Can the Philadelphia Eagles fix Nick Foles?

After a strong first start against the Giants, Nick Foles limps into the playoffs on two poor outings. But can the Philadelphia Eagles fix staff fix Foles?

After the Philadelphia Eagles lost Carson Wentz for the season with a torn ACL, all hope of an Eagles playoff run fell on the shoulders of Nick Foles. Foles made many believe after a strong four-touchdown performance in his first start, but everyone’s confidence drifted away after two poor outings from Foles.

Going into the postseason, the Eagles are going to need to lean on the running game and defense a lot more than when Wentz was playing. But if the Eagles are going to make a playoff run, they are going to need Foles to make plays when needed, and Foles is going to have to be better than he has been the last two weeks.

Unlike most backup quarterbacks, Foles has prior playoff experience and has played well previously. We all remember the 2013 season, but we also must admit that Foles is not the same quarterback he was four years ago. But at the same time, it is known that Foles can play well.

Throughout his career, Foles has a strong record of bouncing back after a poor game. In 2013, Foles played one of the worse games of his career in a 17-3 loss to Dallas and returned from a concussion two games later to put up seven touchdowns against the Oakland Raiders.

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But after a poor showing against the Raiders, Foles did little to instill confidence in his quarter of play against the Cowboys. Granted, if Torrey Smith catches that crossing route and Zach Ertz doesn’t fall down, then we may look at that game a whole lot differently and may have more confidence in Foles heading into the postseason.

Even after two poor starts, Eagles coach Doug Pederson is sticking by his quarterback going into the postseason. As per NFL’s Ian Rapoport, Doug texted him and said that Foles is still his guy.

Confidence from your coach is huge especially going into a postseason game. But confidence alone is not going to turn Foles around overnight. Pederson also said that Foles will be getting all of the first-team reps over the next two weeks, quickly silencing anyone calling for backup Nate Sudfeld.

But Pederson did say if they were in a playoff game and Foles is really struggling, he would pull Foles in a desperation move to spark the offense. This is something that is absolutely a last resort and hopefully does not have to happen.

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To avoid that happening, the Eagles are going to need to get Foles right, and they are going to have to do it fast. Luckily, they have extra time with the bye week which should only benefit Foles and the Eagles offense in getting as many reps as possible.

Six full practices the next two weeks, and one a week with pads on will help the Eagles up their intensity again and give some of the guys that edge back that seemed to be lost the past two weeks. The more intense reps should help Foles and have him prepared when the Eagles kick off their playoff game next Saturday.

As much as it’s on Foles to get things right, a lot of the responsibility also falls onto the coaches to put him in a position to succeed. Putting him in favorable down and distances will be huge as well as calling plays that Foles is comfortable running.

Pederson has even gone back and watched film of Foles from 2013, and other seasons to see where he thrives. The Eagles will need to use the strengths they see in Foles and devise a game plan to cater to both their quarterback and their offense as a whole.

Coach Pederson has always been open to ideas and did not rule out the possibility of adding some up-tempo to the Eagles offense; seeing that Foles has thrived in that style of offense under Chip Kelly, and even this year when they went hurry up at times.

At the end of the day, it is going to be a collective effort in getting Foles right and getting this offense going again.

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It is on Foles to take his reps these next two weeks and get more comfortable going forward. The coaches need to draw a game plan to cater to Foles’ strengths and keep the offense in a favorable position with the running game.

And the rest of the offense needs to understand that they don’t have an MVP candidate at quarterback anymore, and each and every one of them must step up and help their quarterback out. The line needs to play exceptional, the running backs need to fight for every yard they can get, and the receivers need to make plays for their quarterback.

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If all of that can happen and Foles can figure it out before January 13th, then maybe the Eagles Super Bowl aspirations aren’t dead quite yet.