NFL | Time for Philly to start grasping just how good Foles really is

Nick Foles

Carson Wentz

FOOD 4 THOUGHT

KEEPING IT 100
Carson Wentz has 29 NFL starts. He has posted a passer rating of 100 or better in 9 of those – 31 percent of his games. In 43 NFL starts, including four playoff games, Nick Foles has posted a passer rating of 100 or better in 18 of those – 42 percent of his games.

BIG NUMBERS
Wentz, 18-11 as the Eagles’ starting QB, has 8 games of 300 yards passing and 6 games with 3 or more passing touchdowns; Foles, 20-11 as the Eagles’ starting QB, including 3-1 in the postseason, 10 games of 300 yards passing, including 3 of 400 yards, and 8 with 3 or more passing TDs.

CAREER WATCH
Wentz’s career passing stats with Eagles: 644-of-1047 (61.5 percent), 7,078 yards, 49 touchdowns, 21 interceptions, 6.8 yards per attempt; Foles career passing stats with Eagles: 707-of-1133 (62.4 percent), 8,456, 59 TDs, 20 INTs, 7.5 ypa.

BEST vs. BEST
In his second NFL season, Wentz threw for 3,296 yards, 33 TDs and 7 INTs, completing 60.2 percent of his passes and posting a 101.9 rating, while directing the Eagles to an 11-2 record in 13 starts; in Foles’ second NFL season, he threw for 2,891 yards, 27 TDs and 2 INTs, completing 64.0 percent of his passes and posting a 119.2 rating, adding 3 rushing TDs, while directing the Eagles to an 8-2 record in 10 starts.

​by Jack Kerwin  |  ydkjack1@gmail.com

Upon further review …

Nick Foles sets franchise record for passing brilliance one season.

Saves a Super Bowl run this season with a playoff performance for the ages, capped by an MVP-winning effort on the NFL’s biggest stage a month ago.

Endures trials and tribulations between those high points, remaining a stand-up, team-first guy throughout it all.

Yet, as it stands today, the majority of Eagles fans and self-proclaimed Einsteins who “know what’s best” for the franchise wouldn’t even bat an eye if they could get a “high 2” and, if we’re lucky, a lower-round draft pick for Foles. They might even wet themselves if some cockamamie, kitchen-sink package with him tossed in would yield a jump into – gasp – the first half of the opening round next month.

Yo, bud, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Oh, and thanks..

Ugh. For all the short-lived, in-the-moment support Foles received, tentatively before SB 52 and unabashedly for a minute after it, the fact of the matter is that the prevailing sentiment in and around Philly and beyond was that the veteran quarterback essentially stumbled into a situation where he wouldn’t be asked, or needed, to lead the charge.

Doesn’t matter that it played out that he did just that. Hey, can’t let reality get in the way of the pre-programmed narrative dancing around in everyone’s head, right? After all, this is Carson Wentz’s team. We mustn’t mess around with that. Heaven forbid …

The hold that Captain of the Ginger Kids has over the masses around here, and, quite frankly, the media locally and nationally is astounding.

Yo, am sold on him, too. When he’s healthy, he’s a whirling dervish of make-something-outta-nothing talent who seems capable of carrying the Eagles to the promised land someday. Here’s the rub, though: Foles already did that, and, sit down for this, he dominated every bit as much as you ever dreamed your beloved Carson could in doing so.

They’re different players, with different skill sets. Wentz is a much more determined-looking athlete who utilizes his all-around physical tools, and physicality, to succeed. Foles is a far better passer. Sorry, those thinking otherwise are either blind, unable to accept the truth or completely unaware of the concepts of touch, leading receivers, being “on time” and a spiral.

Wentz can handle a vast amount of info and not get bogged down by it. Foles cannot. He needs to read and react as quick as possible.

Yes, to say Foles would have guided the Eagles to an 11-2 start during the regular season in 2017 as Wentz did would be foolish. Almost as foolish as it would be to assume that had Wentz not gotten hurt that he would have led the Birds to the title just as Foles did.

Thing is, Foles already had shown he could handle postseason pressure. We’ll see what Wentz does when he gets there. Not for nothing, but this “all in” with the anointed franchise QB regardless of injury, performance or what have you is beyond the teenage crush silliness stage.

That Foles trade talk permeating every Eagles conversation now is fueled by one thing – fear of disturbing the delicate genius behind center … should he even return there this fall, pre-surgery level or not.

Ridiculous. If he’s the player most profess him to be, having Foles as a backup, or even competition, wouldn’t be a deterrence. It’d be a driving force.

So, instead of giving our current fleeting hero the bum’s rush, might be best to embrace what he’s already proven he can do. Before he’s doing it elsewhere, and doing it better than the guy you chose to be your savior.