Foles continues to struggle

The Eagles continued their success in week six with a convincing win against a New York Giants team that previously won three in a row and found their offensive stride in the past few weeks going into the game. Even the hardcore Eagles fans in Philadelphia were unsure of how the Eagles would win with a struggling defensive secondary and two injured starting inside linebackers. As if things were not bad enough defensively, the offensive side of the ball has been a question mark for most of the season.

No one knew what was going to happen against the Giants until the 4th quarter was over.

LeSean McCoy found his groove with an offensive line that finally found some consistency this week with Lane Johnson being in the line-up for the second week in a row. Nick Foles threw two touchdowns on their way to a 27-0 shutout that was never as close as it seemed, which wasn’t close at all.

Nick Foles also threw two interceptions in that game.

STATING THE FACTS

Chip Kelly’s offensive philosophy is to take care of the ball in the air and keep it going in the ground game as much as possible. The problem has been the former this year for Foles. He now has seven interceptions this season which is tied for second in the league. Want to know a surprising fact? Nick Foles has only been sacked twice in the last five weeks and, on the outside looking in, that would be the mark of a good offensive line.

Still, if you have watched any of the games this season, you would have seen enormous amounts of pressure that has been in Foles’ face throughout almost every game. Last year, Foles used to hold the ball too long in certain situations and he would take sacks when he could, seemingly, get rid of the football by throwing it away or throwing it to a receiver. This year, Foles has switched one issue for the other.

Or has he?

Last year, Nick Foles led the league in what is considered “would-be interceptions” and whether it came from sheer luck or not, most of those balls were simply dropped by defenders. As a result, it’s pretty obvious that opposing defenses believe they will get their chances as long as they stay disciplined and they figure out ways to apply pressure.

In week six, the New York Giants came into the game with a very simple game-plan. The Giants defense would decide to use four-man pressure and drop seven defenders into coverage, consistently, believing that the Eagles offensive line could not and would not provide Foles with enough time. The 49ers and the Rams decided on this conservative style of defense as well, relying solely on a base sets to defend the field.

This style of defense only works when the offensive line is incapable of protecting against a base defensive front where linebackers can afford to drop into coverage without sacrificing the pass rush. Instead of seeing increased sack numbers with the offensive line struggling, we have seen an increased number of errant throws and ill-advised passes. The struggling running game has also been a factor, which is causing Foles to force the issue down the field. The stat that highlights the struggling running game is that Foles is second in the NFL in passes attempted only to Andrew Luck even though this is a run based offense.

Considering these ideas, the question remains as to why Foles threw two more interceptions against the Giants.

Many of Foles interceptions this year have come as the result of bad decision making under pressure, which is something that he also displayed last season. Whether the passes were, simply, inaccurate or the passes are bad decisions, Foles must fix his woes before the week eight match-up against the Cardinals, where he is going to meet up for the second time against one of the leagues better defenses, which also features Patrick Peterson. Peterson was one of the players last season who caught a Nick Foles “would-be interception.” However, it was wiped away thanks to a penalty.

FIXING THE PROBLEMS

1. Run the ball – The first way to prevent Foles from throwing interceptions and ill-advised passes is to prevent him from throwing the ball as often as he does. Taking into consideration the idea that the Eagles run a large amount of plays already, Foles still should have no business throwing that many passes. Getting the running game fixed and on-track is the most effective option to helps Foles down the field. This past week against the Giants was definitely a start.
2. Run the ball some more – Seriously, activating three running backs might be the best way to give the defense and Nick Foles a break. This is the bread and butter of the offense. Its time for those offensive linemen we have to display the physical nature that they showed against the Giants.
3. Practice Lo-Hi Concepts – This one is for Nick Foles more so than anyone else. Foles is going to need more time “seeing” and “throwing” our WR’s open. It is paramount that he understands that short passing routes open up the deep ball and vice-versa. Throwing into double and triple coverage, sometimes throwing without looking, is not how you win a game.