Don't dwell on Foles' first half, give him credit for Eagles' comeback

SO, WHAT was Nick Foles seeing during that horrendous first-half performance in the Eagles' come-from-behind season-opening victory over Jacksonville?

Since the Birds then went on to score 34 straight points, it was easy for Foles to talk about team unity, keeping confidence and sticking together to rally to a 34-17 victory.

Ultimately, that was the most important thing, but it's hard to ignore how Foles looked as if he didn't even belong on the field for the first 30 minutes of that game.

His saying, "I just made mistakes" and "I really just have to get the ball out a little faster" would be "as simple as that" if it really were as simple as that.

Not to disparage him but Foles doesn't have a big enough resumé as a NFL quarterback yet to be granted the courtesy to leave it at "it's as simple as that."

Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers are quarterbacks who can get away with saying it's as simple as that.

With Foles having only 17 career starts, you want to delve a bit deeper into what happened out there during that first half and why you should not worry that it won't happen again on Monday when the Eagles play at the Indianapolis Colts.

All you can do is ask the questions, however. As Foles showed yesterday, you can't make a guy answer in a way you would like.

Foles wasn't evasive, but even after 3 days of film breakdown, the third-year quarterback offered little more insight than he did immediately after the Jacksonville game.

"I think we just didn't execute," Foles said. "I wasn't really doing a good job of stepping up in the pocket, and the o-line was giving me good pockets to step up into.

"It's just one of those things where you keep playing. You keep looking at pictures; you keep talking to one another; you keep communicating; you keep working; you keep trying to figure it out.

"Once I started stepping into the pocket, we started getting some completions. We were able to run the ball, and things started clicking at the right time."

Still, what was Foles seeing that had him looking so hesitant and confused?

Only he knows, and apparently, that's how it will remain.

Again, in the big picture, that became irrelevant, because once Foles began to see, he was electric.

In the second half against Jacksonville, Foles was 15-for-21 for 183 yards with two touchdowns.

It was about as a dramatic turnaround in play that you will see.

In the first half, "Bad" Nick clutched the ball as if it were the Hope Diamond. His indecision about making throws was visualized by his constant pump-faking, which led to both of his first-half fumbles.

In the second half, "Good" Nick looked like the confident field general who led the NFL in passer rating last season and became MVP of the Pro Bowl.

"It was just important to step up in the pocket, because there are lanes there," Foles said of what he learned most from studying the films and comparing the first and second halves. "Obviously, you have to recognize the defense, but I think just stepping up into the pocket and staying in rhythm.

"You stay in rhythm and keep delivering the ball. You continue to play and play relaxed. You go out there like it is second nature and just play the game."

Eagles fans are so desperate for a Super Bowl championship that the word patience has been blotted out of the dictionary.

Foles has thus far offered so much hope that he isn't afforded the luxury of being what he is - a young quarterback who is still learning the NFL and will still make mistakes along the way.

Sometimes, as in the first half against Jacksonville, those growing pains will be difficult to look at but they are part of the process to becoming a solid NFL player.

While it is natural to concentrate on what happened in the first half, the way Foles responded in the second half is significant.

It might well be the biggest point to take out of the first game.

As he did last year against the Oakland Raiders after his horrendous performance against Dallas, Foles displayed the impressive quality of being able to fight through adversity and pull things back together.

"If you look at the stats, there were a lot of incompletions there," Foles said, "but I know what it takes to fix those.

"I was definitely inaccurate on some throws. I just had to play through them. When I watched the film, it kind of excites me in the sense that this is correctable.

"It's not something where you look at it and say there is nothing you can do about it. All of the stuff I saw on film is very correctable. We worked on that today, and we'll continue to work on it. There is always something to correct, so you work on it to get better."

Columns: ph.ly/Smallwood

Blog: ph.ly/DNL