Philadelphia Eagles: Nick Foles’ hot hand leading the way
By Carl Naimoli
The Philadelphia Eagles were able to outlast the Texans, 32-30. It was the hot hand of Nick Foles that has the champs one step closer to the playoffs.
The Philadelphia Eagles have pulled off their two best wins of the season in back-to-back weeks. While a win is a full team effort, the biggest reason for this turnaround falls on the shoulders of one man: Nick Foles.
With the Eagles season on the line, Foles had one of his best games in an Eagles uniform in Week 16 against the Houston Texans and helped them keep their playoff hopes alive. Trailing 30-29 with 1:59 remaining, the Eagles season was on the line. With Foles under center, the Eagles stormed down the field and kicker Jake Elliott gave the Eagles a 32-30 win against a tough Texans team.
On third-and-10 with the Eagles on their own 11-yard line, Foles stepped up and hit Alshon Jeffery on arguably the biggest play of the game. The 19-yard gain helped the Eagles get out of the shadow of their own end zone and begin to march down the field.
The most memorable part of the play was the hit that Foles took from Houston defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Foles stepped up in the pocket to make the throw and took a powerful blow from Clowney’s helmet directly into his midsection.
It was hard to tell how Foles would recover from the hit, but as Eagles fans have come to know, there is no quit in the backup quarterback. After one play on the sidelines, he was back on the field. And on another third-and-10, Foles hit tight end Zach Ertz for a 20-yard gain that put the Eagles in field goal position.
The final drive was just a small sample of Foles’ performance on Sunday. Foles finished with a career high 471 passing yards and four touchdowns. His play has been so impressive since he’s taken over the reigns from Carson Wentz that people in the city are referring to him as St. Nick.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone to see how Foles has been playing as he had a similar run in the playoffs last year. Foles still has one more job left on his checklist: Beat Washington in Week 17 and hope that it’s enough for the Eagles to earn a playoff spot.
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Will St. Nick be able to deliver the gift of the playoffs to Philadelphia? We’ll have to wait one more week to find out.