Nick Foles' struggles against the Dallas Cowboys is the one glaring downer on his otherwise mostely spotless 2013 campaign. On Sunday, he and his teamates have a chance at redemption. (Image via Philly.com)
The one enigma of Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles magical maiden voyage under Chip Kelly is the first game against the Dallas Cowboys back on October 20th.
In that game, Foles and the Eagles offense was stifled by the Cowboys in a 17-3 loss that dropped the Birds to 3-4 on the year.
Dallas in that game had a healthy Sean Lee at their disposal and an offense, that while ranked 32nd in the league as they will be again on Sunday night, hadn't yet been ransacked by injuries to key starters across the board. The plan against the Eagles the first time around was to play single safety coverage with one safety in run support and pinch the corners. The strategy confused Foles who was making just his second start of the season and it showed.
Foles missed receivers high, he missed them low, and in short was inaccurate all game long and held onto the football for what felt like an eternity time and time again. The result was an 80-yard passing performance that represents the lowest out put of the season for Foles who has this season tossed 25 touchdowns and only two interceptions.
So now, with what amounts to a playoff game awaiting Sunday with the NFC East division championship on the line Foles has a chance at redemption.
“I wasn’t concerned at all. I was thankful to the good Lord for giving me my health back in that time,” said Foles. “When you go through a concussion it’s a serious thing. It’s your head. And down the road I want to be able to be around for my kids and throw the football with them. I think about that when stuff like that happens. That’s what’s important in life: your family, your faith, and after that I was just thankful to be healthy, to be out there throwing the football."
Thus has been the mentality of Foles, Kelly and this Eagles team that has won six of it's eight games since Dallas Week Take One.
"I"m confident in Nick," Kelly asserted Thursday. "The one thing about him that you have to appreciate is that he keeps getting better and better each week.
"You have to give Nick a lot of credit. He does some great things in practice. Even yesterday he made a play that made me stand back and say 'wow, I can't wait to see him play again.'"
Foles has a 24-hour rule in which he doesn't allow himself to get too high or too low after wins or losses respectively. Despite being asked repetitively about what went wrong on that October afternoon in South Philadelphia, Foles understands that you cannot let one game define the effort of a season or cloud the preparation for the next challenge.
“I know better than that. I know better than that,” said Foles. “I know everybody’s going to dwell on the last time, but it’s not the last time. This game is not the last game.
“I can’t go back in time. I can’t do that. What I can control is how I do today, how I prepare, how I threw the routes, how I went through the progressions, was I accurate for the receivers. And if I take care of today I’ll worry about tomorrow when it comes and then I’ll get better then, and by game day hopefully we’ll be in a good position to be successful.”
Sunday is a chance for this team to make it's first post-season berth since January 2011 and also erase the glaring question mark that remains from Kelly's first NFL season.
What is aiding them is the fact that these are now two teams that are headed in completely opposite directions this time around.
While the Cowboys are injured, the Eagles are among the healthiest teams in the National Football League, even at this late juncture.
The Eagles dismantled the Chicago Bears – who were playing for the NFC North championship- Sunday night 54-11, while the Cowboys escaped Washington with a victory by the skin of their teeth.
On Sunday though, the scope of how this season will be viewed will come down to just one game.
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.
