Eagles rookie quarterback Nick Foles thrown into the fire
Historians will note that the time was 5:23 pm on November 11, 2012. It was when Nick Foles took his first snap as the Eagles' quarterback.
Eagles rookie quarterback Nick Foles thrown into the fire
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Historians will note that the time was 5:23 pm on November 11, 2012. It was when Nick Foles took his first snap as the Eagles’ quarterback.
Michael Vick was forced out of the Eagles-Dallas game in the middle of the second quarter. He was hit by former Eagles linebacker Ernie Sims while throwing an incompletion, and then examined by trainers on the bench, and then walked into the locker room. The diagnosis was a concussion. The future was unknown.
Foles began warming up as Vick walked to the locker room. After several minutes of that, guard Evan Mathis -- a.k.a. The Last Lineman Standing -- went over and talked with the rookie. Even from a distance, you could tell it was a moment designed to calm down the rookie and to re-state the organization-wide hope that Foles is the future. Then the defense held and Foles entered the game.
It was 5:23 pm.
The future was now.
The Eagles lost, 38-23. Foles’ final numbers: 22-for-32 for 220 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He also lost a fumble on a sack that was recovered for a touchdown. His passer rating was 85.4. Foles was pretty good and he was pretty lucky, except when he was pretty unlucky.
On one play in the third quarter, the protection held and he kept looking downfield until he spotted a wide-open Jeremy Maclin and hit him with a 44-yard touchdown pass. Good.
On another play, early in the fourth quarter, a short pass was intercepted by Dallas’ Anthony Spencer deep in Eagles territory, only to have the play overturned by a holding penalty called on Dallas cornerback Morris Claiborne. The hold occurred approximately a half-mile away from where Spencer made the interception. Lucky.
On a third play, later in the fourth, he threw a little slant to wide receiver DeSean Jackson. The ball was thrown a little behind Jackson, and it clattered off of his hands and was intercepted by the Cowboys’ Brandon Carr and returned 47 yards for a touchdown. Unlucky.
Good, lucky, unlucky, all of it. The Eagles held a 17-10 lead with 4:36 left in the third quarter. With 12:37 left in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys were winning by 31-17. It fell apart that quickly, and everyone had a hand: a 30-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant, a 78-yard punt return touchdown by Dwayne Harris, and the deflected pick-six by Carr. Offense, defense, special teams, all.
All of which leaves us with one question:
Was that it?
The Eagles are now 3-6. They have lost five games in a row. Their playoff chances are slim, even though the division-leading Giants lost another game Sunday. Everyone knows that the most important question hanging over the franchise right now is not so much Reid’s fate -- the record will decide that, and we know where that is headed -- but Foles’ future. If the Eagles aren’t going to the playoffs, they need to have a decent idea by the end of this season if Foles is a guy worth building around.
You want to respect the coaches and the players and the process. You want to give them every chance to succeed this season, because the truth is that the league really is ridiculously inconsistent, and the thing tends to be won not so much by the last team standing but the last team staggering.
So there is the desire, on the one hand, to play it out until it doesn’t make sense anymore. But there is the imperative, on the other hand, to find out about Foles.
Are they at the point where the imperative takes control? The doctors might be the ones who decide that. We don’t know anything about Vick at this point, and concussions are notoriously tricky bits of business.
This might be it, though.
Future, meet now.
haha. "Historians will note that the time was 5:23 pm on November 11, 2012." So sayeth Mr. Hoffman...
Well, at least we're seeing one era transition into another. ...Overall, like what I saw from Foles today. He's a rookie that was thrown into the fire, so you can't expect much more. But he did show some things.— Reality Speaks- Rich, he was "thrown into the fire?"
For weeks, we read that "Folds" couldn't do any worse. Well, he did.
So, he was "thrown." He wasn't expecting it? He wasn't prepared for it?
Anywho, can we just focus on running Reid out of town and let the rest take care of itself? - LW- Giving a clever nickname like 'Folds' to a guy that never played a down in the NFL. How late did you stay up thinking of that one? Your post only confirms what a tool you are. You should try to set the bar a little higher than Mike Vick if you want to compare performances; and he certainly did not do worse than what #7 has done this season. You should also expect more from a 10 year Vet with a 100 million dollar contract, instead of looking to rip on Foles.
— kjuggs77 - It doesn't matter how ridiculously inconsistent the league is this season. The Eagles are toast.— power808
- Lets face it. Vick is all done. To slow, to short and to stupit to be a winning franchise QB. We tried it failed and now its time for the Andy and Vick show to get the hell out of town. It's embarassig to be n Eagles fan right now. They are a laughing stock. Poor drafting and poor coaching leads to 3-6 record and 5 staight losses.— PhillyNH
- At last the final snap for CONVICK in the NFL....what a disgrace that the Eagles ever signed this guy he set the franchise back 5 years both in football terms and in how others viewed what the Eagles stood for...I am so glad this day has finally come ..go hang out with Marcus and the gang— flyers1000
- Wow, Rich, you are actually making sense. However, I don't think Reid will listen to you and I sure didn't want Foles to save Reid's job. Luckily, Reid is in the "I am right about Vick dammit mode." Chip Kelly is ready for the NFL.— mario1239
- Thrown into the fire? it was a rookie that was put into a game to do his job and he failed. He shoulda threw two piks but got a bs call and one came back. He is not anywhere in the same league as vick or will he ever be! The philly fans like to win and they arent doing so, so they always point their fingers at the qb. foles blew his only chance and thats that. I hope you guys get your wish and vick does get traded. He is too good of an athlete to play for a team like this. Joe montana couldnt perform behind this horrific line. Im sick of watching!!— blitzkrieg
- I don't know what kool-aid or purple drank Mike Vick got some of you on, but the guy hasn't had an great game in his last 20 starts. At least we agree that we both want to see Vick traded. Dude played out of his mind for 7 games as an Eagle- that's it. — kjuggs77
- More like he played out of his mind for 7 games while getting about 20 of the "should of picks" and fumbles. It was all a mirage. He fumbled something like 12 times in those games without one being recovered by the opponent. That was just luck. He also literally had 4 dropped Pick 6's and another 4 or 5 dropped INT's. It was one of the luckiest runs I have ever seen. At the end of the season I swore the Eagles were going to dump hi off on someone for a high #1 and laugh all the way to the bank. It just seemed impossible to look at tape of those games and not see that Vick's play wasn't sustainable. It would be like a MLB hitter averaging .300 because he is hitting .450 on ground balls- it's unsustainable, the way a penny won't keep coming up heads forever. — UncleStosh
- Foles is Kolb 2.0. Be thankful that Dallas didn't blitz Foles too heavy. Vick should be glad to get out of Philly. Philly has worst OL, coaches, and fan base.— tony11
- Obama's Team: No Hope and No Change. The Real Loser's? Folks that have bought 14yrs of season tickets to watch a Obama organization, talk alot, with NO results. You would think they would at least give out free cell phones to drink the kool aid followers of this train wreck team. Ask yourself, why would they keep 4 RB's on the roster, and not show the run?! Born, 1960 South Philly, left the joint 1978. Can't watch this laughing stock of a franchise from long distance. Move them to Camden, and make Obama the head coach. At least you'll get "free stuff", but no Hope Nor Change. Philly, the Tough city that Never was. Only fractious statues.....ADDDRRIIAANNNNNNN...Dopes— STIII
- Is Bluto still the coach?— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- I liked what I saw. Threw the ball away when he had too. moved around alittle bit. A couple bad throws that couldve been INTs but he looked promising. Give him a week. The play calling is still bad. Open it up. And play smart football> Field position, special teams are killing us. Fix this team with safety, WR(Trade up), and fix the OLINE!— Apollo Creed
- I'm sick of the darn Cowboys and Cardinals fans in AZ giving me grief bc I'm an Eagles fan. I've always been able to respond that their hard hitting and lay it out but NOT this year... Pathetic— IggleinAZ
