Captain Calm

Posted: January 10th, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Captain Calm

John Elway’s arm. Joe Montana’s leadership. Randall Cunningham’s mobility. Peyton Manning’s brain. Tom Brady’s competitive spirit. Michael Vick’s speed. Dan Marino’s quick release. Aaron Rodgers ability to create. Drew Brees accuracy.

You could build one heck of a QB if you could combine all of that into one player.

You might also want something from Nick Foles. No, not that. I’m talking about his ability to stay calm, even in the most pressure-packed situations.

That’s a pretty brilliant way of putting it.

One of the few weak spots for Carson Wentz is that he’s too aggressive in tough situations. He can force things, rather than just finding the open guy and getting him the ball. That’s really all being a clutch QB requires. Stay calm. Find the open guy. Make a good throw.

Clearly that’s much harder than it sounds, but it can be simple if you can have that mentality when you’re on the field. And that’s part of Foles magic.

This is absolutely fantastic.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1083405427717459968

That is 8 minutes of pure heaven.

I have no idea how Foles will do on Sunday, but I do know this. If the game is close in the fourth quarter, every Eagles player will believe they’re going to win and every Saints player will be scared to death of Foles. Until someone stops him, his late game voodoo has to be something on the minds of opponents.

Foles is just more than a late-game hero. He’s playing really well right now.

Foles is getting rid of the ball quickly most of the time, but also mixing in some aggressive downfield throws. He’s taking calculated chances.

Foles is spreading the ball around. Get open and he’ll get you the ball. Foles doesn’t care who it goes to.

There were a couple of bad picks in the Chicago game. Give the LB credit for making a really good play, even if Foles should have made a better throw. The pick in the end zone was just terrible. Foles didn’t bury his head. He didn’t panic. He kept right on playing and made some clutch throws after that.

Foles really does live in the moment and that is a big part of his success. He doesn’t get too high or too low. He stays focused.

He stays calm.

*****

Want some stats to make you feel better about Sunday?

I am really excited for Sunday’s game. The Saints might wipe the field with the Eagles. They had the best record in the NFL so there would be no shame in losing to them.

But this Eagles team is starting to make me believe. They’re flawed, but they do seem to have a bit of magic.

I look forward to finding out if the Eagles can win the toughest game of the year.

*****

The Saints do have a banged up OL, as Jimmy Bama points out. That could be critical on Sunday.

If you can pressure Drew Brees, things change in a hurry.

_

Comments are closed.