jason Kelce.

In both instances, the rookie just shook off the bad luck and moved on to the next play.

His 86.6 passer rating wasn't quite as impressive as the 101.0 against the Browns. And he averaged just 5.5 yards per attempt, attacking the Bears with mostly short and intermediate passes.

The Eagles converted just three of 15 third-down situations and weren't very effective in the red zone.

But that means little. The Eagles are now 2-0 and the rookie still hasn't thrown an interception in 71 NFL attempts and that means a lot.

"(Ball security) is something I pride myself on and it's something this offense prides itself on," Wentz said. "Just controlling the ball. Protecting the football. Making smart decisions. Being aggressive, but being calculated. Knowing when to take chances."

The two victories should give him a lot of confidence going into Sunday's big battle at the Linc against the 2-0 Steelers.

"I'm feeling really good right now," he said after the game. "I'm playing with a lot of confidence. I usually feel good even when there are bad plays. Things happen. You just have to keep plugging away."

Somebody asked him what he's most pleased about in his first two NFL starts.

"Two and O," he said. "We've started out 2-0. It's always fun."

@Pdomo

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog