Eagles confirm quarterback Carson Wentz is out for the season with a torn ACL

Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson confirmed on Monday what team doctors – and fans – feared the most: quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Sunday’s 43-35 win over the Rams in Los Angeles and will miss the rest of the season.

Wentz, who threw four touchdown passes before exiting the game in the third quarter, had emerged as the NFL’s leading MVP candidate. The former North Dakota State star, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, finishes his second pro season with 3,296 yards passing and a Philadelphia single-season record 33 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. He helped the Eagles, who clinched their first NFC East title since 2013 on Sunday, to an NFL-best 11-2 record.

Wentz may have injured his left knee on a dive into the end zone late in the third quarter, when he was sandwiched by a pair of Rams defenders, but Pederson said Monday that his quarterback could have suffered the injury before that play. Wentz remained in the game after his touchdown scramble was nullified by a holding penalty. Four plays later, he threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery. Backup quarterback Nick Foles entered the game in place of Wentz on the Eagles’ next possession.

After the game, ESPN and the Associated Press reported that Eagles doctors feared Wentz tore his ACL. An MRI confirmed those fears on Monday.

The Eagles’ hopes in the playoffs – and of possibly capturing the first Super Bowl title in franchise history – now fall on Foles’s shoulders. The 28-year-old hasn’t been a regular starter since 2015 with the St. Louis Rams. In 2013, Foles threw for 27 touchdowns and two interceptions for the Eagles in Chip Kelly’s offense, but he’s thrown 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions in four seasons since.

“The reason we went out and got Nick Foles are for reasons like this, and for situations like this,” said Pederson, who confirmed that Foles will be the starter.