PHILADELPHIA -- Nick Foles just kept getting up. No matter how many times he got thrown to the ground or how many of his offensive linemen left the game, Foles stayed in the game and kept firing.
Foles threw seven touchdown passes in a game last year, tying an NFL record. He beat the Cowboys, in Texas, on the final night of the regular season to clinch a division title. But for all that, Sunday’s 37-34 victory over the Washington Redskins at Lincoln Financial Field was Foles’ finest hour as Eagles quarterback.
“Credit to Nick,” wide receiver Jeremy Maclin said. “He is a fighter, he is a battler, he kept getting up.”
“He’s a tough sucker,” head coach Chip Kelly said. “He got hit a lot today. He just stood in there.”
Foles stood in there, but he also made every throw necessary to win the game. His two second-quarter touchdown passes to rookie wide receiver Jordan Matthews were right on target. In the fourth quarter, he found Maclin for a 27-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles the lead for good. After Washington’s Chris Baker threw his 325 pounds into Foles from Foles' blind side, sparking a brouhaha that delayed the game for several minutes, all Foles did was lead the game-winning drive.
“I think it could have gone either way,” Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin said. “What I think we did was we just didn’t let it affect us. We just kind of kept doing what we do, just keep playing and playing."
That started with Foles.
“My teammates are fighting for me, so I’m not going to stay down,” Foles said. “I’m going to get up for those guys. That’s my mindset. It’s not a pride thing where I have to be a tough guy. I know those guys are depending on me, so I’m going to get up and keep fighting for them.”
Foles won the starting job last season after veteran Michael Vick injured his hamstring. It was Foles’ job throughout the offseason and training camp this year. He didn’t look as sharp in the Eagles’ first two games, but he helped deliver two comeback wins.
In this game, Foles helped answer some of the questions raised in a profile of him that was published in Philadelphia magazine. Writer Buzz Bissinger, a Pulitzer Prize winner and author of "Friday Night Lights," wrote that Foles didn’t have the alpha male personality required to be a championship NFL quarterback.
But Foles had to show those qualities in this bare-knuckle NFC East battle, and he did. He completed 28 of 42 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating was 113.7.
Foles grabbed his shoulder after being hit in the second quarter. Backup Mark Sanchez had his helmet on and appeared poised to come in. But Foles stayed in. After getting “obliterated” (Foles’ word) by Baker, Foles was attended to by trainers. But he remained in the game.
Foles completed four of his next six passes, the last a rainbow that landed in Maclin’s arms in the end zone.
The Eagles are 3-0, with three comeback victories on their ledger. They are in first place in the NFC East. And they have a quarterback who just took another step forward in his journey.
“It’s a family,” Foles said. “That’s what it is. We stick together and there’s a great camaraderie. In the locker room during games like that, we lean on each other instead of blaming each other. That’s what football should be about.”