If it wasn’t already set in stone, now is the time the Philadelphia Eagles and chain quarterback Nick Foles as their starter.
Eagles rookie coach Chip Kelly proclaimed last week that Foles would be the starting quarterback of the team for the rest of the 2013 season.
Even Michael Vick – the man Foles has replaced as starting quarterback – insisted whilst speaking to Philadelphia radio station WIP-FM that Foles indeed should be the starter.
“In all honesty, in all fairness, how can you take a guy out of the game who’s been playing so well?” Vick said.
“The one thing I never want to do is be a distraction or put our team or our coaches in a position where they feel like they’re not doing the right thing.”
Now moving forward past this season, the Eagles need to show the faith they have instilled in Foles for the rest of the season and carry that on into next year and beyond.
It’s no secret that since Foles has taken over from the injury prone Vick that he has been nothing short of sensational throwing an impressive 19 touchdown passes and zero picks.
He also has eclipsed Vick’s Eagles team record for most passes without an interception (224 set in 2010) with 233 this season.
Nick Foles CANNOT be stopped. 3 TD passes today, 19 on the season, and he still hasn't thrown a pick in 2013. Amazing.
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 1, 2013
Against the Lions this week if he throws one more touchdown pass without a pick he will tie Peyton Manning’s league record of 20 touchdown passes and zero interceptions to start a season.
The Eagles’ win over the vastly improved Arizona Cardinals being led by Carson Palmer showed Foles has the tenacity and level head required to lead this team to what seemed like an unlikely playoff run four weeks ago.
The win prompted Kelly to firmly say with tongue in cheek to NFL Media’s Albert Breer on Monday that Foles’ job is secure for the next thousand years until 3013.
Kelly also noted how highly he respects Foles and hopes the young quarterback is in Philadelphia for many years to come.
“I’m a big supporter of him, I think he does a fantastic job, but we also know that injuries occur in this game, and that’s why I always qualify what I say. I love the kid and I think he’s playing outstanding,” Kelly said.
For Foles to have the team’s head coach firmly on his side is certainly a huge tick in the plus column.
The 24-21 win against the Cardinals signalled their fourth straight win to take their record to a respectable 7-5 and tie with the Dallas Cowboys atop the NFC East standings.
What coach Kelly and the Eagles franchise will find most promising is the fact that this season when Foles is under center, they are 5-1 but also he leads the NFL with a 125.2 passer rating.
He was pronounced the NFC’s Player of the Month in November after equalling the NFL record of seven touchdown passes in one game against the Oakland Raiders whilst also achieving a perfect quarterback passer rating of 158.3.
As San Francisco did with Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick, Kelly has to go with the hotter hand even though Vick has missed time due to a hamstring injury.
The Eagles are winning football games and it would be naïve to think that they bring back Vick because of his experience and ability to run and scramble from the pocket.
Right now as it sits the Eagles are well placed to take out their division, with their only real threat to taking out the NFC East being Dallas – which doesn’t say very much.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it and Foles is playing at an exceptionally high level.
Philadelphia has three winnable games against Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears so a 10-5 record to finish the season is definitely not a stretch.
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