A further review of Wentz's first INT

EAGLES QUARTERBACKS Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez combined for 18 interceptions last season, and if Chip Kelly had been forced to delve into each of them in the detail that questioners demanded of Doug Pederson Monday, following Carson Wentz's first career pick, Kelly probably would have saved Jeffrey Lurie the trouble and just resigned.

But we tend to make much of our "firsts." First child. First car. First career interception from a rookie quarterback who'd seemed incapable of making a bad decision.

On his 135th NFL pass Sunday, first down from the Eagles' 25, a minute and 28 seconds left, down 24-23 at Detroit, Wentz did something he hadn't done all afternoon - he went long, as far as he could throw the ball, to Nelson Agholor running a post route. Agholor was not the first option, and from Agholor's comments afterward, he was surprised by the ball.

Pederson said the coverage took away Zach Ertz, but Jordan Matthews was open on a shallow cross, and would have been a better option.

How did Pederson divide up responsibility for Darius Slay's game-sealing theft, in which Slay timed his leap perfectly while warding off Agholor?

"One, from a quarterback standpoint, late down the middle is obviously not a good thing. That goes all the way back to my days in Green Bay with Brett Favre, talking about that kind of stuff, and those are things you learn. The second thing is when the ball goes up, it's our ball or nobody's ball (meaning, the receiver needs to rip it away). That's the mentality. That's the mindset."

Agholor could have tracked the ball better, Pederson indicated.

"Nelson had an opportunity to make a play there from where the ball was thrown; slightly outside . . . It was a deep throw. But typically it's either our ball or nobody's ball," he said.

Someone asked if Wentz was being too aggressive, if Pederson needs to "rein in" his rookie QB.

"No, not at all. Not at all. No. No, and I won't rein him in," Pederson said. That's three "nos," two "not at alls" and an emphatic negative on the mere thought of such a thing, if you're keeping score at home.

And yes, Pederson was aware that his team needed to move the ball maybe 40 yards in that final 1:28 to give Caleb Sturgis a decent chance of winning the game, it wasn't desperation time. But Wentz took a shot. Pederson doesn't want him shying away from that. He wants those shots, and if they misfire, he wants to use the tape to teach.

"This is his fourth start," Pederson said. "We're beating him up over his fourth NFL start, and he did some great things, now, in this football game. Not one play is going to (define) him or our performance in this football game."

* Zach Ertz's three catches for 37 yards all came in the second quarter. In the future, Carson Wentz should feel free to utilize his most dynamic receiver in the other quarters, as well.

* Whatever point Jim Schwartz was making by sitting Nigel Bradham much of the first half in favor of Mychal Kendricks, it cost him a touchdown. On the third Detroit drive, third-and-11 from Detroit's 37, Matthew Stafford's dump to Theo Riddick wasn't going to get more than half the needed yardage. Then Kendricks left his feet for the tackle and whiffed. Riddick ended up less than a yard short, a distance Stafford easily covered on a fourth-down sneak. Kendricks struck again later in the drive, when he got blocked onto his backside on that little shovel pass to Golden Tate that took the ball to the 1.

* Terrible drop by Dorial Green-Beckham in the end zone, when the Eagles first had the chance to take the lead, following the Matthew Stafford fumble. This cast a pall over Green-Beckham's best day as an Eagle, three catches on four targets for 43 yards, including two on which he broke tackles for extra yards

That for the Eagles, two years in a row, Ford Field would seem more like Ford's Theatre?

Five of Carson Wentz's eight incompletions were passes to Nelson Agholor, who was targeted seven times and came up with the ball twice. Wentz didn't miss connections with any of his other receivers more than once.

Fourteen Eagles penalties (for 111 yards) vs. two Lions penalties (for 18 yards) is an amazing disparity. There were 12 other games this past weekend, going into the Monday night matchup, and nothing like that happened anywhere else. The biggest imbalance was the Vikings getting penalized nine times as they romped over the Texans, who were flagged just four times.

Here are some of the key missteps that helped doom the Eagles in Detroit:

* Detroit's second drive, a pass fell incomplete, setting up a third-and-12, but Destiny Vaeao was offside, the situation swung to second-and-7, and the touchdown drive continued.

* Detroit's third drive, third-and-9 from the Eagles' 19, Matthew Stafford was sacked, but Fletcher Cox tore off Stafford's helmet as a souvenir. Given a first down at the 9, the Lions scored their final TD two plays later. It was a particularly dumb penalty in that Stafford was going down, in the grasp of Connor Barwin, when Cox seized Stafford's facemask. Not what you expect from an All-Pro defensive tackle.

* On the Eagles' field-goal drive just before halftime, they got to the Lions' 32, somehow, after incurring 35 yards worth of penalties that made a touchdown impossible. The first was a bizarre chop-block call on Darren Sproles. You can watch the replay for yourself, Sproles never leaves his feet and is facing the defender the whole time. An Allen Barbre hold added another 10 yards, and finally, a Zach Ertz offensive pass interference call put the Birds in third-and-36 at their 47. Carson Wentz had to hit Ertz for 21 yards with the clock ticking down inside 11 seconds just to give Caleb Sturgis a shot at a 50-yarder, which he hit twice, the first negated by a Lions timeout.

@LesBowen

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