Eagles quarterback Nick Foles completed 23 of 30 passes for 246 yards in Saturday night's 15-10 victory against Atlanta.
By Jack Kerwin | [email protected]
Time to knock it off.
Yeah, we get it. Seriously, we do. Even those of us who don’t crush on athletes and list our top three reasons for breathing as being directly in relation to the health of the Eagles’ forever-promoted franchise quarterback.
But, enough already.
Carson Wentz is out. Nick Foles is in.
Deal with it, and start accepting reality.
No need to distort the facts, ignore what happens and downplay the positives, unless you claim to be an Eagles fan but really don’t want them now to advance to the Super Bowl and – gasp – possibly win it, because then we’re talking about a whole different level of pathetic, mindless and hopeless.
Right here, at this point, we’re just focusing on the lost souls out there who have handed their hearts over to No. 11, so hurt by his season-ending injury that they’ve become such babbling fools as to suggest, if not believe, that a title just won’t mean as much if Wentz isn’t leading the way. That, you know, while it would be great if the Birds won it all, but wouldn’t be all that upset if the Birds fell flat following their 13-win regular season if that meant someday, perhaps, they made another run with Wentz back at the helm.
Only seems right, right?
Uh, maybe to you and the nutjobs out there who keep rationalizing that the only way the team can survive this postseason is if Foles hands off the ball on about 90 percent of the offensive snaps, throws only 2-yard checkdown passes when death is the other option and lets the defense “win the game.”
Yeah, played out just like that in that playoff opener at the Linc, didn’t it?
Look, here’s the reality – if you inserted Wentz’s name in place of Foles’ on the stat sheet from Saturday evening’s 15-10 divisional-round victory against defending NFC champion Atlanta, the vast majority out there would be stumbling all over themselves in trumpeting the young man’s brilliance while the rest would be standing in a corner peeing themselves unable to express their excitement in any other fashion.
There would be no talk about the defense securing next week’s spot in the conference title tilt, either, had it been Wentz, and not Foles, who completed 23 of 30 passing attempts for 246 yards and was unflappably brilliant in baiting the Falcons’ defense to jump offside in the final minute with the Eagles’ backs up against the end zone and needing a little breathing space to, well, breathe.
For heaven’s sake, Foles even displayed “the sun is shining down on me” aura that typically envelopes Wentz by pouncing on his own fumbled handoff near the goal line in the second quarter to set up a fourth-down TD run by LeGarrette Blount and later seeing a sure-fire INT somehow get knee-capped off an Atlanta defender into the arms of Eagles receiver Torrey Smith that resulted in a 20-yard gain leading to a 53-yard field goal right before intermission.
Here’s more reality: the defense collapsed at the most crucial time. As good as it was in limiting the Falcons’ offense to a pair of turnover-aided scores for the game’s first 54 minutes, the tank was empty on Atlanta’s last drive.
Taking over from their own 23 with 6:02 remaining, the visitors, behind quarterback Matt Ryan, churned up clock and yardage, including a fourth-and-six conversion, before suddenly being hit by a massive brain fart upon attaining a first-and-goal from the 9 with 1:19 to go. For some inexplicable reason, Atlanta threw on first down and then attempted a silly shovel pass on second, as if time was running out.
Funny thing is, had the Falcons scored on either play, or, frankly, either of the next two, they likely would’ve left too much on the clock to be secure with the lead.
If that played out, Foles, who’d just gone a combined 11 of 14 for 135 yards on his previous two drives, was looking at close to a minute to position the Birds for a game-winning field goal.
Yeah, get it – you’d prefer Wentz in such a situation.
Even if Foles is the one who succeeds in it.
Yo, enough already.
Time to knock it off.
Yeah, we get it. Seriously, we do. Even those of us who don’t crush on athletes and list our top three reasons for breathing as being directly in relation to the health of the Eagles’ forever-promoted franchise quarterback.
But, enough already.
Carson Wentz is out. Nick Foles is in.
Deal with it, and start accepting reality.
No need to distort the facts, ignore what happens and downplay the positives, unless you claim to be an Eagles fan but really don’t want them now to advance to the Super Bowl and – gasp – possibly win it, because then we’re talking about a whole different level of pathetic, mindless and hopeless.
Right here, at this point, we’re just focusing on the lost souls out there who have handed their hearts over to No. 11, so hurt by his season-ending injury that they’ve become such babbling fools as to suggest, if not believe, that a title just won’t mean as much if Wentz isn’t leading the way. That, you know, while it would be great if the Birds won it all, but wouldn’t be all that upset if the Birds fell flat following their 13-win regular season if that meant someday, perhaps, they made another run with Wentz back at the helm.
Only seems right, right?
Uh, maybe to you and the nutjobs out there who keep rationalizing that the only way the team can survive this postseason is if Foles hands off the ball on about 90 percent of the offensive snaps, throws only 2-yard checkdown passes when death is the other option and lets the defense “win the game.”
Yeah, played out just like that in that playoff opener at the Linc, didn’t it?
Look, here’s the reality – if you inserted Wentz’s name in place of Foles’ on the stat sheet from Saturday evening’s 15-10 divisional-round victory against defending NFC champion Atlanta, the vast majority out there would be stumbling all over themselves in trumpeting the young man’s brilliance while the rest would be standing in a corner peeing themselves unable to express their excitement in any other fashion.
There would be no talk about the defense securing next week’s spot in the conference title tilt, either, had it been Wentz, and not Foles, who completed 23 of 30 passing attempts for 246 yards and was unflappably brilliant in baiting the Falcons’ defense to jump offside in the final minute with the Eagles’ backs up against the end zone and needing a little breathing space to, well, breathe.
For heaven’s sake, Foles even displayed “the sun is shining down on me” aura that typically envelopes Wentz by pouncing on his own fumbled handoff near the goal line in the second quarter to set up a fourth-down TD run by LeGarrette Blount and later seeing a sure-fire INT somehow get knee-capped off an Atlanta defender into the arms of Eagles receiver Torrey Smith that resulted in a 20-yard gain leading to a 53-yard field goal right before intermission.
Here’s more reality: the defense collapsed at the most crucial time. As good as it was in limiting the Falcons’ offense to a pair of turnover-aided scores for the game’s first 54 minutes, the tank was empty on Atlanta’s last drive.
Taking over from their own 23 with 6:02 remaining, the visitors, behind quarterback Matt Ryan, churned up clock and yardage, including a fourth-and-six conversion, before suddenly being hit by a massive brain fart upon attaining a first-and-goal from the 9 with 1:19 to go. For some inexplicable reason, Atlanta threw on first down and then attempted a silly shovel pass on second, as if time was running out.
Funny thing is, had the Falcons scored on either play, or, frankly, either of the next two, they likely would’ve left too much on the clock to be secure with the lead.
If that played out, Foles, who’d just gone a combined 11 of 14 for 135 yards on his previous two drives, was looking at close to a minute to position the Birds for a game-winning field goal.
Yeah, get it – you’d prefer Wentz in such a situation.
Even if Foles is the one who succeeds in it.
Yo, enough already.
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