Alan Truex: Eagles take off as Nick Foles replaces Carson Wentz

When the Philadelphia Eagles lost 48-7 in New Orleans in November, their season was declared over by just about all their followers.  Their won-lost record was 4-6. They had a lethal case of Super Bowl hangover. One of the causes of that is the inevitable loss of brilliant assistant coaches.  The Eagles’ offense was hugely missing the 2017 coordinator Frank Reich, who was rewarded with the head coaching job in Indianapolis.

Besides all that, quarterback Carson Wentz was struggling with the lingering effects of knee reconstruction.  The lead running back, Jay Ajayi, was on injured reserve. The offensive line was severed by injuries. So was the D-line.  And the secondary.

This was a team ready to collapse.  If it wasn’t already in its death throes.  

The national media scoffed when Eagles coach Doug Pederson said he wasn’t worried, that now “the pressure is off.”

The ultimate rationalization.

But that was truly how Pederson viewed the situation, and it turns out he was amazingly prescient.  He knew he still had a roster of players as talented as anybody else’s. He asked his players not to think about the season of failures but to go out and enjoy playing the game of football and playing it at their best.

Fletcher Cox, Philly’s All-Pro defensive tackle, told Peter King how he felt on that long flight from New Orleans: “We got our eyeballs beat out.  Next day, coach met with us, and we were like, ‘Just gotta flush it out.’ Since then, guys were all in, whatever happens, just have fun, play together. . . . Forget everything, everybody on the outside.”

There was no instant turnaround.  When they lost, for the second time, to division mate Dallas on Dec. 9, the Eagles were an unthreatening 6-7.  And then came what should have been the coup de grace, the loss of Wentz, 2017 MVP candidate, to a fractured back.  Pederson wasn’t saying it was season-ending, but everyone knew it was.

So now they’d have to run the table with Nick Foles, the pro-football, 29-year-old version of Rudy, though much taller, at 6-6.  Foles was a third-round draft pick, arm of limited strength, who would be discarded by multiple teams, including the one that drafted him, Philadelphia.  He’s a roller-coaster. He was Super Bowl MVP in 2017, but that was viewed as a fluke, or perhaps divine intervention. He is, after all, a passionate Christian who intends to be a pastor when he retires from football.

Defying all odds, for the second consecutive season Foles met the impossible challenge, won the final three games, completing more than 70% of his passes in every one.  Two of the Eagles’ wins came against division champions, the Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans. Sunday’s 24-0 breeze past the Washington Redskins sets up the Eagles for a playoff opener in Chicago (Sunday, 3:40 CDT) against another division titleist.  

The Eagles would not have gotten in, at 9-7, if the Bears had lost in Minnesota on Sunday.  There had been rampant media speculation that Bears coach Matt Nagy would rest his key players to keep them healthy for the postseason.  But Nagy insisted on going all out – or at least almost all. He rested his defensive ace, the supreme edge rusher Khalil Mack. But the Bears went for the win in Minni, and got it, 24-10.  So now they face Philadelphia instead of Minnesota again.

And Nagy is facing second-guessing for his postseason preparation.  Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said: “We could be sitting here one week from now talking about how the Bears regret beating the Vikings and letting the Eagles in.”

There’s little doubt the Eagles are a more formidable team than the Vikings, whose running game never got traction and whose passing game faltered with quarterback Kirk Cousins seemingly burdened by his new $84 million contract.  

The Eagles are healthier than they’ve been all season, as they’re recently reunited with All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson, defensive tackle Tim Jernigan, middle linebacker Jordan Hicks and star rookie cornerback Avonte Maddox.  And the running game has taken life with the midseason emergence of undrafted rookie Josh Adams.

Even so, the 12-4 Bears are a 6-point favorite against Philly.  That seems a bit steep, considering the big-game experience of the visiting team.  The difference at quarterback is especially significant. Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky is a second-year pro, and he’s never played in a postseason.

Foles has performed so well after replacing Wentz for a second time that a dread quarterback controversy seems likely.  Wentz is the much superior athlete and thrower, but he’s not as adept at managing the game – and his teammates – as Foles, who distributes the ball like he’s an NBA point guard.

Wentz was so committed to the hot hand(s) of Zach Ertz that he ignored the other receivers.  Alshon Jeffery has 30 receptions in the five games he’s played with Foles. It took him twice as many games to achieve that same total with Wentz.  There were times when Jeffery was quitting his routes, visibly frustrated at rarely being a target. Not to excuse such an unprofessional attitude, but great leaders motivate the shirkers as well as the workers.

This is not to say Wentz is doing anything wrong.  The Eagles are 16-8 in his starts. He has telegenic flair, unscripted, like Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, hanging onto the ball, inviting and incurring sacks while hoping to make a splash play downfield.  As long as he’s able to play – which is the main issue – he’s better for the game, better for the industry, than the rather ubiquitous Nick Foles.

But Super Bowls are often won by quarterbacks who build teamwork and inspire each player to a maximum effort.   I don’t care if he does it with Hail Marys of all kinds. I don’t care if he does it with footballs that spiral or wobble.  But if the objective is winning championships, what works best is a moderately paid quarterback – Tom Brady or Nick Foles – surrounded by teammates who execute a well-designed game plan by a masterful coach – Bill Belichick or Doug Pederson and their staffs.

Foles is perfect for now, in the final year of his contract with the Eagles, earning about $13 million – less than half what Kirk Cousins is taking from the Vikings’ chest.  Wentz next season will be in the final year of his rookie contract, will make around $9 million. The Eagles are contracted to keep Foles as insurance at $20 mil. But he can opt to buy his 2019 free agency for $2 million.  Where will that lead? Kirk Cousins has set a low bar for quarterback tycoonery.