Dallas Sucks Less

Posted: November 11th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 63 Comments »

Sorry for the delayed post.  I was on the phone with some friends discussing the game.  I think they were worried about my mental and emotional state after a tough loss to Dallas.

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Believe it or not, I’m actually fine.  Not happy, but fine.  I wasn’t overly confident going into the game.  I knew we could win, but didn’t have a good feeling for how the game would go.  I”m disappointed that we lost.  No matter how you feel about the season and the Reid era, losing to Dallas just isn’t fun.  I hoped this would be our shining moment…a fun home win over the Cowboys.  Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

The hot topic is Nick Foles, so let’s talk about him.  He played fine.  I’ve seen a few people say he was bad, some even awful.  NO WAY.  This was a rookie playing in his first game.  He didn’t practice with the starters.  He was facing DeMarcus Ware and a Top 10 defense, behind a makeshift OL. If you thought Nick played poorly, you’re either using insane standards or letting your emotions get the best of you.

The flip side is that Nick wasn’t great.  He didn’t step in and show himself to be the next Joe Montana.

I’ll cover Nick fully on Monday.  I do think we need to understand what we’re looking for.  As a rookie QB playing in his first game, the hope is for him to show that he can play, that he belongs.  Nick looked like an NFL QB.  He showed the physical skills you needed to see.  He also showed the mental and emotional make-up needed to play.  He was calm and composed.  He ran the offense well.  You saw him making adjustments at the LOS.  There was no panic.  There was no sense that the game was beyond him.

Eli Manning vs CIN – 29-46-215…no TDs, 2 INTs

Nick Foles vs DAL – 22-32-219…1 TD, 1 INT

Mike Vick vs NO – 22-41-272…1 TD, 1 INT

Nick has plenty to work on, but let’s keep this simple.  He led the team to 16 points today.  Should have been 17 (missed extra point).  For the season, we average 16.6 ppg.  Nick matched that in 2.5 quarters of action.  Last week Vick faced the worst defense in the entire NFL and led us to a whopping 13 points.  Nick was able to move the ball and score.  I know that some of those stats came against a prevent defense, but Vick faced that last week as well.  Nick had us within a TD late in the game.

We have no idea if Nick is the future of this team, but he showed enough for us to hope that he does get to start on Sunday so we can get a better look at him.  I’d love to see what he can do with a week of practice.

* * * * *

There was a mixture of positives and negatives to take from the game.  We finally pressured an opposing QB regularly.  Only took half the season to do that.  The defense started terribly, but got a lot better.  They only gave up one legit TD drive.  Dallas might have scored on the other TD drive anyway, but that TD and that PI call were bogus.

The OL actually did some good things, but King Dunlap turned into a 1-man penalty machine.  Wow.  He had some good blocks, but all people will remember are his costly mistakes.  His hands to the face call was the key moment in the game.  Had we gone up 21-10, who knows what might have happened.  Maybe Tony Romo the INT machine comes out.  Instead, we never saw that guy.

Ugly game overall, but getting to see Foles in action did make me feel a lot better.  Vick’s gone when the season ends.  We need to find out if Nick can be the QB of the future or if we must upgrade.

_

  • Neil

    What did you think about the touchdown throw? I thought it was lobbed too high and took too long to get there. Arm concern?

    • TommyLawlor

      Could have been better. Deep balls are his weakness. Knew that coming in.

      • aerochrome2

        I thought saw a lack of zip on most of his passes, whether they were short, intermediate, or deep (I was at the game with a good view. Not sure what it looked like on TV).

        There were maybe two throws that were what you expect an nfl pass to look like, but because there were two, my thought was maybe the lobbed/floater nature of some of the others was due to hesitation/nervousness?

    • Iskar36

      I’d love to see the All-22 film on that play. I didn’t see how Maclin got opened and I don’t think they showed a replay of his route (they may have and I missed it), but it certainly seemed like he was left wide open which suggests to me that Foles should have gotten the ball out a lot earlier. It also seemed like Foles threw a rainbow on that throw when he needed a stronger, shallower throw that got there quicker so that the DB would not have even come close.

  • mrkaplan

    Agree or disagree with my assesment

    1. Let Foles start the rest of the year

    2. Cut Asomugha after the season

    3. Do not re-sign Cromartie

    4. Let the back up corners get playing time for the rest of this season

    5. Draft some O-line men early in the draft

    6. Fire April at the end of the season

    7. Scrap the Wide nine and put in place a different defensive system

    8. Let more backups play this year

    8. Keep Reid for another year.

    • Iskar36

      1. Agree. This team isn’t going anywhere this season, Vick isn’t going to be here next season, might as well assess the potential QB for next year to determine if he can play. On top of that, it would be nice to get some rookie mistakes out now with Foles rather than next year.

      2. I’m definitely leaning that way. Unless he is willing to take a MAJOR pay cut, I don’t see how you bring him back. Even with the pay cut though, I still lean towards cutting him.

      3. DRC has played poorly recently, but he started off playing very well this season. I still think I want to see how he finishes the year before deciding what to do with resigning him. That being said, cutting both starting CBs would be setting the team up for a very tough situation, so if you can manage to keep DRC cheap, I think you might have to stick with him.

      4. I do hope we get to see Boykin, Marsh, and Hughes play a bit more on the outside. CB seems like it will be another position we need to look into this offseason.

      5. Early… and often…

      6. If there is a replacement available on the team, I wouldn’t mind seeing it before that.

      7. Bowles seems to have done a worse job than Castillo so far. Seems like a new defensive coordinator will be brought in next season to replace Bowles (at least I think a new one should be brought in). To me, I don’t necessarily care if they keep the wide 9 or get rid of it, as long as the DC is the one that makes that decision, not the head coach and/or Washburn. The wide 9 can be successful, so in itself I don’t think you have to throw it out, I just don’t like the idea of the front 4 and the back 7 being treated as entirely separate entities in a defense. Give the DC full control of his own defense and let him decide how the dline looks and how we attack.

      8. I support getting a better look at our roster eventually. I don’t know that you go crazy and bench all the starters just yet though. I think key backups should be allowed to play more and more as we get further along into the season, but I still think you keep the starters out there unless they are being outplayed by the backup (Graham vs. Babin for example).

      9. No way. Two years in a row of this garbage play by a “talented” team is on the coach. A new message and new ideas need to be brought in. This is absolutely just as much on AR as it is on the players and Lurie and Roseman better make sure they do their homework and find the right coach for the future. I do not see any possible excuse you can give AR though.

      • mrkaplan

        I don’t know. I still like him as a head coach. Yeah it’s been downhill since 2004, but the loss of Jim Johnson has been the main reason our team has sucked. I still think he gives a good team every year and makes us competitive. You may be right though.

        • Iskar36

          The loss of Jim Johnson was very significant, but I think AR is the guy you have to blame for the inability to recover from that. JJ was an incredible DC, but to replace him, we used McDermott and quickly discovered that was a failure. You could argue that AR should have gone outside of the organization or made a quicker judgement on SM (fired him after 1 year, not wait until he failed the second year as well), but I think considering the circumstances, I think you can forgive AR’s failure to replace JJ immediately.

          After SM though, AR made one of the most bizarre coaching decisions in NFL history by hiring the OLine coach with 0 NFL defensive coaching experience to coordinate the defense. That proved to be a failure after the first season, and AR was given an opportunity to correct it by firing Castillo and hiring a legitimate DC with defensive experience. He failed to do that, and then before we even got half way through the season, AR makes the desperate decision to fire the one coordinator who was having marginal success and replaced him with Bowles who thus far has made this defense look even worse than before.

          In other words, AR has made the wrong decisions consistently at DC since JJ past away, and seems to continually exacerbate the issue with his DC decisions. Thus, to me, JJ passing away is an example of ARs failures, not an excuse for it.

          • BlindChow

            “Thus, to me, JJ passing away is an example of ARs failures, not an excuse for it.”

            Exactly! You don’t see defensive coordinators dying on Belichick, do you?

          • Iskar36

            That was poor wording on my part but the point of the message is still true. The failure to find an adequate replacement once JJ passed away is on AR.

          • BlindChow

            I know, I just thought it was funny. :)

            (And I agree.)

          • Sb2bowl

            Its almost impossible to replace a legend, remember that. JJ was a legend……… same with Dawk. We (as Philly fans) EXPECT the same level of play, when actually, those guys were abnormal at what they did.

            Now, Andy does need to find the proper DC; maybe we have that in Bowles…… maybe not. Remember, he’s coming in with an almost impossible situation- half way through the season, with no “time” to install his own variations.

            You say Andy is a failure for not replacing JJ………. I say its nearly impossible to replace a legend.

          • Iskar36

            You are right that it is difficult to replace a legend. Still, you are not looking for AR to replace JJ entirely. AR needed to find an adequate coach, and so far he has failed miserably at that, and you can even argue his approach to finding an adequate replacement has been bad (based on what I mentioned above and hiring a dline coach before hiring a dc). The fact that we had a legend as a DC does not excuse the fact that we have had two, possibly three, BAD DCs since.

          • Alonza Brown

            I think that’s a lot easier said than done. We would have been very happy before the season if AR had admitted his mistake in hiring Castillo and fired him for Spags. Now, Spags is coaching the worst D in the league. This shows it’s not so simple as bring in some big name guy who did well elsewhere.

      • Anders

        I really think its tough to evaluate Bowles. He is basically been forced into running another mans defense.

        • Iskar36

          I’ll give you that. Bowles certainly is in an unfair position so it is tough to evaluate how good of a coach he can be. Still, in the context of the defense we have, we have clearly taken a step backwards since Castillo was fired. Like you said, it is not all his fault because he is forced to use another mans defense, but it does hurt your confidence in the guy.

    • TommyLawlor

      Let’s deal with who to cut/keep later on. Guys like Nnamdi and Vick that are due huge $ next year are likely gone because of cost if nothing else.

      DRC confuses me. Need to re-watch game to see how he did.

      Reid is all but gone at this point. If/when he’s fired, the assistants will change and so could the systems.

    • Skeptic_Eagle

      1. Sure, but I think Foles is going to be the QB next year, regardless. The draft is very weak. They could try to get a “bridge” QB to complement a run-heavy offense, depending on who comes in.

      2. Yep. I wouldn’t renegotiate with Asomugha. He’s been a below average CB for 2 years now.

      3. DRC is tougher. He’s a good cover CB that is not interested in run defense. I think that a player like that has some value, and I’m not sure the Eagles can afford to create more holes at starting positions.

      4. Yeah, why not? Specifically, I’d like to see if Curtis Marsh has learned anything, or is just another Roseman draft bust.

      5. Absolutely, but someone other than who has been choosing them should be making the decision. The lack of talent in the reserves is horrible. The entire draft process needs to be evaluated.

      6. Agreed. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, because his reputation preceded him, but he has just not gotten the job done in Philly. Part of the wholesale regime change.

      7. Agreed again. If it was working, I’d keep it, but the only pressure it’s been applying is to the LB’s and S’s trying to manage the i-95 sized gaps it creates. That probably means players like Jason Babin & Phillip Hunt move on. Oh well.

      8. Sure, but I don’t have a lot of hope for some hidden gem. I think the roster is thin, because of poor drafting.

      9. No way. Not a chance. It’s the end of the line.

    • TheRogerPodacter

      others more or less posted my thoughts on these, so i’ll only mention this one point –
      7. as another poster said, Bowles is basically running another man’s defense. maybe he could be doing something better if he was the one in charge all offseason, maybe not.
      what i DO like about Bowles, right now, is that he has shown how to adjust the defense.
      at the beginning of the game, the cowboys marched right down the field, it looked like we were not going to be able to stop them all game. but then… we did stop them, and pretty much stuffed their O all game, too.

      That was pretty much my biggest (only? haven’t thought about it) gripe with Castillo – his inability to adjust in game. he seemed to be able to come up with a pretty good game plan during the week, but when something unexpected came up…

  • SteveH

    My angriest moments of the day were when Damaris Johnson failed to both score or get out of bounds on the 4th down play. We lost 30 seconds of clock because of that. I was pissed we tried an onside kick at the end, we could have had the ball with about a minute in much better field position if we had kicked off. Probably wouldn’t have mattered, but imo onsides kicks are only for when you truly have absolutely no chance of scoring otherwise. Lastly theres the avalanche of failure that was the 3rd down play on the cowboys last touchdown drive. No less than 3 Eagles defenders had a good shot to take Romo down and they all came up empty. Uggggghhhhhhhh. Oh and King Dunlap. Drive killing mistakes and knocking down your own reciever on a screen pass. The spirit of week 9 Demetress Bell lived on today.

    Foles was really impressive with his poise and command of the offense. He looked confident making the line calls and audibles, took command of the huddle, really looked the part.

    I thought he did a great job bouncing back from the interception too, didn’t get down or shaky in his play. Good resiliency which I think is really important at quarterback. His biggest issue was definitely ball placement. He seemed to be throwing behind recievers, needs to work on that. He made one really bad decision on the ball that Anthony Spencer picked off (and was mercifully called back due to penalty) but the other pick that Brandon Carr got was unlucky. Ball richochets off a guys knee right into Carr’s hands. Not a good pass but should have just been an incomplete pass.

    He seemed to feel pressure and move around the pocket fairly well, or maybe I’m so used to Vick scrambling right into pressure and Foles looks much better by comparasin.

    All in all its a good start for the kid, but where does he go from here. Can’t draw longterm conclusions from one half of a game but at least he looked like he belonged out there. Hopefully he’s a hardworker who dedicates himself to his craft.

    Lastly, where the hell was this pass rush all year? It’s like someone flipped a switch and all of a sudden we were hitting Romo left and right. Crazy.

    • SteveH

      Oh and what the hell with our recievers? Maclin alligator arms one pass, falls down on another one that almost got picked off, and Jason Avant decides the ideal time to pull a hamstring is right when the balls about to hit him in the face. I kid about Avant, but Maclin was jekyl and hyde today.

    • Sb2bowl

      Regarding King Dunlap–

      I actually felt bad for him; when he blocked the guy on his side, he knocked his helmet off. He was a good 7 inches taller, doesn’t bend well, and that doesn’t bode well for where his hands end up. He was blocking at the level he should; it just so happens that’s about 7-8 inches higher than a normal person.

      If I was the Cowboys DE; I wouldn’t have buckled my helmet very tightly on passing downs…………..

  • SleepingDuck

    Kobe on the Eagles: “We suck. I don’t want to watch football anymore.”
    Thought I’d share that since I’m a Lakers fan.

    I thought Foles played pretty well for the most part, but it seemed like every pass was behind the receiver. Foles should’ve had another pick though on the across the body throw to Maclin.

    • BlindChow

      I think (hope) that was simply a timing issue. He may have been underestimating the speed of his receivers. That can be remedied with practice, I imagine.

    • Alonza Brown

      He should have had 3 total. Don’t forget the one by Anthony Spencer.

  • Eric Dein

    This seems like a relatively simple question. But all the Vick talk about keeping him or not is based on his contract being ridiculous for next year. I haven’t heard any discussion of re-negotiating and bringing him back at a lower price. I’d be interested in a discussion of Vick’s other options in free agency- but I think he could be lured into a pay cut down to market value to remain the starting QB of the Philadelphia Eagles.

    • TommyLawlor

      Vick could lower his price and be more likely to return, but he would still have to show that there is a reason to keep him. Why pay money to see a veteran treading water?

      • shah8

        But one has to recognize just how high the level is to tread. You keep talking about reasons to keep him. However, what’s probably more important is the fear of what happens when you don’t keep him.

        • xeynon

          I watched quite a bit of football today and I must have seen a dozen quarterbacks better than Vick. Never mind Brady, Manning, Rodgers, Brees, etc.; even young guys like Andy Dalton are making reads and throws that Vick can’t or doesn’t make. He’s an average quarterback at best, not good enough to win the SB unless he has a fantastic team around him, so we are not risking anything meaningful by dumping him. It may take a year or two, but we will almost assuredly find someone better than him in short order.

      • BlindChow

        I think with a less porous OL Vick wouldn’t be so jittery (look at the last few games of 2011–Jets, Cowboys, Dolphins all have solid pass rushes); when Vick isn’t panicking back there, his decisions are far better.
        If a new coach comes in, and they draft a rookie QB, a cheaper Vick might be a solid interim guy (like Hasselbeck was in Tennessee last year). It would depend on the kind of offense they’d run; I could see Vick fitting into a Chip Kelly offense… Not sure what other veterans would be on the market to fill that roll, but Vick would certainly have to be one of the better options.

  • Bryan

    My thoughts (for what it’s worth) on who stays and goes next year: Vick and Edwards go, foles comes back with maybe Kafka and kolb, McCoy and brown come back, Polk gone, Lewis I’m undecided. Jackson stays, maclin goes, undecided on avant, cooper depends how he finishes year, celek and harbor stay. Peters, kelce, Mathis stay, Watkins has to stay one more year to see what he can do, Kelly stays, herremans prob goes, though I’m a little undecided, Dunlop, bell are goners, dl, staying: graham, cox, hunt, landri, Thornton gone: babin, Jenkins, undecided tapp, and it hurts me to say this but cole, l.b I keep Kendrick and Ryan, rest go, dbs keep drc, Boykin, marsh,undecided Hughes Allen Coleman gone nnamdi, who am I forgetting or not judging correctly?

    • BobSmith77

      Who stays/who goes is pointless right now. You have another 7 games to play and an entirely new coaching staff coming in next year.

  • shah8

    I disagree with that sentiment, fundamentally. Been through this before with McNabb/Ponder last year. I also think some of y’all are, as I’ve said before, are talking yourself into believing stuff that’s just ain’t so, like the Republicans before Election Day.

    1) When assessing a young QB who’s just started play…You don’t assess whether or not he’s completing normal plays most of the time. Only incompetents and truly untalented throwers like Tebow can’t complete short passes and basic throws up the middle. What you *do* assess is whether that young QB has “it”. By “it”, I mean the various machinery of imposing his will on the defense. Throwing to tiny windows, showing a really nice deep ball, great fakes, really great touch for YAC, elusiveness, etc, etc, etc. By and large, most genuinely talented QBs will show it pretty quickly, Eli Manning aside. Foles did now show anything like real talent in this game. The accuracy was not good, the decision-making was worse. He didn’t show a great arm, nor was there more than just enough touch on his short passes. There is a reason Reid said that Vick is still the starter, pending health.

    2) While I would not be surprised to see Vick gone, I think I would be even less surprised to see him back next year. I think there will be very little appetite for change at QB given the lack of talented options likely to be available to the Eagles next year. Same with Reid. At the end of the day, the big part of what’s wrong with the Eagles has to do the trenches. Nobody closing in on Romo, and poor protection of the QB. I think this has been so evident that the regime will not dismiss Vick. Maybe Foles gets one more game, but nobody at the Novacare center truly thinks he’s an option over the long term, and there has been so many explicit and excruciating failures of not-talented-enough QBs such that I think there are but few willing to humor the anti-Vick faction in Philly.

    • shah8

      Actually, come to think of it, Bryce Brown is a lot closer to give Shady a run for his money than Foles, Vick. That blitz pickup was quite beautifully assertive.

      • Anders

        Why cant we have both? Its not like they couldnt share the load like 15/10

    • xeynon

      Vick is mediocre at best, and at his age and with his style of play he’s only going to get worse and his physical abilities deteriorate. Foles may or may not be the future, but Vick definitely isn’t, and I suspect any coach who comes in will either want to go with Foles, if he shows something down the stretch here, or will bring in his own young quarterback to build around. What coach is going to want to rely on the injury-prone, erratic player whose poor decision making, carelessness with the ball, and inability to adjust to opposing defenses are going to be one of the major reasons the most successful Eagles coach of the past 50 years gets fired?

    • TommyLawlor

      Shah, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion, but you lose virtually all of your credibility when you start by talking about rookies and “great fakes” or “great touch”. Rookie QBs are not supposed to be great. That’s why they are rookies.

      Andrew Luck is a freak. RG3 is kind of a freak. Most rookies don’t play great.

      • Anders

        For playing his first ever NFL game, coming in cold with no week to prepare, I thought he did good.

        Ofcourse so did Dallas Reynolds when he took over from Kelce and the next week he was terrible.

        • ATLeagle

          I so want to believe this, but so far we have the exact same review as Kevin Kolb vs the Ravens. I am holding back any opinion until we see some more action.

          • Anders

            Foles was a alot better in this game than Kolb against the Ravens

      • shah8

        I am reasonably satisfied with my own ability to evaluate talent. In making judgments for myself, not necessarily telling anyone else, I have an okay track record. I also tend to be known as someone with good judgment in other parts of the internet.

        I am reasonably confident that Foles is nobody but a backup. I also think that this is blatantly obvious, which is why I’m so assertive about this opinion. Many people have had bigger days with better offenses, like Matt Flynn most recently. KK can play, especially when he’s not jittery and not throwing off his back foot. Thing is, we always knew he could play–he was awesome in college, and materially had the just makin’ it arm to play in the pros. He wasn’t good enough to be a star, but he could start and have a good day or three. There is nothing like that in Foles, man.

        Again, you can talk up how he wasn’t so bad all you want. However, I think we win this game with Vick. He was, if you hadn’t noticed, playing pretty well before his concussion.

    • PK_NZ

      What I found most encouraging was the fact that Foles seemed to have a decent pocket presence and instead of running around like crazy (making it impossible to sustain blocks) he was able to slide just enough to get the ball off instead of holding onto it…

      And to be honest, I don’t think we really need that much heroics out of the QB, just need someone more efficient than Vick. We’ve got good speed in the offence, so just get the ball out and hope for the best.

      Vick will never be a pocket passer and unfortunately he just doesnt have the explosiveness to be effective the way he used to be…

      • BlindChow

        I was very impressed by his composure. He kept his eyes downfield. That long bomb to Maclin, Vick doesn’t make that pass. By that point Vick would have already scrambled for a 2 yard gain.

        • Ark87

          We have to be fair though, that was a blown coverage. Maclin was wide open for a good long time. I’d like to see our QB see that a bit earlier regardless of who it is. Then deliver it there a little more accurately.

          • BlindChow

            Hey, an open receiver is an open receiver. A QB needs to capitalize on it, and Foles did. But it could be something as simple as being able to see over the top of his offensive linemen…

        • Alonza Brown

          Can’t believe it took this long for someone to make that bogus comment. Vick made that same pass last week against the Saints when he was given that much time to find DJax.

          • BlindChow

            Vick has repeatedly missed receivers wide open downfield this year, even when not under immediate pressure. You obviously don’t read Sheil Kapadia’s All-22 posts!

    • DanJ3645

      My impression of Foles was that he showed good command of the offence, both in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage.
      He looked calm, while under pressure, in the pocket and appeared to move around the pocket well.
      Some of his throws looked dangerous – especially the 4th qtr throw to Mac.
      I suspect that after looking at the All-22 there will be plays that he missed.

      Overall he gave the impression of someone who belonged on the field.

    • Skeptic_Eagle

      This is just silly. Foles may or may not be an NFL QB, but Vick is as good as gone. His pricetag is way too high for a mediocre NFL starter, at best. Claiming you can determine anything about some nebulous “it” factor Foles either possesses or lacks, based on the preseason and 2 1/2 quarters of play is ridiculous, and betrays a very thinly veiled agenda.

      What exactly is your point in reference to McNabb/Ponder? McNabb can’t get a job throwing a football for an NFL team. Ponder may not be the answer, but the Vikings franchise knows McNabb isn’t.

      I think you might have some idea that you’re deluding yourself, since you’re accusing everyone else of it.

    • Cal Setar

      It almost seems like you fear change to an extent that you’ll convince yourself of any “truth” so as not to have to face something different next year. Sure, without Vick and Reid, we may be on the precipice of some less than stellar years…but we also may be on the verge of making a great coaching hire and turning Foles, or whoever is our QB, into a really fantastic player.

      But on a side note, I’m also not sure you and I watched the same game. I thought Foles looked elusive, or as elusive as he needed to be to slide around in the pocket and gain some time, his anticipation was better than Vick’s, and his touch for RAC was good too. There were several throws where he hit a guy in stride or just as he was coming out of his break. And you can’t blame him, since he hasn’t really practiced with the 1′s, for not yet being able to appreciate DeSean’s speed.

      Was he amazing? No. But when his stats are similar to/better than Vicks, it sure seems like there’s no reason not to go with the rookie who can and hopefully will continue to improve, over a veteran whose struggled with the same shortcomings his entire career.

  • A_T_G

    Since you brought it up…

    Foles, 2 1/2 quarters vs Dallas: 22-32-219, 1 td, 1 int
    Montana, all of 1979: 13-23-96, 1 td, 0 int

  • http://twitter.com/corry_k Corry Henry

    Having Foles in there gave me something else to concentrate on rather than the fact that we were losing to Dallas. I didn’t think he was terrible, but wasn’t great. You can’t really expect that from him considering he probably hasn’t practiced with the 1s since August.

    I think Foles will be the only reason why I watch next week.

    OT: Does Disqus have a block option?

  • Ark87

    Foles is like the last great hope, I think my expectations were a little too high. He made the rookie mistakes i had hoped he wouldn’t make. But it’s his first field time, coming in cold. The accuracy was a little erratic. The kid has a knack for throwing bad deep-palls and having them get caught for big yardage (Mac in the last game and all preseason). There were a ton of good things to come away with. He seemed right at home with defenders in his lap and having to work through that. He got the ball out fast. There are some very encouraging signs.

    Won’t draw any conclusions until I see him in a few games.

    He has one awful pick-six that came back due to a penalty. Felt a little like final destination, like death wanted Dallas to get 7 points ridiculously easily. The refs took that way so they took a punt to the house. Then just for good measure they got another 7….game just fell apart in about 2:30…until that point I felt like we were going to win that game.

  • P_P_K

    There is simply no way in the world to determine what kind of qb Nick is, or will be. I like the kid, I like the way he holds himself on the field and it sure would be great if he turns into a killer qb. Vick’s concussion is the perfect convenient reason to start Foles against the Skins. Washington has a weak secondary. Let’s see how Foles has against a weak team before getting too excited in any direction.

  • http://twitter.com/alex_karklins Alex Karklins

    Vick got his contract based on what we saw in 2010. That guy is no longer with the Eagles. I did like some things I aw from Foles and hope he gets another shot next week. Can we build on this? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Train_wreck_at_Montparnasse_1895.jpg/300px-Train_wreck_at_Montparnasse_1895.jpg

  • Alonza Brown

    I think Foles was exactly what you said “ok”. I do think Vick is a better QB than he is now, and would’ve won this game. The INT was not the only poor throw by Foles. He has potential but needs to work on his mechanics. I find it funny how when Shannohan basically threw in the towel at 3-6 he was ridiculed, and now most Eagles fans sound like they are doing the same. 9-7 won this division last year and could do so again. The Giants are playing poorly, and they still have to play 4 playoff teams and 2 division games. Also, it seems like many fans are so ready to scrap Nnamdi and DRC. There are many teams that would love either of these two starters. Nnamdi is overpaid and maybe takes a pay cut next year, but I don’t see many top corners to replace him with running around. Drafting a young stud corner may not fix the problem right away either. Look at how Claiborne has struggled the last 3-4 weeks, and Patrick Peterson was pretty bad as well last year.

  • Ark87

    Special teams had 3 massive mistakes really ticked me off. One was obviously the punt return for a TD. The other 2 were mind blowing. One i think it was King Dunlap didn’t take the field for a FG attempt and we were forced to burn a timeout. The other was the missed PAT. What in the high hell? The lost TO was missed. That extra point didn’t come into play, but just stacked the to-do list way against us

    • TheRogerPodacter

      ST has been awful all season, only rising back to OK on coverages with the return of Colt Anderson.
      I’d love to see tommy post some in depth stuff on the ST situation. What is going on with Bobby April? Should we expect more from “one of the best ST coordinators in the league”?

  • ACViking

    Re: Vick v. Foles

    Michael Vick will be the Eagles’ starting QB as long as the team is mathematically in the playoff hunt.

    I have to believe that AR still thinks Vick still gives the Eagles their best chance to make the playoffs. And that’s Reid’s goal — whether he’s here next year or not.

    And I’d guess the players feel the same way.
    ______________

    Re: Kevin Kolb

    If Kolb had played close to as well as Foles did yesterday — and Foles was exactly as T-LAW said — in that 2008 Ravens game, he’d have become the Eagles QB and displaced McNabb.

    KK went 10-23 for 73 yards w/ 0 TD and 2 INTs that afternoon.

    Yes, the Ravens were a great defense.

    But Kevin looked overwhelmed in the moment.

    I don’t think the moment was too big for Foles

  • ACViking

    Re: QB Accuracy

    Foles hit Jason Avant on the crown of his helmet as stumbled out of his turn some 20-plus yards down field . . . . If Avant was standing, and ready to catch the ball, I’d guess it would have hit him between the top of his numbers

    Third and long. Pass rush around Foles. Game speed. No practice with the starters since preseason.

    Foles was pretty damn accurate.

    If you want to find a QB for the future, the most important attribute — according to Bill Walsh — is accuracy.

    If that pass foretells things to come (and it may not), then I like Nick Foles. A lot.

    • Kevin_aka_RC

      While that is true, Foles threw behind slants a few times. While he’s been throwing to Gilyard/Johnson instead of Jackson/Maclin a few times, that was a bad sign. His accuracy actually concerned me a little (as well as happy feet a few times).

      Foles also should have had 2 15 yard pass plays in which Maclin dropped the ball (the play in which he got hurt) or fell down on the route.

    • Ark87

      He was a little behind the faster first string guys. That’s just timing he needs to work out with reps. The other thing he needs to work on is his deep throws . As I said earlier, he has a knack for getting away with poorly thrown deep balls (not just not getting intercepted, but being caught for big big plays). Did so all pre-season. I’m hoping he gets the first string reps and start next week.

      This was a fine starting point for a rookie seeing his first action coming into a game cold. I’m excited to see the skins next week.

  • http://www.facebook.com/hesselfitness Ben Hessel

    1) Foles would have been better behind a better Oline, same can be said for anyone. Being an Eagles QB right now is like using an umbrella to protect yourself from a hurricane.
    2) Foles showed starter potential, which is important.
    3) The first “real” Foles throw to Avant (incompletion to Avant’s head) was probably the most impressive Eagles offensive play of the night… And it was a incomplete. Great throw and anticipation on the route though.