It's ALIVE!!!! Big win for Eagles, big loss by Vikings

I wanna scream “We Did It!” but the fact is “we” includes the Chicago Bears. The AP headlines read:

“Nick Foles‘ magic stretched all the way back to Minnesota.

Foles did it again, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 24-0 victory over the Redskins and the defending Super Bowl champions earned the NFC’s final wild-card berth when Chicago beat the Vikings on Sunday.”

That’s how I’ll always remember this day as they come to take me away.

The Eagles (9-7) will play at the Bears (12-4) next weekend.

Foles tied Philip Rivers‘ NFL record by completing 25 straight passes and threw two touchdown passes before a chest injury forced him out of the game. Nate Sudfeld fired a 22-yard TD on his only pass.

See, I feel bad about this because I was dogging on Foles the entire time he was in the game about his missing high and wide and s-l-o-w on so many routine throws. Then I remembered—that Clowney hit he took against Houston last week (clean but technically illegal on a very subtle rules interpretation) probably had some collateral damage still playing out. Foles was still feeling the effects of that hit on Sunday. As I recall from having suffered a similar hit in my very brief football career, it was way more than just getting the wind knocked out of me.

The Eagles clock-dominated the Redskins, controlling the ball for 43:19. Philadelphia’s defense held Washington to only 89 yards total offense. This game plan went exactly as EYE drew it up in the previous blurb. I begged for long low-risk sustained drives. One nearly-12-minute drive by Philadelphia was the longest in the NFL since the Browns had a field-goal drive that lasted 12:01 against the Chiefs in 2015. The 19 plays were the most in a drive against Washington since 1999.

Foles finished 28 of 33 for 221 yards, two TDs and one interception.

He tossed a 2-yard pass to Alshon Jeffery to cap a 19-play, 87-yard drive that took 11:49 in the second quarter, giving Philadelphia a 10-0 lead. Foles was 10 of 10 on the drive and the Eagles converted three times on third downs and once on fourth-and-1.

Foles connected with Nelson Agholor on a 6-yard pass to make it 17-0 late in the third quarter. On the previous play, Foles had a chance to break the completion record but misfired on a pass to Agholor.

Sudfeld hit Agholor on a catch-and-run TD to extend the lead to 24-0 in the fourth.

Josh Johnson, making his third start for the Redskins after Alex Smith and Colt McCoy sustained season-ending injuries and Mark Sanchez was ineffective, was 12 of 27 for 91 yards and one pick.

Rasul Douglas intercepted Johnson on the first play from scrimmage.

INJURIES: Redskins: RG Tony Bergstrom left with a knee injury.

Eagles: Foles left in the fourth quarter with a chest injury. That’s code for sore ribs, which until we get MRI results back could mean anything. Assuming the worst, do you bring Carson Wentz back despite a still-healing vertebra? Do you roll with Nate Sudfeld? Do you dare seek permission to pick up Mark Sanchez?

I’m still shell-shocked from how the stars aligned to make such questions even possibly relevant. Oh, I’ve got to go pick out my wardrobe for the PLAYOFF game in Chicago next weekend. I guess it will be chilly, maybe even..FOGGY?

Matchup
1st Downs	25	8
Passing 1st downs	15	6
Rushing 1st downs	10	1
1st downs from penalties	0	1
3rd down efficiency	8-14	0-9
4th down efficiency	1-1	2-4
Total Plays	71	44
Total Yards	360	89
Total Drives	9	9
Yards per Play	5.1	2.0
Passing	231	68
Comp-Att	29-34	13-28
Yards per pass	6.2	2.1
Interceptions thrown	1	1
Sacks-Yards Lost	3-12	4-30
Rushing	129	21
Rushing Attempts	34	12
Yards per rush	3.8	1.8
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-3	0-0
Penalties	5-25	2-15
Turnovers	1	1
Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	1	1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	43:19	16:41