Film Breakdown: Nick Foles vs. The Chicago Bears

2nd Quarter

Pass #9

Situation: 2nd and 18 SL 12
Description: Q2-(14:24) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Deep Left to B. Marquez [C. Jones]

I can’t blame Foles on this one as it would have taken a great effort to make this pass a completion and Marquez does him no favors. RG Jamon Brown completely whiffs on the blitz of Jones and is in Foles face immediately. Foles does a great job of buying himself some time to wait for Marquez to open up. Foles knows Marquez will open up on the corner route because Amos’s is turned to the inside and once Marquez breaks outside Amos has no chance of staying with him. Foles throw isn’t perfect (as you would expect with a ILB bearing down on you) but its in a good spot and should be caught. Marquez slows down on his route though when looking for the ball and this hesitation costs him the ability to make the catch. (5/9, 75 Yards)

Pass #10

Situation: 3rd and 18 SL 12
Description: Q2-(14:19) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Right to B. Cunningham [W. Sutton]

You can’t fault Foles on this play as 3rd and 18 is almost impossible to convert and his offensive line doesn’t give him time to to even try. The Rams run a very deep tiger (A Post and Corner Route that cross each other) route combination which takes a long time to develop. Foles doesn’t have the time to wait for this route combination to develop though as the pocket collapses on him from the inside. DE Jarivs Jenkins pushes Brown onto the ground and creates a pile up at Foles’ feet. Combine that with Houston and Sutton getting pressure on the pass rush stunt and Foles is flushed to his right away from the route combination. When Foles rolls out to his right, Cunningham opens up as he breaks to the outside of ILB Johnathan Anderson. You can argue Foles should complete this pass by throwing it sooner which is a valid argument but I think Foles comes to Cunningham late and is trying to hit the deeper Britt. Porter is sitting on Britt and takes away Foles first option. By the time he comes down to Cunningham, Sutton is taking Foles out by the feet and the throw sails high as he can’t set his feet. (5/10, 75 Yards)

Pass #11

Situation: 1st and 10 SL 20
Description: Q2-(6:56) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Right to K. Britt (T. Porter)

Foles does a lot of things wrong on this play and he missed an opportunity for a big play. But first I would like a moment with coach Fisher. *Turns to Jeff Fisher* Coach, I know you love to run the ball. And theoretically, running the ball a lot helps set up the play action pass. But no one is going to bite on the play action fake if you run it SIX times in you first eleven passes. And you compound your error with running a two receiver route against a defense that isn’t biting on the fake. Either get control of Cignetti and tell him to cut it out with throwing play action passes over and over again or realize your passing game can’t be this one dimensional. *Tells Fisher to leave* Alright, back to Foles. The first mistake is his eyes are looking at none of his WRs when he comes off of the fake and is instead looking at Rolle. This is a good thing to do when initially dropping back to pass but on a play action fake the QB doesn’t have the time to figure out what the safety is doing. Foles needs to react to what he sees around the WR and work from there. The second thing he does wrong is going to Britt. Porter has outside leverage on Britt and while Porter’s hips are turned to the inside, his outside leverage gives him time to transition and make the play on the out route. If he looks at Quick against Fuller, he would have seen Fuller is even in his leverage against Quick and Quick’s post-corner route is going to be open because Fuller’s hips are turned the wrong way. The third thing he does wrong is his throw placement. If he is going to throw to Britt, he needs to throw it to the outside and make Britt run at full speed to make the catch. This could potentially not allow Porter to rally up to Britt and make a play on the ball. Instead Foles’ throw forces Britt to slow down and Porter is able to break on the ball and deflect the pass. (5/11, 75 Yards)

Pass #12

Situation: 2nd and 10 SL 20
Description: Q2-(6:51) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Right to T. Austin. Penalty on SL-G. Robinson, Offensive Holding, 10 Yards, Enforced at SL 20 - No Play

Foles does nothing wrong on this play. His read going to Austin on the out route is a good one despite Porter having outside leverage because of the matchup. Austin is very quick so he can take advantage of the deeper drop Porter has to take in the Cover 6. Compare this to Britt who is a big WR who isn’t known for his agility or speed and you can see why going to Austin is a good idea while Britt isn’t. Fole’s throw is also much better as it is to the outside and out of the reach of an outstretched Porter. Austin drops the pass but this all for naught as Robinson gets called on the blatant hold on Young.

Pass #13

Situation: 2nd and 20 SL 10
Description: Q2-(6:47) N. Foles Pass Short Middle to T. Gurley to SL 21 for 11 Yards (W. Sutton) [B. Gaston]

This is a screen pass so there isn’t really anything to judge for Foles in throw placement or reading the defense. But he deserves credit for his eye usage as he looks away from Gurley and tries to lure the defense to his right before going to Gurley on his left. (6/12, 86 Yards)

Pass #14

Situation: 3rd and 9 SL 21
Description: Q2-(6:08) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Left to K. Britt (K. Fuller)

I don’t know what Foles is seeing on this play. Fuller is playing off in his man coverage but its obvious he isn’t respecting Britt’s speed as he is letting Britt chew up the cushion quickly. Foles has to see this and know that the curl route isn’t going to be open unless he throws it with perfect timing. Instead he locks onto Britt and the timing on this throw is awful. Foles should be throwing this ball before Britt is turning back for the ball. Instead he waits until Britt has completed his turn and by that time Fuller is already breaking on the route. He has a much better matchup on his right as Austin has Porter in off coverage and Porter has to respect Austin’s speed. Foles should of come back to his right and gone to Austin or throw this pass a lot sooner. (6/13, 86 Yards)

Pass #15

Situation: 2nd and 7 SL 23
Description: Q2-(4:34) N. Foles Pass Short Right to T. Gurley to SL 25 for 2 Yards (A. Rolle)

I’m starting to notice a trend with Foles and his first read. He looks at his first read for too long and it doesn’t give him a chance to go to his other reads. His first read is to Marquez on the corner route but it is pretty clear based on Callahan’s leverage and positioning that Marquez is not going to open on this play. He needs to get off his first read and come to his next read which is Austin on the crossing route. Austin is matched up against Anderson in zone coverage and this is a complete mismatch. If he is looking at this route sooner, he can load up when the pass rush is bearing down and toss it to Austin for a completion. Instead he gets to Austin as NT Eddie Goldman is getting pressure on him, forcing him to dump it off to Gurley for a short gain. (7/14, 88 Yards)

Pass #16

Situation: 3rd and 5 SL 25
Description: Q2-(3:51) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Middle to W. Welker

There is nothing wrong with Foles trying to go to Welker on this throw. Welker has beaten Callahan to the inside and is open on the angle route. But Foles must be thinking he is throwing to a bigger receiver as he throws another high and inside fastball to Welker. Welker is only 5’9″ so its not like he can go up and snatch a ball thrown that high and inside and what should be an first down turns into a ugly incompletion. (7/15, 88 Yards)

Pass #17

Situation: 1st and 10 SL 34
Description: Q2-(1:48) N. Foles Short Left to J. Cook to SL 40 for 6 Yards (S. McClellin)

I don’t know how Foles doesn’t see Marquez opening up on this route. Foles is looking at the go route of Quick but Quick is cover well by Fuller. Marquez should be in his line of sight though and he should have see that Callahan’s hips are turned the wrong way and Marquez beats him to the outside with ease. Callahan was more then five yards away and has no chance to make a play on a throw to Marquez. Foles gets happy feet though and starts to drift to the outside. He doesn’t need to though as the pocket is great and he can sit in the pocket. Because he is drifting, he can’t plant and step into a throw so he has no choice to go underneath to Cook. Cook is open as McClellin is playing well off in his coverage but Foles gave up a big play for a decent gain. (8/16, 94 Yards)

Pass #18

Situation: 2nd and 4 SL 40
Description: Q2-(1:24) N. Foles Pass Short Right to K. Brittto SL 46 for 6 Yards (T. Porter)

This is stealing candy from a baby as Porter is playing off coverage and Austin is running a hitch route. Foles makes the right decision to throw to Austin and throws a good pass for a first down. (9/17, 100 Yards)

Pass #19

Situation: 1st and 10 SL 46
Description: Q2-(1:05) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Left to B. Quick

Foles does the mental game perfectly on this play but his footwork and mechanics fail him. Foles sees that Fuller is bailing in man coverage against Quick and the comeback route is open with good timing on the throw. The timing on the throw is perfect as Foles throws it before Quick turns around on his comeback route. What is off on this play is his mechanics. Foles is aware that Young is close to his feet but Young is on the ground and Foles has room to step and throw. Instead, Foles throws off his back foot and passes off the back foot tend to float. The pass predictably is overthrown and Quick can’t get high enough to make the catch (9/18, 100 Yards)

Pass #20

Situation: 2nd and 10 SL 46
Description: Q2-(1:01) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Right to B. Marquez [B. Gaston]

Foles is adverse to moving his eyes in the first half of this game and it shows again as he is staring to his right the whole way. He is reading the Post-Out Combo of Quick and Marquez but both of them are not going to be open on the play. Rolle is reading the eyes of Foles and is on top of the post route and Callahan in in great position to take away the deep out route of Marquez. Foles needs to realize this isn’t going open and go to his next read. If he looks to his left, he would see the Britt has beaten Porter on the dig route and is open for a first down. Instead he tries to force a pass to a covered Marquez. His mechanics are somewhat off as he is throwing flat footed and the ball predictably floats and overshoots Marquez. (9/19, 100 Yards)

Pass #21

Situation: 3rd and 10 SL 46
Description: Q2-(0:56) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Right to L. Kendricks

Foles does everything right on this play except for the actual throw. Foles diagnoses that the coverage is Cover 2 Man and starts to go through his reads. He sees that Britt isn’t open due to Amos getting over the top on the go route so he goes underneath to Kendricks. Kendricks beats Jones to the outside and is open on the out route. Foles makes the right read to go to Kendricks but there are two things wrong with the throw. The first is the timing of the throw. Foles sees that Kendricks is open but he hesitates and and takes an extra second to throw it. If Foles throws this on time, he can hit Kendricks on stride and he can go for the first down. Instead, even if the throw is put in the right spot, Kendricks is going to go out of bounds short of the first down. The throw though is put in a poor spot as it is behind Kendricks and low. Kendricks should catch this but the throw placement gives him no chance to pick up a first down. (9/20, 100 Yards)

For the 3rd Quarter, see the next page