Foles Helps Lead The Eagles Onward

Maybe only the Philadelphia Eagles maintained full confidence in Nick Foles. The doubters sure got a lesson.

Foles replaced the injured Carson Wentz during a win over the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 10 after Wentz, likely the NFL’s leading MVP candidate, tore an ACL and was lost for the balance of the season.

“The reason we went out and got Nick Foles are for reasons like this,” coach Doug Pederson said in his press conference after that game. “I hate it for Carson, and the season he’s having.”

But Foles, save for a season-ending stinker in a game that didn’t matter in the standing for the Eagles, keeps getting the job done in the playoffs.

Foles led the Eagles on four consecutive drives – three for touchdowns – in their 38-7 beating of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday for the NFC Championship and a berth in Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots. He completed 26 of 33 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns and posted a passer rating of 141.4

Amazingly enough, Foles owns the highest passer rating in NFL playoff history, though his sample is small. In three games (including one with the Eagles in 2013), Foles has completed 72 of 96 passes for 793 yards, with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Passer rating: 116.4.

When Wentz was hurt, the Eagles were given little chance of advancing through the playoffs. And now they’re off to the Super Bowl, riding the ridiculed Foles, a strong running game and a dominating defense.

“Since that point, no one has given us a chance,” Pederson says. “Listen, there’s not a lot – I mean, the guys are going to motivate themselves just based on what they have done and heard for the last month of football.”

Foles started his career with the Eagles in 2012, then played for the St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs before his homecoming.

He is certainly welcome at home.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman