Are Philadelphia Eagles ready to repeat with Nick Foles at the helm?
Eagles play Bears in Wild Card game - live on Sky Sports USA (channel 407), Sunday 9.40pm
Sunday 6 January 2019 19:42, UK
With three straight wins, Nick Foles has brought back memories of last year's Super Bowl run.
Just a short time ago, it appeared the Philadelphia Eagles - defending champions - had suffered the defeat that would signal the end of their season.
A Week 14 win over the Cowboys would have brought both team's records to 7-6 and given Philadelphia a strong chance of taking the NFC East. Instead, a heart-breaking overtime loss dropped them to 6-7 while the Cowboys moved to 8-5
However, after a miracle ending, the Eagles made it back into the postseason. They closed out the season with three straight wins - including upset victories in Los Angeles and at home to Houston - while the Minnesota Vikings dropped a must-win game on the final day of the season to allow Philadelphia to sneak back in as the final wild card team.
With Super Bowl LII MVP Foles back at the helm, do the Eagles really have a chance of doing it all over again?
The disappointing sequel
They say the sequel is never as good as the original, and after Philadelphia finally ended their 57-year wait for a title last year, they came into the season as division favourites and were seen as a team that could challenge for a rare repeat.
The return of quarterback Carson Wentz, as well as Jason Peters, Jordan Hicks and Darren Sproles were expected to provide a boost. 2017 second-round pick Sidney Jones came back from injury, Michael Bennett was acquired from the Seahawks, and move after move signalled the Super Bowl win was not just the end, but instead the start of a special era.
But as is the norm in the ever-changing NFL, it did not come to fruition. The Eagles have 14 players on injured reserve. Wentz, initially expected to be ready for the start of the season, missed the first two games. And, after the loss to Dallas, it was revealed he was playing with a fracture in his back.
Hicks and Sproles have missed a lot of time, as has Jones, and seemingly every cornerback on the roster. The offense spluttered for most of the season, averaging just 22.9 points per game compared to 28.6 last season. The team's 31 takeaways ranked fourth in the NFL in 2017, but they managed just 17 this time around (22nd).
Is it simply the injuries? Or the personnel and coaching losses (Frank Reich, John DeFilippo, Patrick Robinson, Mychal Kendricks, LeGarrette Blount and more)? Or is it what five-time NBA title-winning coach Pat Riley described as "the disease of me"?
Head coach Doug Pederson, known for his aggressive, do-or-die coaching style - he even released a book in the summer titled 'Fearless' - seemingly took his foot off the gas as a play-caller. Players who excelled last season have taken a step back.
Did the team spend too long looking in the mirror rather than looking ahead? If they did, the 48-7 drubbing at the hands of the New Orleans Saints - the worst loss by a Super Bowl winner in the following season - woke them up.
In their five wins out of the last six games - and the second half of the demoralising defeat in Dallas to Amari Cooper's deflected touchdown - the Eagles have shown what they are made of, and drawn comparisons to last year's group.
They got some luck, and they made it in. Now it is anybody's game.
The Foles effect
This is not a question of 'Foles versus Wentz'. When healthy, the 25-year-old third-year star is the man who will line up behind center. But, for now, he is on the sidelines and the team will rally around their back-up, again.
Many people suspected his absurd run last season was a fluke, a one-off, not replicable - Foles went 3-0 in the playoffs, completed 72.6 per cent of his passes, threw six touchdowns to just one interception, had a 115.7 passer rating, and was named Super Bowl MVP.
Amazingly, the encore has been just as impressive, and it has even been argued he is playing better than the elite level of last year. Philadelphia beat-writer Reuben Frank outlined some of Foles' unbelievable stats, and they paint the picture of a quarterback in the zone. Among other things...
- With 25 consecutive completions against Washington in Week 17, Foles tied the NFL record shared by Ryan Tannehill and Philip Rivers.
- Foles finished the season at 72.3 per cent accuracy, breaking the Eagles' single-season record (coincidentally set by Wentz this year) and putting him second-highest all-time, behind only Drew Brees' 74.4 per cent (also this season).
- On third down in the calendar year 2018, he was 72-for-90 (80 per cent) for 874 yards, nine touchdowns, one interception and a 135.8 passer rating.
There are few QBs playing at his level right now, but he has quite the gauntlet in front of him.
What are the Eagles capable of?
This is not the same team as last season. In 2017, everything clicked. As the team was struck by injury after injury, the pieces were in place - as was the belief - so much so that when Wentz went down in December, just like this year, the Eagles quickly regrouped.
This time, the road is different.
How far can the Eagles go? As they proved last year; all the way. But it will be a huge mountain to climb. Last year's home field advantage at Lincoln Financial Field was a difference-maker, but now their path could feature road games in Chicago, New Orleans and Los Angeles; a near-impossible three-game stretch. Yet they certainly should have belief.
Prior to his superb performance in Washington, Foles threw for 471 yards - breaking the franchise record - and four touchdowns against Houston. He has been on fire.
Perhaps more impressive in the last three weeks have been the performances of everyone but the quarterback. Pederson called a more balanced game, the play-makers have stepped up - particularly Alshon Jeffery with his 16 catches for 301 yards and two touchdowns and Fletcher Cox who had a trio of sacks against the Redskins - and the team look like they believe again.
It starts with a trip to Chicago against perhaps the best defense in the league, but the Eagles will feel their playoff adventure still has a long way to go.
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