Carson Wentz revenge game? Why Vikings QB may (or may not) be extra motivated to beat Eagles in Week 7

The stage is set in Minneapolis. The Philadelphia Eagles are landing in the Midwest. And it's Carson Wentz's time to shine.

No, it is not February 2018. But even if it were, that wouldn't be true. That was supposed to be Wentz's time to shine. It had seemingly been written in the stars: A Midwestern kid ascending to MVP material, locked and loaded to lead the Eagles to their first Lombardi Trophy in the same stadium that housed his childhood team, the Minnesota Vikings.

Except we all know the story: Wentz's magic ran out the second he tore his ACL in December of that breakout 2017 season. Well, a few seconds later, to be precise; he stayed on the field and threw a touchdown with ligaments shredded, then walked to the locker room under his own power, refusing to believe such a wrench had been thrown into his superstar arrival.

No matter. By the end of the year, with green confetti falling, it was Nick Foles, his backup and improbably poised replacement, who got the glory. It was Foles, not Wentz, who outdueled Tom Brady, the most accomplished quarterback of all time, to upset the New England Patriots dynasty. And it was Foles, not Wentz, who got a statue outside Lincoln Financial Field, which stands to this day.

Eight years later, it's Wentz who's finally primed to get his shot. The stakes are much lower. This is Week 7, not the Super Bowl. He is a backup-turned-starter himself, trying to quietly write his own Foles story as the fill-in for the Minnesota Vikings' injured J.J. McCarthy. But it's a shot nonetheless, and the way Wentz's career spiraled after his exit from the Eagles, that's a minor miracle in itself. The fact it may culminate on Sunday, with Wentz wearing purple against Philly on the turf where that confetti fell, simply adds some Hollywood flair to the proceedings.

The NFL is as much a reality show as a sports league. We tune in for the touchdowns, but we really want the drama. And nothing moves the needle quite like a comeback story. Or a revenge game. Both classifications may fit the bill for Wentz on Sunday. This is a guy who was briefly considered one of the top gunslingers in the sport. The next big thing. The indefinite face of the Eagles. Before long, he was a journeyman castoff, ribbed across social media for working out with an assortment of apparel from his countless pitstops: a streaky Colts run here, a dismal Commanders stretch there, a couple of backup gigs with the Rams and Chiefs to follow.

Wentz insists, as any media-trained quarterback would, that Sunday's matchup with the Eagles, the team that drafted, paid and eventually traded him, means little more than any other game. He last took a snap with the Birds a half-decade ago. Only a select few players remain from the 2020 Eagles team that saw Wentz benched for current starter Jalen Hurts. In other words, Wentz is so far removed from his admitted Philly "roller coaster" that it'll be easy to tune them out as just another opponent. Or will it?

There's a reason Wentz tends to avoid the details of his meteoric rise and fall in the City of Brotherly Love. For one, why dwell on the past? The present is in Minnesota, where he's been on a game-by-game leash as the gutsy, if occasionally reckless, emergency starter while McCarthy heals a bad ankle. But another reason is that his Eagles breakup was thoroughly complicated. So complicated, in fact, that years later, it's still impossible to say one side was entirely right or wrong in the way the pairing soured.

Here's the truth: Wentz struggled to replicate his 2017 dynamism after returning from his knee injury. He also did it with a mostly subpar group of weapons and an increasingly stale offense directed by coach Doug Pederson, who experienced a similar flameout with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Wentz didn't always help his cause by holding the ball in hopes of playing hero, only to lose the ball at an alarming rate by his final season in green. He also had the unique challenge of trying to retain and maintain the support of an avid fan base and forward-thinking front office, despite signing a lucrative contract.

The Eagles, remember, literally built a statue of his replacement after the Super Bowl. They also spent an early draft pick on Hurts, a potential successor, one year after Wentz helped guide the team back to the playoffs. Should those have been death knells in his Eagles career if he were, as many critics argued he should've been, more mentally resilient and motivated to prove the naysayers wrong with smarter play?

On one hand, all indications from credible reports are that Wentz is the one who facilitated the final departure from Philly. The 2020 season ended in turmoil, with young Hurts thrust into the lineup by a burnt-out Pederson, and Wentz had had enough. He preferred the fresh start. A clean slate. In that way, looking back, it's hard to say he can enter Sunday's matchup with the Eagles -- who are quite removed from the Pederson regime, by the way -- with justified disdain for Philly. They granted him what he wanted, after all: an escape from the once-promising but drama-tinged marriage. But could the Eagles have done more to support him while he was around? Might he be motivated, all these years later, to prove he was always worth a greater investment?

Who are we kidding? This is football. Whether or not players say it, almost all of them are fueled by an innate desire to win. To trample the competition. To achieve what the skeptics say they cannot. Who cares if some of the doubts are self-created? When the ball is kicked, the lights are bright, the crowd is roaring and the pass rush is live, you can bet Wentz is going to feel a little extra juice when he's rifling the rock against a team from Philadelphia with wings on its helmets.

His Eagles career will always be remembered as a what-if story: so much talent, so much energy, and such an undeniable role in arguably the most magical season in team history, yet all of it clouded in part by the fact two sides couldn't resolve their awkward differences once the goings got tough. Years and years from now, that will probably remain the story. The Eagles have certainly made out just fine since: Hurts turned out to be the right bet, bringing unmatched composure and clutch fortitude to the position, helping the Eagles reach two Super Bowls (and win one) in a span of three years. Granted, he was afforded much sturdier setups, with all-world weapons like Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown, but his own persona helped steady the entire ship.

As for Wentz? This very moment, on this particular Sunday in October, he has a chance -- perhaps his last -- to put a little footnote, a little epilogue, on his own saga as the franchise quarterback. Can big No. 11 -- the misunderstood hero and/or his own worst enemy -- remind Eagles faithful of the otherworldly gifts and gusto that once elevated Philadelphia? Can he take his biggest step yet to becoming the Vikings' unexpected darling, even en route to his own unlikely postseason run?

The stage is set in Minneapolis. The Philadelphia Eagles are landing in the Midwest. And it's Wentz's time to shine.