What they're saying about the Eagles: Week 15
Donovan McNabb fell out of favor in Philadelphia in large part because he could not lead the Eagles back from deficits on a consistent basis. That's why fans have in part taken to Michael Vick, and now Nick Foles, because of their demonstrated ability - in limited samples - to engineer a late-game comeback.
What they're saying about the Eagles: Week 15
Andrew O'Brien, Philly.com Sports Contributor
Donovan McNabb fell out of favor in Philadelphia in large part because he could not lead the Eagles back from deficits on a consistent basis. That’s why fans have in part taken to Michael Vick, and now Nick Foles, because of their demonstrated ability - in limited samples - to engineer a late-game comeback.
Of course, as we saw with Vick, these rousing comebacks are not the sole indicator of a quarterback’s ability to carry a franchise for years. Much more is at play, and though Foles’ ability to lead the Eagles on two touchdown drives in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter was impressive, it certainly doesn’t mean he’s The Next One. It just means he’s not Mike McMahon. Which is something to be proud of in its own right.
Here’s what they’re saying about a team that has not lost since December 2:
From the Philly media
Foles’ 381-yard effort against the Buccaneers was even better than the numbers indicate, Ray Didinger writes after doing the film study. [CSNPhilly.com]
Jason Avant said he’s not impressed by his one-handed catch Sunday. Things he’s also not impressed by: modern medicine, the Grand Canyon, McKayla Maroney’s silver medal. [NJ.com]
Vick and LeSean McCoy, both recovering from concussions, returned to practice but are out for Thursday’s game. [Eagles 24/7]
This article asks if Andy Reid could possibly return if he wins out. It then runs down all the reasons and/or excuses Jeffrey Lurie could use to argue for bringing Reid back, and then tears them down with a single line: “All that said, the city might riot if Lurie doesn’t part ways with Reid.” [CBS Philly]
Yeah, Tampa Bay’s pass defense is the worst in the league, but that doesn’t mean you should consider Foles the second coming of Bobby Hoying. [The 700 Level]
Speaking of Hoying, he’s on Twitter (@BobbyHoying) and sees all the jokes you’re making about him.
From the “Nnamdi Asomugha can’t do anything right” files: Jeremy Maclin hurt his groin while celebrating Sunday’s game-winning touchdown after, you guessed it, Asomugha jumped on him. Maclin should play against the Bengals. [Eagles 24/7]
Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is being considered for the Temple head coaching job. Did they ask Juan Castillo first? [CSNPhilly.com]
Mychal Kendricks moved from strongside linebacker to weakside linebacker against Tampa Bay. The result? His best game since September. [Bleeding Green Nation]
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was almost the Eagles’ defensive coordinator instead of Jim Johnson when Reid was hired. [Delco Times]
Let’s watch Foles’ touchdown run against the Bucs - in slow motion. [Zoo With Roy]
From the national media
Peter King doesn’t want to sound like he’s objective, but he was happy to see the celebration on the Eagles’ sideline after their comeback win:
“I think -- and I don't care how much of an Eagles homer this makes me sound like -- I was happy to see the delight on the Philadelphia sideline as the seconds ticked off on the win in Tampa. That's not an eight-game-losing-streak team, and it doesn't mean Andy Reid is suddenly a lousy coach. It's football. And it's good to see the seeds planted with a young quarterback like Nick Foles bear fruit -- he improvised on the winning drive, inventing a fourth-down-conversion pass in the huddle.” [SI.com]
The Eagles are projected to pick high enough in the draft that you don’t have to purchase ESPN Insider to find out who Todd McShay thinks they will take. In his first mock draft, McShay has the Birds drafting offensive tackle Luke Joeckel from Texas A&M. Oh boy, that’ll be fun. [ESPN]
NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal says Foles had the best performance of a rookie quarterback in Week 14:
“Foles' performance had some Andrew Luck-like characteristics. He was absolutely hammered by the Tampa pass rush, but kept firing. He showed terrific pocket movement to keep plays going. He made a number of "wow" throws on plays that looked over, especially on third down. He even scrambled for two key first downs and a touchdown. Foles had more passing yards (381) than the team had total yards. Think about that.” [NFL.com]
Evan Mathis, Fletcher Cox and DeMeco Ryans represent the Eagles on Dan Graziano’s All-NFC East team. [ESPN]
Foles gave the Eagles their best bit of news in a long, lost season with his two late touchdowns against Tampa Bay. [SI.com]
Where could Vick end up next season? [Football Nation]
From the Cincinnati media
Rookie quarterbacks have done well against the Bengals:
“In a statistic that will likely surprise you, the Cincinnati defense has performed better against veteran quarterbacks than rookie ones this season. Rookie quarterbacks have a passer rating of 98.5 in four starts against the Bengals while veteran quarterbacks have produced a 79.5 rating in nine starts. Rookie quarterbacks have completed 64.2 percent of their throws against Cincinnati this season for an average of 249.2 yards per game. They have thrown five touchdowns and one interception.”
If anyone understands what the Eagles are going through this season, it’s the Bengals. [Dayton Daily News]
A win tonight is a necessity if the Bengals are going to reach the playoffs for the second straight year. [International Business Times]
The Bengals will look for a quick start against the Eagles. [Dayton Daily News]
Rankings
Here’s where the Eagles ranked in polls of varying importance:
Philly.com - 26
ESPN - 27
NFL.com - 27
Sports Illustrated - 27
Pro Football Talk - 26
CBS Sports - 28
FOX Sports - 26
Yahoo! Sports - 28
Is RG III another Michael Vick? He has passed the JaMarcus Russell test of an awful first year, but defenses are just adapting to him. Cam Newton showed great promise last year abd this year defenses have adapted to him. He still makes an astounding play now and then, but over the long haul, hi team is 4-9, the same record the Eagle have but writers are afraid to say the same things about Carolina that they are saying about the Eagles. Stay tuned. These last three games should be fun.— mario1239- Mario, you might want to look at the box scores again. The Redskins are currently 7-6 and in 2nd place in the NFC Least (tie-breaker over Dullass). Eagles are 4-9 and firmly in last place.
Agree on the RGIII assessment though - another running flash in the pan QB that won't win any "big" games.— gdibig - We should try harder to not be stupid. Cam Newtown has a higher passer rating and a higher yards-per-carry average this year than he had last year. He's probably going to end the season with more yards passing, more yards rushing and fewer interceptions than his rookie year. The Panthers could very well end the season with the same record they had last year. What exactly have the defenses figured out? — phillyl0
- This will be a better team than the Buc's. Reid and Co. will have Foles keep it close enough to make us watch the whole thing. 27-21 Bengals.— NC Eagle Fan
- i dont really care what the score is - as long as Foles continues to get better and Bryce Brown get's more opps this week than last - that's all i'm looking for. i'm excited for this game.— 14 years of
- "Foles had more passing yards (381) than the team had total yards."...ouch— 2ndNlong
- Bengals 21-20. Foles leads a two minute drive to put them in FG range only to have Henery miss the game winner.
- why do we care what others say.....the only mouth we are listiening for is Jeffery Laurie....HE is the key....Does he have the stones or the brains to pick a football guy to be GM or will we be led to the cellar by the former JB lackey.....— nuggett
- "he improvised on the winning drive, inventing a fourth-down-conversion pass in the huddle.”
Uh, no, Peter King, he did not "invent" that play. Rewatch the Andy Reid press conference after that game, he said it was a play they had in their book but Foles asked to run it. Dope. Peter King is too busy dropping famous peoples names ("right after the game when Peyton called me on his cell phone...") to get the facts straight.— CoettaGarner25 - Is RGIII another vik? From everything I see, RGIII seems like a really nice person.
So, no.— COskier - Very possible Mario, only RG3 and the skins have improved a ton lately whereas they started slow. Their WRs started catching the ball instead of dropping it like they did first half of season. Also, RG3 is incredibly accurate and I cant say the same for Cam or Vick. Only knock is the injury prone running QB stigma. I think skins have a good QB for the future. I think the game will pass Russell Wilson however, and he will get exposed over the next few yrs, however both of these guys are super high character so they def have the brains to have lasting successful careers. Takes a lot of smarts to play QB these days, much more important than athletic skill.— peteike
- he had a play in mind that was already an option and he picked it to win the game at least that is what i have read never read anything about making up a play that sounds absurd...— defroe
- Every year we keep getting excited a running quarterback and every year the most elite quarterbacks are Tom Brady and Payton Manning, who runs the 40 in slow motion. Even Aaron Fodger only runs when he has no other options. Running quarterbacks think run first. "You don't pay a quarterback to run the ball. You pay him to pass it and direct the team." Herm Edwards. gdibig, Eagles were 10-3, then tanked. Vick was never the same after the Vikings adapted to him and the league followed. You can always shut down a running quarterback. It's harder with a QB who gets the ball out in two seconds.
— mario1239 
The fact that Foles is slooooow may actually be his best asset. It makes him make quick decisions and makes him get the ball out fast too. If he doesn't he's a dead man.— tpizza- CoettaGarner25 you are wrong. The play Peter king was referring to was the pass to Jason Avant that preceded the touchdown pass. Jason Avant even said that Foles changed Avant's pattern to a post pattern from a crossing pattern.
That's the thing that was amazing - both Foles AND Avant were spectacular because Avant was exactly where Foles wanted him to be and the ball was exactly where it had to be - without ever being practiced.— ballhawker - The Eagles could only manage three players on the All NFC East team? Not the All Pro team or Pro Bowl but NFC East? I'm not disputing that I just think it's sad. And quite frankly, I'm not certain how Fletcher Cox made it on to that team. He's done virtually nothing the whole year. He's not a run stopper whatsoever and he very rarely collapes the pocket. The only defense i've heard for his play is that you have to watch the film. Trust me, I can see in live action that he's not doing much. You didn't have to watch the film to see results from Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons, Hugh Douglas or even Andy Harmon.
I'm not willing to write him off since he developed under the chaos of the Washburn regime but he shouldn't be making any "All Anything" teams this year.— guyguy4 - @CoettaGarner25, Foles did draw up the pass play to Avant getting them to the 2 yard line. He chose the TD pass play on the sideline. Stop trying to put people down when you don't know all the facts, you look like a tool.— cous76
- "Todd McShay thinks they will take. In his first mock draft, McShay has the Birds drafting offensive tackle Luke Joeckel from Texas A&M." My choice for weeks. 2nd round a CB. Two picks in the first 37!— 4thand10
