Feeling Better About Foles

Posted: October 11th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 79 Comments »

I felt good about Nick Foles on Sunday, but I wasn’t blown away by his performance. There were a few plays where he held the ball too long. Sometimes he was too casual in regard to the pass rush. He also missed the throw to Riley Cooper that should have been a pretty easy TD.

Re-watching the game earlier this week made me feel better.

* Nick moved around well in the pocket. He moved upon the play where he hit Jason Avant over the middle. That was a good throw on the move. Nick made another good throw on the move when he hit LeSean on the sideline.

* Nick threw the ball down the field. He hit Celek for a 25-yard TD. He tried to hit DeSean on a go route down the right side, but there was PI on the CB. Nick missed Cooper down the left side. He hit DeSean on a corner route for a gain of 21. These aren’t explosive plays, but they’re more high percentage. Throwing the ball 15 to 25 yards down the field is a good way to stretch the defense in a reasonable way.

* Nick got 2 TD passes when his receivers were covered. In today’s NFL, one of the most important traits for a QB is being able to “throw a guy open”. A receiver can be covered, but if the QB throws the ball in the right spot, his receiver can make a play on the ball. This takes accuracy. This takes vision. This takes anticipation. And this takes guts. Foles showed all of those traits on Sunday.

* Nick played good situational football. On the 2-minute drive, he threw short, quick passes and moved the chains. There was a 3rd/10 play in the 2nd half. Nick held the ball as long as he possibly could. He knew that someone could come open at the last minute. It was worth it to hold that ball. There was a 3rd/17 play where Nick just hit DeSean with a short crossing route. That play didn’t come close to a 1st down. The Eagles led 19-14 and were pinned inside the 20. Nick knew that getting some yards would help the field position situation. Rather than throwing the ball for a 1st down and taking a chance, he concentrated on getting some yards to help STs and the defense.

Listen, I still have the concerns that some of you have. I see Nick’s physical limitations. His arm isn’t anything special. He’s not a running threat. He doesn’t wow you in any way, shape or form. But I’m seeing progress.

I really do hope Nick plays on Sunday. I want to see what he can do. I’m not trying to hand him Vick’s job, but we do need to see Nick in action so that Kelly, Roseman and Gamble can figure out how he fits into the team’s long term plans. Kelly says he thinks Nick is an NFL starter. My question is whether he can be a good starter and help lead a team to the postseason.

Tampa is 13th in yards allowed and 8th in scoring defense. They play hard and do a good job on defense. The Giants defense gave Nick lots of time to sit in the pocket. He found open receivers on a regular basis. The Bucs offer a good challenge. If they show Nick’s limitations, that’s fine. We need to know what he can/can’t do. If he lights them up, that’s even better. The only bad outcome is for the Eagles to get to January and not have a decent idea of where Nick projects in the future. We don’t need answers, but it would help to have some evidence of what he can/can’t do with no longer being a rookie, but still having to deal a new scheme and offensive staff.

I hope the answers are good, but I’m fully prepared for bad news. Not knowing is the hardest part.

* * * * *

Mike Vick said today that he’s still dealing with the hamstring injury. It might be Sunday before Vick knows if he can or can’t play. Vick is preparing. It feels like he hopes to play, but knows that he shouldn’t. Just my take.

* * * * *

The Giants are 0-6.

I said…the Giants are 0-6.

Is anyone else freaked out by this?

* * * * *

My guess is that Dave has heard the Eagles have no interest in trading for Byrd. Sometimes he speculates, but this feels like info more than opinion.

I totally get the Eagles possibly passing on Byrd. This isn’t a great Eagles team. Do you trade for a guy who is nearing the end of his prime when the team isn’t a player or 2 away from being terrific?

No one questions whether Byrd could help. Is he worth a steep price (early draft pick) and big money? This is a question of timing and resources. Championship caliber teams add the right players at the right time.

We’ll see what happens.

_


79 Comments on “Feeling Better About Foles”

  1. 1 Anders said at 1:33 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I like what I have seen out of Nick Foles this year.

    Would I love a guy like Luck or Rodgers? Yes, but those guys are rare. You do not need to be able to run like them if you got good pocket mobility and Foles got that. You also do not need a cannon for an arm if you can throw with anticipation.

    Look at Peyton Manning, while his arm isnt Chad Pennington weak, one could see its limit on his interception against the Cowboys, but that does not matter because Manning knows where and when too throw the ball and got good enough mobility in the pocket to manipulate the pass rush..

    Also this

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMg5MItYjao

  2. 2 eagleyankfan said at 7:42 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Anders — you are comparing apples and oranges. On this board — we only rate Vick by what he does well(scramble/pretty throws). We never EVER talk about the things he does not do well(read defenses/sees open wr’s/misses open wr’s/never slides/stinks in the red zone etc etc etc). Vick does not have any limitations. Also — every other QB in the NFL(and the history of the NFL) you HAVE to be able to run AND you MUST have a rocket for an arm. Otherwise your team is not successful.

  3. 3 anon said at 11:40 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    All we talk about on every board are Vick’s and Foles respective limitations, especially in the past week. Manning is an example of a great QB that doesn’t have a rocket arm — name another, Alex Smith? I think one of the most important qualifications for scouts is whether the QB has an NFL arm.

  4. 4 eagleyankfan said at 11:44 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    How was Phil Simms arm? There at a TON of successful, not mobile qb’s. I’ll take accuracy over a cannon any day of the week….

  5. 5 Anders said at 11:48 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Joe Montana or Tom Brady early in his career, both won by not turning the ball over and have good accuracy. Both also won with historic great defenses (same with Phil Simms)

  6. 6 xeynon said at 11:53 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Kurt Warner, Joe Montana, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Ken Anderson… there have been plenty of good-to-great NFL quarterbacks who didn’t have rocket arms. A guy needs incredible touch, accuracy, anticipation, and knowledge of the game to make up for mediocre arm strength, but it can be done. Foles is going to have to consistently demonstrate these attributes if he’s going to be an effective long-term NFL starter, and while he’s done well against bad opposition, we’ve yet to see him succeed against a good pass defense. Sunday should be a good test.

  7. 7 Sean Scheinfeld said at 1:16 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Pure arm strength is pretty far down the list, and results bears this out. An NFL arm is a much lower standard than a rocket arm. If a rocket arm were so important, Jay Cutler, Vick, and this week’s opponent Mike Glennon would be amongst the best in the NFL. The reason none of them are and never will be is that they are severely lacking in QB skills. Vick and Cutler can go long stretches where they look the part because of their tremendous natural gifts (especially in Vick’s case), but that’s ultimately a losing proposition if one of them is your quarterback.

  8. 8 Jack Waggoner said at 2:42 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Looking forward to seeing what Foles can do this week.

    As far as “throwing guys open”… the other thing that requires is trust in your receivers. You’re trusting a receiver to be in a spot that you haven’t thrown to yet. If he’s not on the same page, you could put up an interception. I suspect that a few of Eli’s INT’s this year were a result of receivers not going where they were supposed to.

  9. 9 TheRogerPodacter said at 10:48 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    thats definitely where some of Eli’s INTs came from. just look at this past TNF game. there was a pick 6 where Randle just kept running downfield.
    someone did something they weren’t supposed to on that play – either the QB or the WR.

  10. 10 Stormbringer said at 4:00 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I’d like to see Kelly give Johnson or Maehl more snaps in lieu of Cooper. The other WR besides DJax needs to be a credible threat. We already know Johnson is good in space. If Kelly is concerned about having Johnson out there as he is even smaller than DJax then give Maehl a crack.

    I wouldn’t mind seeing Ertz out there more either as he seems to make a play whenever they toss it in his direction.

  11. 11 TheRogerPodacter said at 10:47 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    honest question – how big is Maehl? i know very little about the guy so i don’t know if he is the size of D Johnson, Cooper, or somewhere in between.

  12. 12 Anders said at 11:00 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    He is 6’0 and 180 pounds

  13. 13 Call Me Carlos the Dwarf said at 12:24 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    AKA 3 inches shorter than Cooper and 40 pound lighter.

  14. 14 BlindChow said at 2:38 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    The internet says Maehl’s 40 time was 4.62, and Riley’s was 4.53. So he’s shorter, lighter, AND slower. Trifecta!

  15. 15 Stormbringer said at 3:59 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    If I recall though, Maehl was incredibly quick on one of the shuttle runs. So, he could be somewhat Welker like where he is actually slow but very fast in and out of his breaks.

    I’m kind of down on nothing but 40 time for Cooper as I see a lot of long striders who aren’t ‘sudden’ post a decent or good 40 but can’t get any seperation as they only have one gear.

  16. 16 GEagle said at 6:53 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    The value in Air Meahl is special teams while having the ability to play both out wide and in the slot which isn’t all that common on our team

  17. 17 Ps said at 4:54 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Which is more devastating? Fletcher Cox right after Dontari Poe, or Brodrick Bunkley right after Haloti Ngata? We must be the least successful franchise in the draft in the last 3-5 years. Kendricks, Maclin, Allen, Curry, Watkins, Jarrett, Marsh, Cox… all disappointing… Only hits? Desean, Kelce, McCoy, Boykin

  18. 18 Cafone said at 5:04 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Cox, Kendricks and Curry are disappointing? Luckily people like you don’t get to make roster choices or none of our draft picks would ever work out since you would pronounce them busts before they even get through their second seasons.

    And Maclin has averaged over 850 yards a season for 4 years as a second option. Yeah, I guess he’s a bust too.

  19. 19 kevinlied said at 6:48 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Never appreciated Maclin until watching Cooper consistently fail to get separation this year.

    There’s a lot I disagree with here. Even if Poe were a schematic fit when the Eagles chose Cox (he wasnt) and if Poe has the better career (who knows?), those are bad reasons to kill the Cox pick. You can’t expect a team to draft the guy on the board who goes on to have the best nfl career every time it picks. If a team gets solid value most of the time and hits a home run every so often, it has done a good job. Id also argue that it’s unfair to criticize a team when it misses on a guy that the scouting community and knowledgeable draft analysts thought was taken in the right range (unless missing on those guys is part of a trend or the player in question is a 26 year-old interior lineman with little football experience taken in the first round). The picks that I still get mad about are the reach-busts like Jarrett and Marsh.

  20. 20 Christopher Miller said at 9:25 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I am baffled at how not drafting guys who were taken before us makes us the least successful. Because we did not trade up?

  21. 21 TheRogerPodacter said at 10:45 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    well, in hindsight, we could have picked all 200+ players in the draft and kept the ones that succeeded, right?

  22. 22 Jason A Hines said at 10:22 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Let me say first that I guess it’s arguable to say that the Eagles haven’t drafted well in recent years. However, before we just hand them the award for least successful team in the draft, we should at least note that until last year, the Eagles never had a pick in the top 10. I say that to prove that the Eagles were never close to being the worse team in the league until last year. It seems to me that if you have been putting a viable product out on the field, we should at least look at teams that have generally been worse than the Eagles over that span and see how they draft. You usually don’t draft well and yet pick in the top ten regularly. I’d be interested to see what you think of these teams drafts over the last few years. http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/raiders http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/jaguars http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/browns

    You know what this really showed me though? Everyone drafts poorly – it’s such a crap shoot….

  23. 23 Mac said at 10:24 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Draft is a crap shoot for the most part. That’s why I’m almost always on the “lets get more picks” bandwagon.

  24. 24 BlindChow said at 10:23 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Poe & Ngata wouldn’t have fit the scheme when they were drafted. They’d be perfect for it now, though…

  25. 25 TheRogerPodacter said at 10:44 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    this.
    you have to look at the fit of the player for the season they were drafted.

  26. 26 Anders said at 11:02 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Fletcher Cox had 5.5 sacks as a rookie.

    Go watch the Giants or Steelers drafts

  27. 27 anon said at 11:32 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    we weren’t a 34 when poe was drafted i think cox was a great choice.

  28. 28 Vick Must Go said at 1:11 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    I’m with you on this one… to a certain degree. Our last 3-5 years of the draft has been terrible. And for Cafone below, yes… Cox Kendricks and Curry have been disappointing. He never said busts, he said disappointing. Would you suggest that a high 2nd round draft pick should only be playing 5-6 snaps a game, when he dresses? Look at some of the other high LB draft picks and compare to Kendricks: Lavonte David, Tatupu, etc. High draft pick LBs are known to come right in and compete for rookie of the year. Not scrounge around hoping for their first forced fumble 1.5 years later.

  29. 29 Cafone said at 5:07 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I think it may be interesting to chart the drop rate and contrast Vick and Foles. Vick has a missile launcher for an arm, but it may turn out that Foles’ softer touch creates an easier ball to catch. Of course it may also lead to more pick-6s on those throws across the field to the opposite sideline.

  30. 30 eagleyankfan said at 9:52 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I think it’s more of putting the ball in place for the wr’s to make a play. T-Law made that excellent point above. A qb needs to be able to do both depending on the coverage.

  31. 31 Daniel Norman Richwine said at 5:39 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Nick has one thing Vick does not: a realistic understanding of his own limitations.
    I remember when Elway was young, one analyst complained that Elway thought he could throw the ball anywhere. While it was true he could make many throws other QBs could not make, this meant he always depended on himself to make plays, rather than allowing his teammates to be the playmakers. Remind you of anyone?
    Elway became a better QB when he got older and less gifted, accepted this, and became a bit more of a gale manager who made plays than a playmaker who managed the game. I hoped Vick would make a similar transition, but I haven’t seen it as much as I hoped.

  32. 32 eagleyankfan said at 7:35 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    T-Law — Foles didn’t WOW you(realistically — how could he?). Did Vicks performance( prior to getting hurt) wow you?

  33. 33 P_P_K said at 8:36 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I agree with you about the bar being set high for Foles. The kid hasn’t had the playing time to determine if he is the real deal. I think that’s really the simple fact. The time that he has been on the field, he has played good. Not great, not bad, good. It’s reasonable to question his limitations but there’s no way at this time to know how he’s going to turn out. I don’t remember Kolb being given this level of scrutiny, though that may have been because so many wanted to move on from McNabb.

  34. 34 BlindChow said at 10:21 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Sure, but he’s no Thad Lewis.

  35. 35 anon said at 11:26 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Realistically bar is high for both QBs.

  36. 36 ACViking said at 12:44 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    I agree about expectations on Foles.

    He’s a 2nd year QB.

    Montana wasn’t Montana until his 3rd year . . . .

    As a rookie in ’79, Montana had just 1 start and 1 game at QB.

    In 1980, Montana started 7 games and played 10 games at QB.

    Not until 1981 — when SF’s defense improved dramatically, by the way, with a host of rookie DBs including HOFer Ronnie Lott — did Montana become Montana.

    And no one ever accused Montana of having a good arm.

    Much like Fran Tarkenton (1961-78) — who, with at best a mediocre arm, held every modern passing record until Dan Marino (who benefitted from the 1979 “Mel Blount” rule barring bump-and-run against a receiver beyond 5 yards). Of course, Tarkenton and Montana could scramble behind the LOS better than Foles.

  37. 37 GEagle said at 3:36 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Good post..I’m pumped to see FOles play Sunday against a defense that’s is holding opponents to like 18pts a game…but no matter how good or how bad the kid looks on Sunday, we will still KNOW next to NOTHING about who he will really grow into…the QB position takes time…He needs to play through mistakes to grow…I’m not judging the kid til he gets extended playing time….

    For ANY first or second year QB to come off the bench cold and beat the rival she the starting QB struggled on the he road, is IMPRESSIVE!!! But if we are going to compare FOles to seasoned guys like a Cutler, then yeah Sunday probably wasn’t very impressive. The fade throw to Desean was the BEST pass any Eagles QB has thrown this season

  38. 38 eagleyankfan said at 7:59 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    A couple of days away from TB. Vick SHOULD be resting his leg and not pushing it. Hammies are not easy. Vick is trying to show the rest of the NFL that he can play all 16 games. Vick is trying to play for his career beyond this season. IF Foles starts — let’s NOT expect 10 td’s and 900 yards passing. Foles SHOULD be judged as a rookie. What career start would this actually be for him?(before you reply to that question – I do know the answer). You have to expect a turn over or 2. You have to expect a learning curve(this IS a good “D” he’s facing). You HAVE to expect Foles to miss an open guy or 2. IF Vick was starting, the same expectations would apply.

  39. 39 ridusofreid said at 10:12 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Dude has started 6 games. Years ago a rookie QB held a clipboard for two to three years and play for a couple more before he was judged.

  40. 40 P_P_K said at 10:52 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Including Aaron Rodgers.

  41. 41 BlindChow said at 11:16 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    And he was a 1st round pick! In Philly he would be declared a bust before the end of his rookie season!

  42. 42 P_P_K said at 5:49 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    This is what the NY media were doing to Eli.

  43. 43 Iskar36 said at 10:53 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    There is a lot of truth to this, but I do wonder if that career trajectory has changed over the last several years. It may not have, but now, we see QBs starting from Day 1, and in some cases, playing at a high level. I’d love to see a list of starting QBs right now who held the clipboard for two + years and are quality starters. Rodgers is the one I can think of off the top of my head. Any others?

  44. 44 Corry said at 11:01 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Romo sat for 3 (I’ll probably get flamed for that one).
    Schaub also sat for 3 but had some time in games backing up Vick in Atlanta. I’m also not sure how you feel about him being a “quality” starter. This year he’s not that great.
    I think all the rest have started from day 1 or after only 1 year.

  45. 45 Iskar36 said at 11:16 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I think Cassel was the only other QB that didn’t start after year 1 that became a regular start that I could see after a quick scan.

    So in summary, since 2005, no QB has been drafted who has become a regular starter after not starting by year 2. That is not the longest sample size, but I do think it is a bit telling about the trend of young QBs. The days of sitting a young QB for 2+ years are potentially gone.

  46. 46 anon said at 11:21 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Interesting to see what NE, Denver, NOLA etc. will do once their QBs are gone.

  47. 47 Anthony Hart said at 2:50 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Denver has Brock Oswieler training behind Manning. The Pats have Mallet, don’t know how high they are on him though. The Saints, they’ll have some big shoes to fill.

  48. 48 Vick Must Go said at 3:50 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Manning spent his first year behind Kurt Warner. Brady behind Bledsoe, Kaepernick behind Smith. Roethlisburger behind somebody before an injury late in the year.

  49. 49 Corry said at 4:35 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    None of those guys sat for 2+ years.

  50. 50 Vick Must Go said at 5:05 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Locker was behind someone… Collins? Brees didn’t start until year 2.

    And the next hall of famer, Foles, was behind Vick for 2 years.

  51. 51 Corry said at 5:12 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Locker was behind Hasselbeck I believe.

  52. 52 BlindChow said at 10:16 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    He lets you call him “Nick”?? Man, he makes me and Desean Jackson call him “Foles!”

  53. 53 TommyLawlor said at 10:46 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I once loaned him a cup of sugar when he was baking a cake and got caught short on ingredients. We’ve been tight ever since.

  54. 54 A_T_G said at 3:56 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Ironically, Mike Vick had a few guys ask him for some sugar in his time away from the game.

  55. 55 Corry said at 11:09 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    I hope Foles can lead the team to a win if only because losing to a Schiano led team would be terrible.

  56. 56 shah8 said at 11:44 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    Just not interested in “seeing what he can do”. I have the same attitude that fans have if for some reason Brock Osweiler or Tyrod Taylor had to play a game…”please just don’t mess it up and let our defense win this game!”

    My take is that Vick has had light hamstring trouble (after long runs) throughout the early games, and the Giants game had the worst flareup. Vick probably could play, but I think Chip Kelly thinks he can sneak by the Bucs without Vick so as to let him heal up some.

  57. 57 A Big Butt and a Smile said at 11:51 AM on October 11th, 2013:

    “My take is that Vick has had light hamstring trouble (after long runs) throughout the early games..”

    I think it was the KC game where he just stopped running altogether after a big run he had. I said then I thought he’d injured something. So yeah, I think the hammy has been bugging him for a minute and it finally got to a point where he couldn’t ignore it during game time.

    It’s best to sit him for Tampa and hope Foles does well and the defense shows up big, because you definitely want Vick in for Dallas.

  58. 58 TommyLawlor said at 12:07 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    I didn’t notice any issues with Vick, but that’s an interesting theory.

    As for Kelly taking the Bucs lightly…no way. They might be 0-4, but this isn’t like the Giants, who were getting blown out. 3 of their losses are by a total of 6 points.

  59. 59 shah8 said at 12:55 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    The QB is Mike Glennon of the Giraffe Neck fame. If the defense can’t *expect* to win the TO margin, then they really have no pride. Carl Nicks is out as well. VJax isn’t fully healthy. The TB offense is in some degree of shambles, with pretty much just MuscleHamster to deal with. Don’t miss tackles, and you should have plenty of short series on defense, plus TOs. The Philly offense shouldn’t have to be anything but minimally efficient, and can be conservative. If we lose, we lose, but out of conference. The Dallas game is critical. We win then, and we pretty much have control, absent serious injuries or meltdowns.

  60. 60 ACViking said at 12:57 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    You meant lose out of “Division,” not Conference.

  61. 61 fran35 said at 1:26 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    I do not think Chip is *planning* for the Dallas game and *saving* Vick. You play who is right in front of you. TB defense is *markedly* better than Dallas.

  62. 62 Vick Must Go said at 2:14 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Agree with AC Viking. Losing in conference is still a big deal. That matters for tiebreakers for wildcard as well as head to head tiebreakers. A loss against the Chargers does not negatively impact us as much as a loss against the Bucs would.

  63. 63 anon said at 12:08 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    I actually think Kelly wants Foles to play just to see.

  64. 64 A Big Butt and a Smile said at 1:40 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Kelly chose his Qb through a lengthy process that played itself out for all to see. Kelly has seen. He’s not looking to “see” anymore.

  65. 65 anon said at 1:47 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    yeah but if it’s TB, Jay Cutler, even Eli Manning calibur QB who gets nicked up, does the coach pull him on Monday? Vick’s said he could play, but it looks pretty clear that he’s not going to.

  66. 66 A_T_G said at 3:47 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Completely agreed. Likewise, Kelly selected his #2 running back and backup NT through the same process.

    Why do people not get this?

    Brown and Square have their names etched in the granite depth chart outside of the Novacare Complex.

    Nothing is going to change based on player performance in games. Why do people still cling to this silly notion?

  67. 67 xeynon said at 12:04 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    I’m very interested to see how Foles plays on Sunday, if he plays. So far, his intangible attributes have made him effective against bad defenses, but we’ve yet to see him play effectively against a good one – the only such game he played last year was against Cincy, and that happened to be by far his worst game as a rookie. As good as his touch, timing, etc. are, they probably need to be even better if he’s going to overcome his physical limitations and be an effective NFL starter over the long term, and his decision making is still questionable at times which is something that he’ll have to improve (to be fair, it’s entirely possible this is merely a reflection of his inexperience). This game should be a good chance to see how far he’s come.

  68. 68 sprawl said at 4:30 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Maybe I need to watch that game again but I do not remember him having such a bad game.

    I remember our D-lineman thinking they could field a weird punt/kickoff
    I remember a Bryce brown unforced fumble at the handoff
    I remember a receiver catching a pass from Foles and then getting hit and fumbling right away

    I don’t remember Foles having a great enough game to make up for those things but I don’t remember thinking he was struggling or anything at the time.

    Oh and that was the “disconcerting signals” game too, wasn’t it?

  69. 69 xeynon said at 12:07 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    As for Jairus Byrd… as a free agent, maybe, but I have no interest in trading for him. As painful as it is to watch Nate Allen trotted out there week after week, this team is more than one good safety away from contention and a high draft pick + a massive contract for a guy who’s not a long-term core-type player is a bad use of resources.

  70. 70 GEagle said at 5:31 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    I been calling for Byrd for an entire calendar year! but it’s October. I wouldn’t want to give away any valuable picks for a guy that we can just sign in 5 months…if they get desperate and deal him for a 6th, Like Anquan BOldin, then I would do it…

  71. 71 ACViking said at 12:32 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Re: Foles 2 TD throws

    T-Law:

    Something else about those 2 TD passes . . . no one but an Eagles receiver was going to catch the ball. Very important.

    Also, it seemed like all — or nearly all (?) — of Foles’ passes against the Giants were only going to be caught by an Eagles’ receiver or no one.

    Now I can’t confirm that. But it sure seems that way in hindsight.

  72. 72 Jose said at 12:42 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    He sure wow’ed me, 2 touchdowns in one half. Geez Tommy, what do you want out of the kid, juggling with one hand while riding a unicycle?

  73. 73 iceberg584 said at 2:01 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Let Vick rest and have him ready for Dallas. For whatever reason, Vick has played very well against the Cowboys since becoming an Eagle.

  74. 74 Flyin said at 4:36 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    A 3rd Tampa Bay player has MRSA. The game this weekend may be in jeopardy.

    “Meanwhile, George Atallah, assistant executive director of external
    affairs for the NFL Players Association, told ESPN’s Trey Wingo that the
    NFLPA is waiting to hear back from DICON. The union will then contact
    player reps in Tampa and Philadelphia and advise them of what it learns.
    Depending on what the containment report says, the NFLPA could advise
    the teams not to play this weekend.”

    http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9808469/third-tampa-bay-buccaneers-player-tests-positive-mrsa-staph-infection

  75. 75 A_T_G said at 5:38 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Information is still firming up on this.

    Some reports I have seen claim that someone named Shat8 (spelling varies across reports) spread infectious towels. According to reports, he was concerned that Foles could steal the starting job, despite exclaiming loudly and repeated that he wasn’t when confronted.

    Ironically, other reports state that the perpetrator, an associate of someone named Tom Goldstein, spread the infection, motivated by concert that the TB defense is severely underrated and would create an unfavorable situation for Foles.

    Regardless, reports all seem to agree that some people are really sick.

  76. 76 P_P_K said at 5:47 PM on October 11th, 2013:

    Wow. MRSA is nasty. Has a game ever been cancelled before due to a health situation? Has a team ever had to forfeit because they couldn’t field a healthy team? I wonder who has final say about something like this. Is it a NFLPA recommendation or does the Nat’s Dept of Health step in (if they are operating)?

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