What Happened When Nick Foles Went Into The Game: Part 1

Just like everyone else I wondered what happened when Nick Foles came into the Giants game to get the offense moving.  Was he doing something different from what Vick was doing or was it something else?   After looking at the tape of the game, I saw numerous factors which changed when Foles came into the game.  Some of those factors involved him trying to get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible and some of them didn’t involve him.  Let’s take a look at how he led them downfield on a long scoring drive before the half.

On the first play when Foles went into the game with one minutes and 25 seconds to go in the first half and the ball on the Eagles seven-yard line, he was fortunate to have LeSean McCloy running an option route against Giants linebacker, Spencer Paysinger.  As you might expect it was no contest.  McCoy shook Paysinger and got open coming inside.  Foles got the ball to him for a nine-yard gain.  The key to the play was having McCoy matched up against the linebacker and he was running an option route.

Another key was the fact that Foles was wise enough to know that this was his best matchup.

The Eagles should do more of this.  If they’re facing man-to-man coverage and DeSean Jackson is being doubled, the best matchup they have with Jason Avant, Riley Cooper, Brent Celek and McCoy in there as the other eligible receivers is McCoy against the linebacker.  Those other three receivers haven’t been winning their one-on-one battles to get open all season long.

On the next play with a minute and two seconds to go on the clock before the half, McCoy ran the ball up the middle for two yards to the eighteen yard line.  Things didn’t look good at this point in the Birds scoring before the half.

Now with the ball on the 18 yard line and 48 seconds to go before the half, Foles hit Jason Avant on a short out route for five yards.  Avant lined up off the line of scrimmage, just inside of tight end Brent Celek.  At the snap of the ball, Avant ran upfield on an angle toward the sideline.  The guy who was covering him was lined up about seven yards off the ball, while the guy covering Celek was in press position, therefore the guy covering Avant couldn’t avoid getting picked by Celek and the guy who was covering him.

It would seem like an accident or coincidence to a novice that Celek just happened to get in the was of the guy who was covering Avant, but this was no coincidence, this was a pick play.   It got Avant open for a five yard gain, plus he went out of bounds to stop the clock.

One thing that jumps out at you about Foles is that he’s ready to get the ball out of his hands.  He didn’t come into the game looking for anything deep.  The youngster was intent on getting the ball out of his hands and taking what the defense gave him.

On the next play with the ball on the 23-yard line and 43 seconds to go in the half, Foles threw a short pass to McCoy on the right sideline.  He ran an arrow route, caught the football and headed out of bounds for a one-yard gain, but he was able to stop the clock. again.

Now the ball was on the 24-yard line with only 38 seconds to play in the first half.  Foles dropped back and hit McCoy on an arrow route for a 12 yard gain.  McCoy looked like he was running an option route on the linebacker, Jacquian Williams.  On an option route, McCoy has the option of going inside or outside.  You’ve got to give Foles credit for getting the ball out of his hands immediately.

He might have identified the best matchup for the Eagles offense when he came to the line of scrimmage and that was probably the reason he was ready to get the ball to McCoy when the running back came open.  One of the keys to quarterbacking is being able to anticipate what’s going to happen.  This was a brilliant decision by Foles.

McCoy went out of bounds after making the catch, so the clocked was again stopped, this time with 31 seconds to go in the half.  The pass to McCoy was a huge play for the Birds.  Now they had the ball on their own 36 yard line.

With 31 seconds to go in the half, Foles dropped back and hit rookie Zach Ertz in the middle of the field for a 14 yard gain.  It was a low throw, but Ertz was able to go down on the ground and make the catch.  The play design had DeSean Jackson going on a shallow cross in front of the New York linebackers from the Eagles right to the left side of the field.

It’s hard to decipher what type of defense the Giants were in because some New York defenders were playing zone, while others were playing man-to-man.  After the play, the Eagles used their first timeout of the half.

Now they had the ball on the 50 yard line with 26 seconds to go on the clock.  The Giants tried to blitz Foles on the next play and the second-year quarterback was ready for it.  With Mathias Kiwenuka turned loose and rushing in his face, Foles calmly threw the ball over the pass rusher’s head to running back Bryce Brown, who had run a short arrow route outside into the flat.  Brown caught the football and was tackled immediately by New York safety Will Hill.

Foles doesn’t panic when he recognizes the blitz.  He could have thrown the ball harder to Brown and he may have been able to make a move on Hill, but Foles should be praised for making the right decision against the blitz.

After Brown was tackled, the Birds used their second time out of the first half.  They now had the ball on the 44 yard-line with only 19 seconds to play in the first half.

Foles didn’t have of a chance to do much on the next play.  He was under instant pressure when he dropped into the pocket on the next play.  Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was offside on the play and he came flying in there to put a good hit on Foles.  Even with the pressure, Foles was cool under fire.  He rolled to his right a few steps and threw the ball in the direction of DeSean Jackson, who was running a short comeback route on the right side.

The pass fell incomplete, but because of the penalty on Pierre-Paul the Birds were now on the Giants 39-yard line.

Foles dropped back on the next play with only 15 seconds to go in the half and immediately threw the ball long on the right side.  DeSean Jackson was getting jammed and unable to get free deep on a go route, so Foles threw it away. This was a brilliant move because he saved enough time on the play to give the Eagles the chance run two additional plays.  He looked to his left and didn’t like what he saw, so without hesitation he threw the ball out of bounds on the right side far over Jackson’s head.

On the next play, Foles did something which was extraordinary  as a quarterback in a make it or break it situation with the clock ticking down and only a split second to make a decision.  DeSean Jackson was having some problems getting off the jam on the right side of the formation.  The defensive back got a good jam on him and was on his inside in good position, but Foles threw Jackson open on the throw.  He threw the ball outside of Jackson toward the sideline where only Jackson could get to it.  Jackson was looking back for the ball over his left shoulder, but he saw the ball released and was able to turn back to his right side with the ball in the air.

Foles put some air under the ball so that Jackson had time enough to change to looking back over his left shoulder to looking back over his right shoulder and catch the football before running out of bounds.

The Eagles were now on the Giants 26-yard line with four seconds to go on the clock.  Alex Henery came in and booted an easy 38 yard field goal to put the Eagles ahead by a 19-7 score.