Eagles QB Nick Foles' transformation into Super Bowl starter hits high gear vs. Vikings

PHILADELPHIA — Ask any player on the Philadelphia Eagles and they’ll swear they saw this coming.

Nick Foles’ metamorphosis from shaky placeholder to serviceable game manager to now bona fide playoff force and Super Bowl quarterback comes as no surprise to them.

“We was confident in him the first snap he took after Carson (Wentz) got hurt,” running back LeGarette Blount said Sunday night after Foles led the way on a 38-7 win over Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game.

“People forgot Nick is the same dude that threw seven touchdowns in a game (in 2013). He made the Pro Bowl. He’s the same guy,” wide receiver Torrey Smith remarked after catching one of Foles’ three touchdown passes.

“Our confidence wasn’t shaken. Y’all’s was,” Smith added with a chuckle.

Said offensive tackle Lane Johnson: “I felt like we have the best backup quarterback in the league. He’s been the Pro Bowl MVP. He’s done well here. I think it’s about putting him in the right situations. Put him in the right scheme and he’s comfortable, and that’s a testament to the coaching staff for that.”

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Indeed, Foles looked every bit of the Pro Bowl passer type in Sunday’s win over the Vikings. He completed 26 of 33 passes for 352 yards, three touchdowns and a 141.4 passer rating. But that’s not how he looked at first when, six weeks ago, Wentz’s torn anterior cruciate ligament forced him into a high-pressure situation that he appeared ill-suited for.

He wasn’t bad. He looked better in those games than he did during a failed stint as the Rams' starter. But although he helped keep the Eagles afloat down the stretch of the season, going 2-1 as a starter, Foles was underwhelming. Then, he did just enough to get by in Philadelphia’s playoff opener while his defensive teammates dismantled the Atlanta Falcons in a 15-10 victory. He just didn’t look like a guy who could put team on his back.

But on Sunday, with his Eagles a game away from Super Bowl LII, Foles took control. Two takeaways and seven points by the Philadelphia defense were huge, and the first – Patrick Robinson’s first-quarter pick-six – began the momentum shift.

But Foles then directed an offense that scored another 31 unanswered points while going 10-for-14 on third downs against the top-ranked defense in the league.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich did a masterful job of designing a game plan that positioned Foles for success. And Foles' performance served as further proof that — with the proper support and strategy — anything is possible.

This belief is why Eagles players and coaches shrugged off questions of concerns about Foles’ capabilities during that underwhelming conclusion to the regular season.

They'd offer a reminder that he hadn't played a snap in the preseason thanks to an elbow injury. Foles had attempted just four passes all season long before Wentz went down in Week 13. So essentially, the final three games of the regular season served as Foles’s preseason, and coaches basically treated it as such, scaling back the playbook to avoid overloading the quarterback.

Because the Eagles earned the top seed in the NFC, thanks largely to Wentz's MVP-caliber play, they received an extra week to prepare Foles for the divisional-round game against Atlanta. Foles turned in a solid if unspectacular performance, completing 23 of 30 passes for 246 yards.

But against Minnesota on Sunday, the Eagles coaches did away with the restrictions.

Early on, Pederson and Reich did a great job of easing pressure on Foles and causing hesitation by Vikings defenders by using a heavy dose of run-pass option plays. Again and again, the Eagles went with these plays, operating at a crisp pace that helped Foles gain confidence and settle into a rhythm while keeping Minnesota on its heels.

On Philadelphia's second drive, Foles completed five of six passes for 42 yards while the Eagles sprinkled in six runs for 33 yards, capping the march with an 11-yard touchdown run by Blount.

From there, Foles’ comfort and confidence only increased. He hung tough in the pocket, ignoring the rush and keeping his eyes downfield to find receivers for key gains. He froze defenders with pump fakes, and he used his legs to extend plays and buy his receivers time to get open — before dropping dimes to move the chains and hang more points on the board. He even perfectly executed a flea flicker for a 41-yard touchdown to Smith.

“I just told him I was so proud of him and I loved him,” Pederson said.

Foles, meanwhile, deflected the praise.

“The big thing tonight,” Foles said, “was we were able to do a bunch of different stuff. … we were able to keep them out of a rhythm. That defense does a really good job. They can catch a rhythm and are almost unstoppable. But we were able to keep them off-balance. … The coaches did an amazing job of giving us a scheme this week and the guys did a great job of executing it.”

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Follow Mike Jones on Twitter @ByMikeJones

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