Notes on Nick: Foles not good enough in loss to Cardinals

Nick Foles threw two more picks today, and continues to lead the league in interceptions. So please, spare me with the comments this week about how I’m overreacting to Nick Foles’ interceptions.

The Eagles won the toss to start the game, and Chip Kelly, rather uncharacteristically, elected to not defer. The move didn’t pay off , as the Eagles went three and out. Foles completed a short pass to Celek on second down but nearly threw a pick on third down.

On the second drive, Foles made a really nice throw to Jordan Matthews on third and long. He also sold the read-option well on what turned out to be a screen pass to Jeremy Maclin for a touchdown.

The Eagles put together a nice drive in their first possession of the second quarter , where Foles made some nice throws to Maclin and kept the play alive on a third-down long enough for Ertz to get open. He made a smart decision to dump the ball off to Huff inside the 15, and Huff made a few moves and then lost the ball on a fumble. Unfortunate.

While his throw wasn’t noteworthy, Foles did a great job on 3rd and 15 to keep the play alive and let Cooper get open and make a great catch.

Just when it appeared that Foles was playing a flawless game, he waited too long when he had Josh Huff open in the endzone and it led to an easy pick for Antonio Cromartie and a long return.

Foles’ throw into triple coverage, where Riley Cooper might have gotten away with a push-off, was one of the worst decisions that I’ve ever seen. It was a miracle that it didn’t get picked off.

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When Chris Myers said that “Nick Foles is fearless”, I almost lost my mind. No, he was safe and efficient when he was successful last year. This year, he’s had overthrows and made poor decisions, which is the reason that he is leading the NFL in turnovers.

Why didn’t Chip choose to throw a “Hail Mary” at the end of the first half? More likely than not he was already thinking ahead to halftime and it just slipped his mind. But, is it possible he didn’t want to shake Foles’ confidence with another pick?

Foles’ first half numbers ended up being 19/30 for 222 yards, a touchdown and a pick. It isn’t his fault that Huff fumbled the ball and likely cost the Eagles’ points, but it was his fault that Huff was open in the endzone later in the half and he hesitated and threw a pick. It wasn’t an awful half for Foles, but it certainly finished that way.

After the Cardinals took the lead 14-7, Foles and the Eagles strung together some nice passes, but nothing came of it and the Eagles ended up punting. I’m not making excuses for Foles, but LeSean McCoy not doing much of anything and a poor play call from Kelly on third and short didn’t exactly help Foles.

It’s great that Cody Parkey can kick 54 yard field goals and all, but Foles had Jordan Matthews wide open on the left side of the field for what would have been an easy first down and would have extended the drive. Instead, he tried to force it to Brent Celek over the middle, which led to a fourth down field goal instead of a chance at seven.

And then, even after all the struggles, Foles made one of the best throws of his life when Jeremy Maclin got a step. Those are the throws that Foles needs to be able to make, at least more often than he has this year.

Just to keep our confidence in check, Foles would throw a pick literally five yards behind Riley Cooper later in the fourth, again to Antonio Cromartie. You can’t have a quarterback turn the ball over two times a game and still expect to put together any sort of sustained success.

Chip Kelly did a great job of taking pressure off of Nick Foles on the final drive, by using both LeSean McCoy and Chris Polk, and drawing up some great read-option passes. But third and inches, and you don’t line up in the I and run it in with Polk or even just have the line push for Foles to walk in? Ehhh.

YOUR TEAM IS BUILT ON OFFENSE. JEFFREY LURIE WANTED A RISK-TAKER. SO ON FOURTH AND ONE, YOU KICK THE FIELD GOAL, ON THE ROAD?

Regardless of the fact that Foles was only a throw away from winning the game, his performance today wasn’t good enough. Even if he had completed that pass to Matthews and won the game, his performance wasn’t good enough. I want Foles to be a franchise quarterback, but regardless of a 5-2 record, he hasn’t been that this year and it’s starting to look like he just might not be one.

Also, Chip Kelly called a pretty lousy game today. Besides not going for it late, Foles should never throw 62 times a game. The Eagles took the 20-17 lead largely because they ran the ball well. Where was that commitment to the running game the rest of the game?

I’m going to keep reminding myself that the Eagles are 5-2, but my eyes keep telling me that unless Nick Foles cuts down on the turnovers, their bubble is going to burst pretty quickly. Like, they might post a losing record in the second half unless things change, quickly.