Carson Wentz and Brian Baldinger during taping of their recent show to aired in May on NFL’s Game Pass in its entirety and in various places on NFLNETWORK.

Walsh and Montana. Johnson and Aikman. Belichick and Brady. Pedersen and Wentz.

Do you see the connection?

New head coach and new quarterback joined together to enjoy a Super Bowl victory.

Many have been paired over the years but a few have had immense success.

I recently had the chance to sit down with both Doug Pederson and his star quarterback, Carson Wentz, for two hours each in the film room at NFL FILMS for a new show entitled “Film Sessions.”

The insight gleamed was illuminating.

The following story will highlight some of the football I learned while getting unprecedented time in a natural setting with these two champions.

Carson is fun for all of the right reasons. He loves football the way we all did at that 10-year-old level. The competition, the camaraderie, the joy, and the eagerness to learn is inherent.

He spent tedious amounts of time last spring and summer working on his footwork and on the scramble drill.

That part of the game where a quarterback can extend a play and make create a new play beyond the X’s and O’s of the original intent.

So I put up a play from the Eagles opener at FedEx Field vs. the Washington Redskins. On the season’s third play, a third-and-12 from their own 42-yard line, Carson dropped back, did a 360 degree spin to avoid the rush of four Redskin defensive lineman who all thought they had a chance to sack him.

After eluding the rushers he spotted a deep breaking Nelson Agholor for a 58-yard touchdown.

I asked Carson how it felt to have all of his tedious off season work pay off on only the third play into the season. His response, “gratifying and worth every moment.”

The methodical approach to preparation, practice, preparation, and everything else that goes in to the week for Carson prior to game day is just as much fun as his Sunday exploits.

The longer our session went, the more comfortable he got and the more input he had to plays that we talked about.

The great plays were met by big smiles and what followed was always put in humble terms. Remember the 2nd Redskin game where in to the 4th quarter the Eagles held a 24-17 lead. It was third-and-eight and the Redskin’s were not going to let Carson get comfortable. So they blitzed him.

The back on the play was put in a vulnerable position to picking up the blitzing linebacker. Quickly the pocket collapsed and four defensive players collapsed on Carson.

For a split second he was buried under an avalanche. And then in an instant he escaped and ran for a first down. It was the moment the Eagles new they had broken the sword of their divisional opponent.

Two insights were gleamed from Carson on this highlight play. One was Carson saying “they never had me. No one actually wrapped me up so I just needed to keep the play alive and start running.”

The second insight is more important. He said he knows when they beat a team. It may not always be reflected on the scoreboard, but he can tell when a team is beaten,. When the fight goes out. And he loves that feeling.

There was the two-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffrey vs the Rams to give the Eagles the lead.

It was also Carson’s final play of the season. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time but Carson had torn his ACL.

He knew he was hurt bad, and his left knee was very unstable. He said it never occurred to him to take himself out of the game. There was a drive to finish. It was also his first touchdown pass of his career where he didn’t celebrate with the recipient of his pass. He missed that celebration.

In addition to the football insight I gained, I learned that he has a tattoo, One tattoo, of his charity foundation: AO1.

It is tattooed on the inside of his wrist. His film room at the NovaCare Facility is a 5 X 7 cell block where on himself and the other two QB’s, Nick Foles and Nate Sudfeld go to watch and study their opponents. On one wall is wall paper of the North Dakota Prairies, and on the other wall is wallpaper of the Rocky Mountains.

It’s where the three go to grind tape and learn the nuances of their opponents. Anything fancier would be a waste of time. He brought plays with him from his college days at NDSU that he loves and works and his head coach has agreed to be apart of his playbook.

His head coach, Doug Pederson, is just as insightful as is his quarterback. Doug’s entry to NFL FILMS was as you can imagine, met by many many eager and long suffering Eagle fans.

His first duty on his visit was to be a part of a long standing tradition at NFL FILMS whereby three flags fly daily. Old Glory, NFL FILMS FLAG, and the Super Bowl victorious team and fly the flags daily in tandem. Doug went to the flag raising ceremony and graciously hoisted the Eagles Flag.

It was just another reason for the fans to sing FLY EAGLES FLY.

Once inside the building Doug joined Ron Jaworski and myself in our makeshift film room.

In researching Doug P’s visit for our “Film Sessions,” I had the opportunity to watch three games where Doug was wired by NFL FILMS including Super Bowl 52.

What stands out is his level of collaboration throughout the entire game and how he extracts information from a variety of sources to make his next call. All the time retaining his composure and poise to think clearly in the moment.

The shining example of this came right before the half of Super Bowl 52. Faced with a fourth-and-one at the Patriots one-yard line and the Eagles leading 15-12.

No one attempted more fourth down tries over the past two years than Doug P. 58 tries to be exact.

But none of the others carried the magnitude of this one.

He had an initial play called to Foles. Nick however suggested “Philly Philly.” \Doug had the call on his play sheet for a play from the three- or four-yard line.

They had practiced it many times and with little success. Once hearing the suggestion Doug changed his mind and said to run “Philly Special.” The real name of the play. The coaching point to Trey Burton was to throw it “like a butterfly with broken wings.” Meaning just let it die out there and let Nick run underneath it. The results were Super Bowl highlight forever.

But to make that play live in infamy on has to listen to Doug’s nonstop interaction with coaches and players throughout a game.

Ron Jaworski, Brian Baldinger and Eagles head coach Doug Pederson during taping of “Film Sessions.”

Immediately after every series he visits with his QB. What they saw, what they liked, what they can do. Duce Staley, Frank Reich, and Mike Groh are always nearby with suggestions.

Jeff Stoutland, the offensive line coach, is always making suggestions in the run game. Upstairs on a head set was John DeFilippo with nonstop suggestions of how the corners are playing, how the safeties are lining up and what the blitz tendencies are.

Doug filters all of this throughout the game while maintaining clock management, when to challenge a call and how aggressive to be in his play calling. I can tell you from being around this game that Doug’s approach to total collaboration is rare, Very rare.

The big takeaway from spending a fun amount of time with Carson and Doug is that this relationship is still very much in its infancy. There is a huge mutual trust among-st the two with a great amount of room to grow.

As most fans know by now, the RPO, run pass option, is here to stay. Its the new way to keep great defensive players stymied and to slow their diagnosis of a play down. Both Carson and Doug shared some real knowledge of how they install the plays, but what must be fun for Carson is that this concept has more room tom grow with more options to be be attached.

The Show “Film Sessions” is being edited now and can be watched in May on NFL’s Game Pass in its entirety and in various places on NFLNETWORK.

We will be able to better explain a complicated game by slowing it down and teaching it from the players and coaches who are apart of it. Two of best teachers are the two Eagles that have been mentioned in this article.

Together Pederson and Wentz share one Super Bowl. But the tandems mentioned in the first line of this article share multiple Super Bowls. I can tell you that as valuable as Carson was to the first Super Bowl in Eagle history it is also somewhat hollow to Carson since he wasn’t able to play in the final five games.

Trust that he will rest nor relax until he hoists the Super Bowl Trophy over his head while the Lombardi Trophy Confetti falls all around. *