After another strong performance against the Washington Redskins Sunday, Nick Foles is drawing praise from his head coach and teammates. Photo: PhiladelphiaEagles.com
Nick Foles wasn't at his sharpest Sunday as the Eagles topped the Washington Redskins to move alone atop the NFC East standings, but he continued to prove why he is deserving to start under center for at least the remainder of this season.
Foles didn't throw a touchdown pass in a game for the first time since his dismal showing against the Dallas Cowboys back on October 20th but the 24-year old passed for 297 yards, rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown while finishing rounding out the day without throwing an interception all season.
Following the Eagles 24-16 win over the Redskins which saw the second-year signal caller complete 17 of 26 passes while averaging 11.4 yards per attempt, head coach Chip Kelly had nothing but praise for his quarterback.
"I Love the fact that I get to coach him and don't coach against him," Kelly said following the game. "But he is a tough kid.
By Monday, the head coach pointed out the qualities that he values most from the position and where Foles is seeing the most success in his five starts, where he has posted a 4-1 record this season.
"It doesn't matter what plays are called or schemes are run, they still have to be executed," Kelly said of what is more important, the play of his quarterback or the system in which they operate. "I think he is executing them. All the credit goes to him. He spends a lot of time, he works extremely hard at it. He's got a real good grasp of what we're doing. He's extremely accurate in his throws. He's doing a great job of just making decisions and not putting the ball in harm's way. He's a really, really good decision-maker. It's exciting to see him grow there."
Kelly pointed out that the most important attributes of any quarterback that he employs is whether or not they win and not throwing interceptions.
Foles is now 4-1 as a starter, and came on in relief of Michael Vick against the New York Giants at Met Life Stadium and threw two touchdowns in a come from behind victory. He's thrown 16 touchdowns and zero interceptions, just four scores shy of Peyton Manning's NFL record of tossing 20 touchdowns before throwing his first interception.
The head coach made it clear that Foles will be the starter during the bye week -he was kidding- but that as soon as Vick is healthy enough to return he will have a conversation with both quarterbacks to address who the starting quarterback is the rest of the way. But with each successful outing by Foles, it's becoming more and more apparent that this is his job to lose for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, Foles' teammates continue to take notice of his strong play.
“Nick is doing a great job," wide receiver DeSean Jackson said. "He’s come a long way. He is hot right now. We’re on a roll, and we just have to keep it going and finish the season strong. We’re 6-5, but we have some tough games ahead of us. That’s the interesting thing about the division right now. We’re just excited to be at the top, and hopefully we can finish strong and get that first seed.”
After another victory, it is clear that Foles gives this team the best opportunity to accomplish those goals.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
