Foles seemed destined for more magic
This time, however, the backup quarterback, and the Birds, fell short.
— Nick Foles had the Philadelphia Eagles on the verge of another magical comeback Sunday.
A missed field goal had given the Eagles new life in the NFC Divisional Playoff just as a missed field goal had given their season new life a week earlier in Chicago.
This time a double doink, not even a single doink, was required as Wil Lutz pushed a 52-yard field goal wide right for just his third miss of the season.
That left the New Orleans Saints with a 20-14 lead and Foles and his Eagles nearly three minutes to drive 58 yards to a go-ahead touchdown in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
“I thought we were on our way,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said.
It looked that way as a 16-yard completion from Foles to Zach Ertz and a roughing-the-passer penalty on Saints rookie Marcus Davenport had the Eagles at the New Orleans 27.
The Eagles seemed destined to claim another victory behind Foles, just as they had a week earlier, just as they had in their final three regular-season games, just as they had during their march to the Super Bowl title last season.
But Foles’ next pass — his last pass of the game and maybe his last as an Eagle — bounced off the hands of Alson Jeffery and into the hands of Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who made his second interception of the game.
Moments later, Drew Brees was kneeling down, the Saints were on their way to the NFC Championship Game, and the Eagles were on their way home for the offseason.
“We were able to do some really special things [the last two seasons],” Foles said. “We moved the ball [Sunday] — unfortunately it didn’t go our way in the end.”
Foles completed 18 of 31 for 201 yards and a 37-yard touchdown to Jordan Matthews. But the two interceptions were significant blemishes, the first jump-starting New Orleans’ comeback from a 14-0 deficit, the second short-circuiting the Eagles’ attempted comeback.
“I appreciate everything he has done,” Pederson said of Foles.
After the Saints took their first lead, 17-14, late in the third quarter, Foles faced a secondand-12 after a false-start penalty, and he found Zach Ertz for a
17-yard completion.
But after that Foles went just 3 for 7 for nine yards until the final possession.
On the first possession, Foles was masterful.
He completed all five of his passes, connecting with five different receivers during a 76-yard drive that ended with the touchdown to Matthews.
Foles completed his first passes on the next drive before getting his first incompletion a throwaway. He followed that with a picture-perfect backshoulder completion to Jeffery for a 30-yard gain to the New Orleans 4 on third-and-7.
Two plays later Foles sneaked a yard for a touchdown.
The Eagles were approaching scoring position on their third possession when Lattimore made a leaping interception of a Foles pass at the Saints 21.
“I probably needed to get that ball up another foot or so,” Foles said.
The Eagles still had a 14-0 lead, but they wouldn’t score again, gaining just 99 yards on their last eight possessions after gaining 151 on their first two.
“We felt like we could [score] if we hit that play,” Pederson said of Foles’ first interception. “It kind of changed after that.”