Wentz Wagon? Bandwagon? Eagles say climb aboard | Marcus Hayes

The Wentz Wagon is now a bandwagon. Doug Pederson's driving. The Eagles' start-to-finish, 34-7 demolition of the visiting Cardinals left them at 4-1. Carson Wentz played his 21st game, and his finest: 304 yards of pyrotechnics, with four touchdown passes, two of them long and lethal. The legend of LeGarrette Blount grew during a 37-yard run that made the ground tremble. Tight end Zach Ertz continued his march to the Pro Bowl, with six more catches for 61 more yards and his second touchdown of the season. The defense, filled and patched and undermanned, muzzled future Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald and surrendered its fewest points in 14 games.

The best quarterback in franchise history was thrilled.

"I think they have everything they need to make it to the playoffs," said Donovan McNabb.

He visited the jubilant locker room on Sunday, a retired hero. McNabb knows about playoff proficiency. He directed the Eagles' last nine playoff wins.

McNabb knows about Pederson, too. Pederson mentored McNabb in 1999, McNabb's rookie season, the beginning of the McNabb era, which included five trips to the NFC Championship Game and one trip to the Super Bowl. It also included McNabb's coming-out game, when McNabb passed for more than 300 yards and the Eagles scored 38 points in a home win over Atlanta. That was the fifth game of McNabb's second season, which ended with a trip to the playoffs.

Sunday was the fifth game of Carson Wentz's second season. The playoffs seem well within reach.

"I think the sky's the limit," Pederson said.

The fast start this year is a stunning development for a team that went 2-9 after a 3-0 start in 2016. That slide raised questions about Pederson's pedigree: only five years as a position coach or coordinator, all with Andy Reid, who called his own plays. For the moment, those questions seem meritless.

The Eagles are, without question, without peer in the NFC East. The Cowboys seem lost; or, at least, searching. The Eagles beat Washington and the winless Giants, whose bell cow, Odell Beckham Jr., broke his ankle Sunday.

The Eagles' weaknesses — offensive line and defensive backs — have become strengths. They overwhelmed the Cardinals without defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, their best player, who missed a second straight game with a calf injury. They lost right tackle Lane Johnson for the second half Sunday to a head injury, and he's their best offensive player. They played without utility back Wendell Smallwood, who hurt his knee last week, and they haven't had No. 1 cornerback Ronald Darby since the first quarter of Week 1.

Still, they win. That indicates good coaching.

Before the season started former Eagles personnel man Mike Lombardi, now an analyst for The Ringer website, called Pederson the least qualified NFL head coach he'd ever seen.

"I don't think anybody in this locker room co-signed that," said safety Malcolm Jenkins. "I knew what we had coming into this season."

More than anything else, Jenkins and everybody else in the locker room knew Wentz's potential, which on Sunday blossomed to its fullest so far. His passer rating, 128.3, was the highest of his career. It reflected 21 of 30 passes completed, 301 yards and those four touchdowns. He had never thrown more than two touchdown passes in a game. He threw an end-zone interception, but, well, he isn't Aaron Rodgers. Not yet.

Most significant, Wentz conquered his deep-ball demons. He found Torrey Smith for a 59-yard touchdown at the end of the first quarter, then dropped a 72-yard bomb on Nelson Agholor (yes, Nelson Agholor) in the third. It was the prettiest play since Wentz and Pederson landed in Philadelphia last year.

"We can be dynamic," Wentz said, practically drooling. "We can be explosive."

They can, against all odds. Even Pederson acknowledges that he would not have predicted this surge to proficiency, all things considered.

"Everybody aspires to be a good football team," he said, "but the way we're doing it, with the amount of backup players in these first five weeks, is a testament to the coaching staff and the players in that dressing room."

Those players and that staff must next contend with the absurdity of Thursday Night Football, in which teams are asked to play on three days' rest instead of their normal six days. The Eagles visit Carolina, which also moved to 4-1 on Sunday.

"The key is just staying focused on our job," Pederson said. "Staying focused on our next game."

They won't have time to gloat. Blount, who finished with 74 yards on 14 carries, said he planned to start watching Panthers tape Sunday night. That sort of dedication might not matter, even as good as the Eagles have shown themselves to be; especially if Johnson's head can't handle the trip.

Two years ago the Panthers were headed to the Super Bowl. The Eagles were headed to their third coach in five seasons. Thursday should not be considered a referendum. The Birds are still crippled. But they're healing.

"We've got guys coming back. We know what we're capable of doing. The type of potential we have," said linebacker Nigel Bradham. "Like Malcolm said: We're the team to beat."

They certainly look like it. The Bandwagon heads south in four days. Get on board.

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