USA TODAY International Edition
Foles or Cousins: Who’s best for must-win?
Every team needs a player like Nick Foles, who is much more than a capable backup poised to fill in for an emergency. He’s become something like a movement, an inspiration, which the Eagles can surely vouch for (again). The reigning Super Bowl MVP reignited the seemingly extinguished playoff hopes the past two weeks while quarterback Carson Wentz nursed a back injury.
Philadelphia (8-7) heads into Sunday’s game at Washington needing help from Chicago, which, like nearly everything associated with the magic of Foles at this time of year, falls into the realm of nothing being impossible. Ask yourself: With the season on the line, would you rather roll with Foles or Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who will face the Bears?
Foles broke his franchise record by passing for 471 yards, with four touchdowns, in the comeback victory against Houston last week. A backup breaking the mark he set as a backup. What a script. Call it the Miracle on Broad Street. Before that, he helped score the upset over the Rams. Two weeks, two opponents who are a combined 22-8.
Just ask Eagles defensive end Chris Long, once a Foles teammate in St. Louis. Long recently created a “shrine” in the locker room that might have embarrassed Foles (and maybe Wentz, too), but it undoubtedly expressed the vibe: The Eagles believe. And right now, that counts for something … maybe even something special.
A quick glance at other items of interest as the final weekend of the NFL’s regular season tees off …
Pressure’s on: Kirk Cousins. The logic for the Vikings in signing him to a three-year free agent deal that was unprecedented, in that it fully guaranteed its $84 million value, was simple: They were paying for the missing link that would put them over the top as a Super Bowl contender. Now the Vikings (86-1), who advanced to the conference title game last season, head into the matchup against the Bears scrapping to claim the NFC’s final playoff berth.
Of course, quarterbacks get too much credit and too much blame. And the former Washington signal-caller has respectable numbers; he ranks in the top 10 in all of the NFL’s major passing categories. Yet the playoffs hinge on beating the Bears, which would likely set up a first-round matchup to beat Chicago the following weekend at Soldier Field. Chicago’s incentive will be iffy; it needs a victory plus a Rams’ loss against the 49ers to earn a first-round bye.
Yet with both games being staged in the same time window, the Bears will still need to do their part, unless the Rams game gets out of hand quickly in an L.A. kind of way. Regardless, there’s one trend, losing against better competition, that Cousins needs to buck in living up to his contract. Since the start of last season in Washington, his teams are 1-7-1 against opponents with a winning record.
Key matchup: Lamar Jackson vs. Jamie Collins. The Browns didn’t allow a touchdown when they toppled the Ravens 12-9 in overtime in Week 5. But Cleveland’s defense, with Collins as the leading tackler (95 stops) from his SAM linebacker post, will face a different Ravens team in the make-or-break game at the Big ATM, thanks to Jackson. The dual-threat rookie quarterback has energized his team and created many headaches for defensive coaches scheming to neutralize the NFL’s most unconventional offense.
During a season in which passing numbers have exploded, the Ravens are the kings of the rushing attack. In six games since Jackson took over for Joe Flacco, the Ravens are 5-1, averaging a whopping 218.5 rushing yards, plus 35 minutes, 20 seconds of possession time that complements the NFL’s top-ranked defense. The Browns are vastly different, too, since Week 5, energized by quarterback Baker Mayfield, interim coach Gregg Williams and offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens.
And Williams, also the defensive coordinator, might be just the man to devise the plan that puts the screws to Baltimore’s revised offense. Any success would surely include a big day from Collins, who might even draw the assignment of spying on Jackson.
Next man up: Teddy Bridgewater. With the No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs locked up, the Saints will start their veteran backup while Drew Brees (and others) rest up for January. That’s standard practice when seeding is secured, but in this case, Bridgewater’s start against the Panthers is quite significant for other reasons. It will be his first regularseason start since 2015.
It’s been a long road back from the devastating knee injury that Bridgewater suffered with the Vikings, but he’s also had the good fortune of being traded from the Jets to New Orleans, which envisions him as a Foles-like insurance policy while providing the perks of growing with Brees and coach Sean Payton in one of the league’s most prolific offenses. Nonetheless, with his contract expiring at the end of the season and free agency looming, this start could be the perfect audition to impress potential free agent suitors.
Rookie watch: Justin Jackson. With Melvin Gordon back in the mix for the Chargers and change-up back Austin Ekeler returning to practice this past week from a concussion, the seventhround pick from Northwestern will probably be pegged for a much lighter workload when the playoffs roll around. Yet he’s demonstrated, especially in the comeback win at Pittsburgh, that he’s a legitimate option for an emergency. With Gordon recovered from his knee injury, Jackson had just one carry in Week 16 against Baltimore but was targeted 10 times in the passing game (seven catches, 47 yards), which provided a clue about his value.