Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Foles’ season debut was a win-win for Pederson
No matter when it would happen, no matter for how long it lasted, no matter the level of its intensity, the 2018 Eagles were destined for a quarterback debate. For that, it was just as good for them that it likely will be over in a hurry.
Though Carson Wentz would be their ultimate choice, the Eagles were not going to sneak him in and out of the surgery recovery room without a persistent what-if buzz. While they spent enough draft picks for his rights to help stock a team for a football generation, they were not going to avoid the badgering.
It was their price, as it was their reward, for their careful depth-chart planning. It was what they had to know could happen when they first invested $11 million in Nick Foles for two years. It was what they could not avoid when, true story, Foles became the MVP of the last Super Bowl.
At some point, the fans, and the press too, would wonder if Foles was a worthwhile alternative as a starting quarterback. It may have happened when Wentz threw his first interception. It could have happened had Wentz been hit early in the season on his recovering knee, limped back to the huddle, and looked a half-second slow on the ensuing play. It would have happened whenever Wentz lost a game. It would have gone viral had Wentz been twisted into a losing streak.
That was the go-to-Disney-World quarterback standing there grinning. One way or another, there would have been pressure to let him appear in a remake. Doug Pederson’s only hope was that, whenever Foles had that chance, the Eagles could survive two challenges. His best hope was that his team could continue to find ways to win, but that Foles would be just pedestrian enough that he looked as much like the quarterback who couldn’t find playing time in Kansas City as he did a franchise showpiece.
In that, the Eagles were 2-for-2 in their opener. They won. And, when Foles defined ordinary, they won again. By the time Foles missed on 15 of his 34 passes, did not throw a touchdown pass, had a quarterback rating of 26.2, was sacked twice and intercepted once, and had the Birds’ second-longest average pass completion of the night behind Nelson Agholor, Pederson already was in the clear. Because the Eagles’ defense was so dominant in that 18-12 victory over Atlanta, and likely because as Foles was not as blah as Matt Ryan, there was no immediate call for Nate Sudfeld. But it was all enough that Pederson could bring Wentz back at any time, confident that even his most bitter critics would dare not make faces.
He may even have achieved that by halftime, when the Foles-led offense could manage just three points, inspiring a lockerroom sit-down and decision just to simplify everything.
“I wanted to just pick his brain and find out what he was comfortable with, what we had left on the call sheet to go to and find some things that we could generate a little bit of some offense with,” Pederson said. “He had some ideas and I had some ideas, and we were comfortable with that. And we just had to really kind of focus in on a little bit of quick throws.
“We got back to the run, and then a couple of deep throws that we just missed on. But those were all plays that he and I were comfortable with in the second half.”
To hear Pederson’s explanation, and it is credible, the decision to keep Wentz out of full-contact pro football was made by stethoscope jockeys, not football thinkers. That was convenient for the Birds, too, for it enabled their Opening Night carry-on to include Foles as the starter. He deserved that honor. He won it with his performance in the last postseason, and with his legend-building effort in the Super Bowl. That was his bow, not Carson Wentz’s, to take. So he took it, almost slipped, and soon will be able to shuffle off the stage having produced exactly what No. 2 quarterbacks are hired to provide: Wins, not controversies.
“It’s a special place to work,” Foles said. “It’s camaraderie. It’s a family, and it’s not just about X’s and O’s. We always try and make it X’s and O’s, but it’s not. It’s not turning on one another. It’s going to work every day and enjoying where you work. I’ve been fortunate in my stints in Philly to work in a great environment at a great facility with great people. I really pay tribute to them for us being able to pull out these tough wins.”
Foles will play again next Sunday in Tampa. Some recent reports are that he may need to start for at least another month. Toward the end of training camp, Pederson turned grumpy whenever the discussion grew. But he had to know that, at some point, the Foles-orWentz referendum would rise to the level of public debate.
One game into the Super Bowl encore, the Eagles are in first place, Wentz is being given more healing time and Foles is doing just enough to win but not dazzle.
As back-door, tricky plays go, the Eagles and Pederson have never run one more effectively.