NFC Championship Breakdown: The Quarterbacks

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Leading up to the Eagles matchup for the NFC Championship with the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday Sports Talk Philly and Eagledelphia will compare the personnel of the two teams each day until gameday is here. 

In this edition of our week-long comparison we will look at the quarterbacks. 

Minnesota QBs | Case Keenum and Sam Bradford

Case Keenum has been the surprise of the season. After an abysmal 2016 with the Los Angeles Rams Keenum signed on with the Vikings to be Sam Bradford's backup and the presumptive third string once Teddy Bridgewater made his long awaited return from a torn ACL. 

When Bradford went down with an injury in week two Keenum had his number called, and never relinquished the starting job, save for a premature return from Bradford in October that only lasted one half. 

Keenum threw for 3,547 yards, 22 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 15 games while completing 67.9 percent of his passes and earning a 98.3 rating. 

Keenum did not replicate his regular season performance against the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round of the playoffs, completing five percent less of his passes while throwing for 318 yards with one touchdown and one interception drawing an 85.2 quarterback rating. Although Keenum struggled at times against New Orleans, Keenum did show excellent poise and the two teams traded leads in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, eventually throwing the miraculous touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs to walk off with the win. 

Sam Bradford has been one of the NFL's most accurate quarterbacks over the last two seasons, setting the NFL record for completion percentage in a season in 2016. Although Bradford has lost control of the starter job, he has been a very good quarterback for the Vikings during his time in Minnesota. 

Philadelphia QBs | Nick Foles and Nate Sudfeld

In Nick Foles's seven appearances and three starts during the regular season he has managed to post his lowest career QBR at 31.4. Foles has been a good spot starter throughout his career but has given Eagles' fan cause for concern by throwing for just 202 yards, one touchdown, and tw0 interceptions over his last five quarters played int he regular season against cellar-dwelling defenses in the Oakland Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys.

The Eagles' staff and players continue to reiterate that they have faith in Foles to prevail in the playoffs, but there is an undeniable and vast dropoff between the quality of play that the Eagles were receiving from Carson Wentz and the play that they are receiving from Nick Foles. 

Although the dropoff is obvious, Foles did show encouraging signs on Saturday when he complete 23 of 30 pass attempts for 246 yards and zero interceptions against an Atlanta defense that had been lights out coming into the game. Foles managed to keep the Eagles in the game, and once again proved that the Eagles can win games with Foles under center. 

Nate Sudfeld showed potential in his debut in week 17 against the Cowboys, but he his still overwhelmingly inexperienced to enter a playoff game if anything were to keep Nick Foles from playing. Sudfeld has just three quarters of playing time in his two-year career. 

Edge

There is still major doubt surrounding Case Keenum's renaissance in Minnesota because of how poorly he played in his other stops around the league. 

Keenum may have been poor in other seasons, but he has truly been a different player this season. The was further exemplified by him outlasting Drew Brees in a duel to steal the victory in the Divisional Round. Keenum is not an elite quarterback by any means, but he was one of the NFL's most consistently effective passers in 2017. 

Nick Foles seemed to have turned a corner in the second half of Saturday's victory over the Atlanta Falcons. His confidence began to blossom and his comfort level grew, especially with head coach Doug Pederson installing run-pass option plays that Foles had great success with in 2013. 

Although Foles looks like he is playing better, Keenum has the longer and more consistent track record this season. Minnesota also has a massive edge with Bradford being their backup versus Nate Sudfeld.