When Eagles Return From Bye Week, Look For Foles To Flourish
By Kevin McGuire
The Philadelphia Eagles enter their bye week tied for the lead in the NFC East and the best record in the NFC and NFL, but anyone who has watched this team will tell you there is some room for improvement as the Birds tune up for the second half of the season.
When a team goes into a bye week following a great win, as the Eagles are doing after shutting out the New York Giants 27-0 Sunday night, there is reason to be concerned about losing that momentum in the time off before getting back on the field. Not head coach Chip Kelly though. Kelly has no doubt his team will return focused when the Eagles head to Arizona to play the Cardinals in two weeks.
“With this group? I have no concerns with these guys at all,” Kelly said Monday afternoon during his weekly day-after press conference, as transcribed by PhiladelphiaEagles.com. He may not be concerned about the team’s focus, but now is a good time to evaluate what has gone right and what can be done to improve as the Eagles look to finish strong and gain home-field advantage in the postseason.
One area of concern after the bye week should be improving the efficiency of the offense. Specifically, the efficiency of the passing game and quarterback Nick Foles.
Foles has been intercepted five times in the last three games, which is one more turnover than his touchdown total in that same stretch. This year Foles has been shaky at times, a far cry from his 27 touchdowns and two interceptions stat line from 2013. Most logical fans would have believed it if Foles was intercepted more than twice this season, but perhaps not this extent. Foles has been intercepted seven times in six games. For the most part, it has not come back to haunt the Eagles, but it should be a concern as the schedule gets tougher after the bye week.
It is not time to press a panic button on Foles though. For the majority of the first part of the season Foles was playing behind an unstable offensive line, with players shifting positions to make up for suspended or injured players. Now, it appears, the line is finding some stability and could be getting better at a good time. Guard Evan Mathis will still be out a few more games, but the line is getting some familiar faces back in gear and those stepping in are beginning to contribute.
One trend that appears to be developing, if six games are enough of a sample size to suggest anything of this nature, is the rest of the NFC seems to be catching on to Foles. The Eagles quarterback has been intercepted five times in games outside the NFC East, although Foles has thrown five touchdowns against non-division opponents and has completed 57.4 percent of his pass attempts in those games. Foles still has better numbers in division play, with five touchdowns to two interceptions and a completion percentage of 64.0. With three games to play in the NFC East, Foles still should have some solid performances ahead of him.
Some of those numbers can be tied to the earlier concerns mentioned involving the offensive line. Regardless, you have to work with what you have in front of you. If Foles is going to have a more stable line in front of him and the running game continues to flourish as it did Sunday night, then Foles should once again step into a role where he will have some pressure taken off of his shoulder pads. And that could lead to some promising developments after the bye week.
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Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
