It wasn’t one, or two, or three, or four, or five, or even six, but SEVEN touchdown passes for second year QB out of Arizona, Nick Foles, on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.
He looked absolutely spectacular against the ninth ranked Raider defense, making them look foolish. If you are an average NFL fan you may have picked up on the fact that Foles wasn’t the only QB to accomplish that statistical feature this season. Does “Peyton Manning” ring a bell? Ah, yes, Peyton Manning, you know, the 4-time NFL MVP who has led his Denver Broncos to a 6-1 season start behind his 29 touchdown passes to merely 6 interceptions. Manning, long considered amongst the elite quarterbacks in the NFL is just that damn good, and when your name is mentioned alongside his that is truly an honor.
It’s no accident that Nick Foles was able tie that remarkable statistic on Sunday. Like I said, the Raiders had the 9th ranked NFL defense going into that game he certainly had his work cut out for him. Heading into this one, the touchdown passes the Raiders had relinquished to a QB in a single game was three, and guess who threw them? Yup, Peyton.
If you are an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan like me, you will realize the team has two viable starting QB’s. Let’s not forget, Michael Vick has not played poorly this season, and when compared to last year he’s played well. The guy has an 86.5 QBR, five touchdown passes to only three interceptions and two lost fumbles. His turnover-to-touchdown ratio is +2 if you factor in his rushing touchdowns.
There have been two noticeable differences between Vick and Foles thus far and one of them is the fact that Foles has been far more accurate. Foles is completing 62.7% of his passes compared to Vick’s 54.6% completion rate. The second most obvious difference between the two is the fact the Vick is missing games – a lot of them. Of the six games Michael Vick has started this season, he has only finished four of them. That just won’t cut it if you want to be the team’s “Franchise QB.”
There has been one important difference between games run by each of the two QBs – the production of LeSean McCoy. In the four games Vick has finished this season, McCoy ran for 468 yards with two rushing touchdowns and average yards per carry rate at 5.8. With Foles or Barkley at the helm, McCoy has just 309 yards on the ground, one rushing touchdown and average yards per carry rate at just 3.4.
There is a reason for the dip in production. With Vick in the game, the defense is forced to commit to him during the read-option, which opens up running lanes for McCoy. With either Foles or Barkley, defenses simply aren’t afraid of them tucking the football and taking off. Why is that? They aren’t as fast and explosive in the open field as Michael Vick.
I enjoy watching Vick play. Simply put, he can be a good QB when he is in the game and completing more than half of his passes. Foles on the other hand has shown inconsistency and doesn’t pose a threat on the ground which takes away from LeSean McCoy’s production. That said, it is still my opinion that Chip Kelly should choose Nick Foles at this point and let him finish the seven remaining games of the 2013-14 NFL season to audition, so-to-speak, for the “Franchise QB” role the Philadelphia Eagles are looking for. At least with Foles, he is going to be on the field with his team.
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