Foles the Unlikely Eagles Super Bowl MVP
Confidence has so much to do with an athlete performing at a high level and that is what Eagles fans saw before their very eyes with Nick Foles. There weren’t many who would have wagered at the beginning of the year that Foles would be the catalyst for the franchise first Super Bowl championship.
Yet despite being underdogs in all three playoff games the Eagles pulled off the difficult feat because Foles stayed calm, made plays and his confidence grew with every outing.
It should be noted that coach Doug Pederson and offensive staff kept having more confidence in Foles as each passing week in the postseason.
In Eagles opening 15-10 win over Atlanta, Foles completed 23 of 30 for 246 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. The Eagles had a conservative game plan, relying mainly on short passes but Foles was effective and had a 100.1 passer rating.
Playing against the NFL’s top scoring defense in the NFC championship, Foles shredded the Minnesota Vikings in a 38-7 rout. He completed 26 of 33 for 352 yards, thee touchodwns and no interceptions and a 141.4 passer rating.
Then in the 41-33 Super Bowl win over New England, he completed 28 of 43 for 373 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and a 106.1 passer rating. He also contributed a 1-yard touchdown reception on a pass from tight end Trey Burton.
He was the easy choice for Super Bowl MVP. Not bad for somebody who was considered a capable backup when the Eagles signed him for that very role.
“It wasn’t necessarily me, it was everybody around me doing an amazing job and the outcome was we were successful and now we are world champions,” Foles said the day after the Super Bowl when accepting his game MVP trophy.
He’s right that the Eagles got contributions from so many people. The New England game was a classic example.
Against the Patriots, the Eagles had five players who had three or more receptions and all five had between 49 and 100 receiving yards.
The Eagles also rushed for 165 yards, averaging a healthy 6.1 yards per carry, with LeGarrette Blount (14 carries, 90 yards, 1 TD) leaning the way.
The offensive line did an amazing job both in run and pass protection Foles was not sacked in the Super Bowl and was sacked just twice in the three playoff games.
That said, Foles saw his game rise dramatically in the postseason.
In the three playoff games, he completed 72.6 percent of his passes for 971 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Foles’ playoff passer rating was 115.7.
Foles was the main reason the Eagles were an underdog all three games. Had Carson Wentz stayed healthy, the Eagles, who were the No. 1 seed in the NFC, likely would have been a favorite, in at least the first two games.
In the Super Bowl, Foles wasn’t asked to out-play Tom Brady, but he did keep pace with a player many consider the best quarterback of all time. Brady completed 28 of 48 for 505 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 115.4 passer rating.
Those statistics usually would signal a rout, but Foles was able to match Brady each step of the way.
Yes, this was a collective team effort, especially with how many key players went down to injury. But the main reason the Eagles now own the Lombardi Trophy is that Nick Foles stepped up his game at the most appropriate of times.
Photography credit: Jeff Bukowski / Shutterstock.com
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Author: Marc Narducci
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