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.
I didn't want Foles for a simple reason. The Eagles offensive line sucks. There have been many quarterbacks that never reached their potential because of a lousy offensive line. If you are a long term Eagle fan, the names Norm Snead and John Reaves should come to mind. Does the name David Carr ring a bell? This kid might have talent, but lets's develop him the right way. Don't throw him out there in this type of situation.— LasVegasScott- Stupid claim. David Carr didn't make it because he wasn't good enough. Plenty of HOF QB's got the snot beat out of them on bad teams to start their career. One time, here in Philly, the Eagles almost killed Troy Aikmen. 11 sacks most of which were Reggie White or Clyde Simmons who both liked to tackle QB's by falling on top of them with all their weight while jamming their shoulder into the turf. Reggie was arguably the dirtiest player on a team with Andre Waters! He consistently tried to intentionally hurt the QB and put them out of the game. He succeeded quite often. Point is, every year 10 QB's enter the league but here are only really 10 good QB's in the whole league out of the hundreds that come and go in a ten year period. — UncleStosh
- This dude's arm is laughable-I see bleeding quackers-lol!— Jabey
- We talk about coaching moves that Reid has made that have been disaster. Has anyone brought of the name of Bobby April? Remember when a few years back the Eagles had a guy name Ted Dasher who was fired only because "Bobby April is the best special teams coach in football".— LasVegasScott
- He was drafted by Reid/Roseman hence he is not good enough to build around. Wipe the slate clean and fire everyone. Better yet, sell the team to someone with guts.— Scope33
- Eagles' fans, you got your wish -- Foles. For me, it could be great. I wagered against him and Eagles in 2nd half. He's no good.— 2smart4philly
- He was drafted by Reid/Roseman hence he is not good enough to build around. Wipe the slate clean and fire everyone. Better yet, sell the team to someone with guts.— Scope33
- so the cowboys offense, defense and special teams all scored tds against eagles.
that means NOBODY is doing a better job.
— bloodymess - Vick = 7 points, Foles = 16 points. I'd go with the guy who can at least help the Eagles score more than 16 points a game. Time for a change. Give this guy some playing time and he will be much better than Vick. In-the-pocket quarterbacks are what win championships in the NFL.— Ron T
- I can take losing if there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I can see now!!— joemani28
- Foles almost had 3 picks. Lol, this is a joke. I want Mike back.— delcodanno
- So you want the guy who is 2nd in the league in Interceptions and FIRST in turnovers...LOL. Foles threw 1 interception that first hit and then bounced off Jackson's hands. Remember last week with Celek's bobble that led to a pick? That wasn't Vick's fault, though, right?
— kjuggs77 - Fole = Kolb until I see different that the way I'll label him.— realtruth
- The Eagles were bad in every phase of the game. They take a lead and the defense let's the cowboys drive 80 yards with mostly running plays. The Eagles take a lead in Q3 and the defense gets burned on the long td to Bryant.
The less than special teams chip in with the punt return for a td.
Let's not forget the Oline. Bell was beaten and then had a penalty on 2 plays in a row. Dunlop wasn't on the field for an extra point which forced use of a timeout.
The Eagles were only down 7....24-17 and no need to rush down the field. There was 13 minutes left.
Reid, Marty and the wide 9 need to go. Bell is a turnstile. The special teams stink. The defense can't stop anyone. The offense can't score enough. If they at least used McCoy more and shortened the game, they'd have a chance but Andy doesn't believe in running, even when his QB is getting killed behind an overmatched offensive line.
It's beyond stale. Been saying for a long time that Reid will never win a super bowl here or anywhere else.
Vick has not been good but the coaching and play calling has been atrocious. Let's not forget the talent evaluation.
How could you name Juan as your DC. How could you draft Watkins?
Reeks of arrogance from an organization that thinks they're good and haven't won anything.— Fan74 - I did not expect Foles to pull off a miracle. He did not look bad; Foles looked like a rookie with a s--t gameplan that did not change one bit from Vick to him. If Reid does not turn his resignation on Tuesday then Lurie has to pull the trigger.
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(Monday is the holiday, and thank you to Veterans...every one of you!)— MidStaterUXB
