The Eagles have had a quarterback carousel since the beginning of the 2108-2019 season. The Eagles spent their second overall pick in 2016 on a young, talented quarterback out of a small division two school, North Dakota state, Carson Wentz. Wentz was supposed to be a backup for his first year but then the he was pressed into service after the Eagles traded their starter at the time, Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings for a first round draft pick in 2017 and a conditional fourth round pick in 2018. He then went on to lead the Eagles to 7-9 record, with some talent on the roster but not enough to make it into the playoffs. Wentz was a good rookie quarterback, breaking a few records, but was not able to boost his team into the playoffs even with good stats.
Wentz then had an amazing 2017 season, playing at MVP caliber for the entire season until in week 14 he tore the ACL in his left knee. Wentz actually played through this injury for most of the game until the doctors pulled him out of the game. He was still in MVP consideration going into the end of the season. Then Nick Foles happened.
Nick Foles started his career as third round pick out of Michigan State. Nick Foles became the starter for the Eagles in December of 2012 after Michael Vick went down with an injury. Andy Reid finally trusted his rookie with the starting duties and it ended up costing Foles. He broke his wrist on December 23rd and he went on the IR, killing any chance of him being a starter for the rest of the season.
Foles then had a great season in 2013, making the pro-bowl for the Eagles. Michael Vick was named the starter for the Eagles by Eagles coach Chip Kelly after he played well in preseason and won the job. But per usual, Vick’s season was derailed with injuries, giving Foles a perfect opportunity to become the full time starter for the Eagles and prove that he belonged in the pocket, and not on the bench.
In 2014 Foles began to blossom, showing potential with a young Eagles squad that was looking to make some noise in the NFC East. He was able to lead the Eagles to the second best record in the NFC and the NFC East crown. In March of 2015 Foles was traded to the Rams for Sam Bradford and a package of picks. Foles did not play well with the Rams and was later benched for Case Keenum.
In 2016 he signed with the Chiefs on a 2 year contract with a team option for the second year. The Chiefs decided to not pick up his option for a second year as he underperformed as a backup and it wasn’t worth it to keep him around to back up Alex Smith. In 2017 Nick Foles decided to come back for another two seasons with the Eagles. This season looked like it would be his typical run of the mill backup job to the talented young Carson Wentz, the Eagles prized first round draft pick. Foles spent 14 long weeks sitting on the bench until he was pressed into service against the Rams when Wentz tore the ACL in his left knee. Foles led the Eagles to a NFC East division title but people didn’t believe in him. The Eagles adopted an underdog mentality and their fans made the infamous dog masks that their playoffs became known for.
The playoffs weren’t looking bright for the Eagles, they had a backup quarterback as their starter and their starting quarterback, the heart and soul of their team had been injured. But this Eagles team wouldn’t go down without a fight. They went into the divisional round as an underdog to the Falcons, they were the first one seed to ever be an underdog in the NFL playoffs. The Eagles went down early but fought back and made it up 15-10 going into the last drive of the game, but hadn’t shut the door as the Falcons had the ball. The Falcons drove down the field into the Redzone and they had one last play to score a touchdown. Matty Ryan took the snap, dropped back, looked to the right corner of the endzone with Julio Jones on a fade route, he threw the ball… and it went right through Julio’s hands! It was a miracle! The Eagles had won the game, and they would advance to play the Vikings in the NFC championship game.
The Eagles were underdogs coming into the game, with an unconvincing win against the Falcons all that they had on their playoff resume. The game did not start well for the Eagles and they gave up a touchdown on the first drive of the game. The Eagles then tried top answer on offense and failed, surrendering a punt after only 4 plays. The next drive looked like the Vikings might score again, which would have put the Eagles in a 14-0 hole to a talented Vikings team that would be hard to make a comeback against. But instead the Eagles soared, getting a pick 6 and tying the game at seven. The Eagles then scored an insane 31 unanswered points on their way to a crushing 38-7 defeat of the Vikings. As they celebrated they also looked ahead to the toughest opponent that they would see the entire season, the New England Patriots.
The Patriots were coming off a strong 13-3 campaign with their MVP quarterback Tom Brady at the helm. The Patriots were also one season removed of a legendary comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. Many Eagles fan believed that their beloved quarterback Carson Wentz had been robbed of the MVP after Brady won it, but Wentz had only 14 games played while Brady was on track to have played in all 19 games that season.
Going into Media Week the Patriots were heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl, the Eagles were yet again underdogs. This was again the biggest storyline for the Eagles. Nick Foles had brought a new attitude to these Eagles and their fanbase and they didn’t care of they were favored by one hundred or if they were underdogs by a billion.
The game started well, a filed goal by Jake Elliot and a touchdown pass by Foles to Alshon Jeffery to take a 9-3 lead by the end of the quarter. The next quarter both defenses disappeared and after two touchdowns by the Eagles, and a touchdown accompanied by a field goal for the Patriots the Eagles were up 22-12 going into the half. In this first half one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history happened, the Philly Special. Doug Pederson, the Eagles Coach, pulled this play out of his bag of tricks. The Philly Special was a wildcat snap to Half-Back Corey Clement, then a lateral to Tight End Trey Burton, and then a pass to Foles for a touchdown. This play will forever haunt the nightmares of Bill Belichick.
The Patriots came a live after the half, cutting the Eagles lead to three, and making the score 29 to 26. New England was able to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter, leading 33-32. The Eagles then responded with a touchdown and a field goal, making the lead 41-33. The Patriots tried to make it into the endzone but they couldn’t and the Eagles were crowned NFL Champions.
This Championship was the first ever for the Eagles and Philly celebrated hard. Eagles fans climbed lamp posts, flipped cars, lit things on fire, and raided gas stations. Philly had gone mental. But even with these celebrations the Eagles front office had a tough decision to make, who do they start once Wentz got healthy? The young, talented Wentz, or the franchise savior Foles?
Kickoff came and went with Foles starting the first game and the second game while Wentz was still unfit to play. But eventually week 3 came and Doug Pederson decided to go with Wentz for his starter which paid off for the Eagles and they got the win. Wentz played well, averaging 306.6 yards per game, but the rest of the Eagles didn’t. They quickly fell to .500 going into their week 8 bye.
Coming out of the bye they suffered a disheartening, 27-20 loss to the Cowboys. The Eagles then played the Saints in week 11 and they fell right on their face. They suffered a blow out to the tune of 48-7 after being lit up by Brees, Kamara, and company. The team then stumbled into week 15 at a dismal 6-7 record, their playoff hopes almost dashed. But then, Wentz went down with an injury, opening the door for Foles to step in and try to save the playoff hopes.
Foles came in to a stumbling Eagles team at 6-7, fighting for the last wildcard spot in the NFC. Foles then rallied the team and got an insanely important win over the Rams and they moved up to 7-7. Foles then managed to pass for an astounding 471 yards against the Texans, putting the team on his back and getting them to 8-7, needing a win to make it into the playoffs.
The Eagles now have their backs against the wall, looking at a week 17 matchup against their division rival Redskins. They then rolled to a 24-0 domination if the Redskins, leapfrogging them into the playoffs off the shoulder of Foles at 9-7.
The Eagles now had a very tough matchup against the 3 seed Bears with their rock solid defense and their young, hotshot quarterback Mitch Trubisky. The Eagles came into the last play of the game up 16-15, praying that Bears kicker, Cody Parkey, would somehow miss a chip shot field goal for most kickers. The kick went up… off the upright! And then off the crossbar! Cody Parkey had double-doinked it!
This was able to put the Eagles through to the divisional round where they would have a tough matchup against a young, talented, Saints team. The Eagles again an underdog, looking up at a 2 seed that was willing to bulldoze anything in their way for the Vince Lombardi trophy. It was time to break out the dog masks and pray for a miracle yet again.
The Eagles started off the game right on a roll, two touchdowns early leading them to a 14-0 lead. Then the Saints came roaring right back into the game. With two touchdowns, courtesy of Drew Brees, and two field goals added on by Saints kicker Will Lutz. Later in the game the Eagles were driving down the field led by their hero quarterback Nick Foles. Foles lofted up a pass intended for Alshon Jeffery when Marshon Lattimore, the Saints star cornerback jumped the route, came down with the ball! Foles had been picked off, sealing the game and advancing the Saints to the NFC championship game against Foles’s former team, the Rams.
This play ended the Eagles season and left the front office with a very big question, do they re-sign Foles and trade away Wentz? Or do they extend Wentz and let Foles walk in Free Agency? Wentz still seemed very much like the team leader but he was coming off a down year and Foles showed that he could play well in Doug Pederson’s system and propel a team into the playoffs. But on the other hand, Wentz had a bigger upside than Foles, was more talented, and already had the Eagles system which was designed around a quarterback who could create his own plays like Wentz. Wentz was also the leader of the team, when the Eagles won the Super Bowl they did for Philly and for Wentz who had been injured earlier that year.
In reality even when Foles had brought a championship to Philly, Wentz was still the Eagles future and the front office saw that and chose wisely in letting Foles walk. In my opinion this was the right thing to do. Wentz is a young, talented, mobile quarterback that will be the future of an Eagles team that can stay competitive for years.
Foles ended up signing with the Jaguars who were in desperate need of a quarterback even though a year earlier they gave one of the worst starters in the league, Blake Bortles, a huge contract extension, locking him in for year to come. Foles is hoping to find a home in Jacksonville.
The Sports Source 