Nick Foles vs. Chicago Bears: 17/36, 200 Yards, 1 INT, 53.0 Passer Rating
One of the more shocking headlines I saw on Monday was that Case Keenum was getting the start next week for the Rams instead of Nick Foles because Jeff Fisher is looking for an “offensive spark.” I don’t know how much of a spark Keenum can actually give but it is clear through the stats that Foles has not be up to the job in St. Louis. He is 29th in passer rating (75.9), Last in QBR (34.1), 28th in Yards (1,678), 28th in completion percentage (56.6), 30th in yards per attempt (6.56), and T-29th in TDs (7). The only stat that he is doing well in is interceptions with only six on the season (With four of them in one game against the Packers). But that doesn’t tell the whole story. That requires diving into the film and the last game he played was versus the Bears. The Chicago Bears defense is surprisingly stingy through the air at first glance as they 4th in total pass yards allowed per game (217.0). But combine this stat with the 8th in completion percentage allowed (61.2%), 13th in yards per attempt allowed (7.1), 20th in passer rating allowed (94.8), T-22nd in touchdowns allowed (17th), and T-25th in Interceptions (5) and the Bears are a decent to above average pass defense that isn’t challenged a whole lot because of their porous run defense. This article looks into why Nick Foles struggled so much against the Bears and why Jeff Fischer decided to bench him for Keenum.
1st Quarter
Pass #1
Situation: 1st and 10 SL 20
Description: Q1-(15:00) N. Foles Pass Short Right to J. Cook Pushed Out of Bounds at SL 49 for 29 Yards (T. Porter)
This may be one of the easiest throws Foles has had in his career. Either LOLB Willie Young or LILB Shea McClellin isn’t disciplined in their coverage responsibilities and they don’t recognized TE Jared Cook leaking out into the flat. One of them has to pick Cook up but instead Cook is wide open and Foles makes the easy throw for a big gain. (1/1, 29 Yards)
Pass #2
Situation: 1st and 10 SL 49
Description: Q1-(14:26) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Deep Middle to B. Quick [W. Young]
This is just a missed throw by Foles deep on this play. WR Brian Quick beats CB Kyle Fuller on the post route to the inside and is wide open for a big gain. Foles sees this and makes the right read to go to Quick on the post route. His throw sails too high though and Quick is unable to make the catch. There is nothing obvious with Foles’ technique to say why Foles missed the throw as he is able to step into the throw and is only hit during the following through by Young after the ball is thrown. The pass rush may of thrown him off as DE Will Sutton pushed LG Garret Reynolds into Foles field of vision. This is a throw that an NFL QB has to make though if he is going to be successful in the league. (1/2, 29 Yards)
Pass #3
Situation: 2nd and 10 SL 49
Description: Q1-(14:19) N. Foles Pass Short Middle to T. Gurley to CHI 20 for 31 Yards (K. Fuller)
I have no issue with Foles dumping the ball off to RB Todd Gurley when he is wide open for a big gain (thanks to RILB Christian Jones biting on the play action fake and not noticing Gurley coming out of the backfield). What I worry about watching this play is his lack of going through his progression. He has all day in the pocket and can take his time to go through his reads. Instead he only looks at WR Tavon Austin running the post route and never moves his eyes on the play. If he goes through his progression, he would have noticed WR Kenny Britt wide open on the dig route as CB Tracey Porter can’t keep up with him. While the pass goes for a big gain, Britt is a potential touchdown in the making and Foles doesn’t even give him a look. (2/3, 60 Yards)
Pass #4
Situation: 1st and Goal CHI 6
Description: Q1-(12:10) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Right to L. Kendricks [S. Acho]
This is not the easiest play in the world for Foles to make. TE Lance Kendricks is wide open in the endzone as no one is in the back of the endzone to cover him (Either SS Antrel Rolle, Jones, or FS Adrian Amos needs to be back there, but its hard to tell exactly who should be back there) but Foles is under quick pressure from ROLB Sam Acho. But I think Foles has to make this throw to be a successful NFL QB. Kendricks opens up immediately but Foles waits and drifts backwards trying to avoid Acho. Either Foles has to cut his bootleg short and step into a throw or stop drifting backwards for a second, take the hit from Acho, and throw the pass. Instead he tries to throw the ball off his backfoot while drifting backwards which is the recipe for a ball that floats on a QB. This of course happens and the ball floats out of the back of the endzone. (2/4, 60 Yards)
Pass #5
Situation: 1st and 10 SL 20
Situation: Q1-(11:10) N. Foles Pass Short Right to T. Austin to SL 21 for 1 Yard (K. Fuller)
The coaching staff is not helping out Foles with calling a fifth straight play action pass. The defense is not going to bite on it hard and its going to limit where he has to throw the ball. But Foles on this play may of not made the ideal throw to Austin. Austin is open underneath but how far this pass goes is dependent on if Austin can get past Fuller. Austin may be very shifty in the open field but Fuller is coming from his side which is harder to juke out of a tackle then if Austin is facing Fuller straight on. Throwing to Kendricks on the crossing route is definitely the harder throw as McClellin is underneath the route and Amos is closing in on Kendricks. But this throw is one that a NFL QB can make since McClellin is eight yards underneath Kendricks and Amos is behind and on Kendricks’ inside shoulder. Foles throw isn’t an incorrect one, its just not an ideal throw given the situation. (3/5, 61 Yards)
Pass #6
Situation: 3rd and 8 SL 22
Description: Q1-(9:55) N. Foles Pass Short Left to B. Marquez Pushed Out of Bounds at SL 30 for 8 Yards (B. Callahan)
No complaints about Foles here. He does everything you can ask for a QB to do on this play. He goes through his reads from high to low as he goes from Quick’s go route down to WR Bradley Marquez’s out route that beats CB Bryce Callahan. He buys himself time in the pocket by drifting to his left and deeper to avoid the pass rush of ROLB Lamarr Houston trying to bull rush RT Rob Havenstein and Young getting penetration on LT Greg Robinson. And last but not least, he throws a good pass out to Marquez for the first down. (4/6, 69 Yards)
Pass #7
Situation: 3rd and 6 SL 34
Description: Q1-(7:50) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Left to W. Welker
There is no reason for Foles to miss this pass. Yes, Foles and WR Wes Welker are lacking in chemistry between each other. But this is an easy throw to make. Welker recognizes zone coverage and sits in the hole in the zone after he beats McClellin to the inside. Foles should place this in ball with a soft touch and if anything move Welker a little to the inside with his throw. Instead he throws a fastball that is way to high and inside for Welker to make a catch. Foles mechanics are okay outside of being flat footed before the throw and there is no pressure in his face so this should be a completion. (4/7, 69 Yards)
Pass #8
Situation: 3rd and 7 CHI 14
Description: Q1-(5:57) N. Foles Pass Short Left to W. Welker to CHI 8 for 6 Yards (A. Amos)
There are two thought processes that go through my head when I watch this play. The first is Foles’s throw to Welker is a good decision to make based on his read of the Go-Out Combo of RB Benny Cunningham and Welker but Amos just makes a great play to stop Welker before a first down. Welker does Foles no favors as well as he runs this route short of the sticks but Foles does Welker no favors by throwing this ball high and outside. This forces Welker to extend for the pass and limits his ability for yards after the catch. The second is Foles is too attached to his first set of reads. The throw to Welker is going to be cutting it close to the first down line no matter what and he has the pocket to go through his reads. If he comes back to his right, he would see Quick is wide open underneath on the in route as McClellin carries the seam route of Cook and Jones is following the eyes of Foles. This is an easy throw and catch for a first down and Foles misses a great opportunity. (5/8, 75 Yards)
For the 2nd Quarter, see the next page
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
3rd Quarter
Pass #22
Situation: 2nd and 7 SL 48
Description: Q3-(12:56) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Deep Right to J. Cook [J. Jenkins]
Foles must of not seen Cook till it was too late because any QB would have gone to Cook early if they saw how open he was. Cook has Acho covering him and its a complete mismatch as seen with Cook running right by him. Austin appears to be the first read on the post route but Porter is playing bail coverage and his hips are facing the right way to cover the route. Foles should of seen Cook wide open and floated it over Acho for a big gain. Instead he either waits for Austin too long or he is way too hesitant to throw this to Cook. By the time he is ready to throw to Cook, Jenkins is on top of him and Foles cannot step into his throw. As a result, the ball is under thrown and too far outside for Cook to catch in bounds. (9/21, 100 Yards)
Pass #23
Situation: 3rd and 7 SL 48
Description: Q3-(12:49) N. Foles Pass Short Middle to T. Austin to CHI 40 for 12 Yards (B. Callahan). Penalty on SL-G. Robinson, Offensive Holding, 10 Yards, Enforced at SL 48 - No Play
There is nothing wrong with what Foles does on this play. With Welker dragging Anderson inside with his crossing route and Callahan drifting outside in his flat coverage, Austin is open on the slant route. Foles makes the right read and while his throw is a little high, Austin comes down with the ball for a first down. This gets called back for another correct holding call as Robinson spins Young around when Robinson is beat to the outside.
Pass #24
Situation: 3rd and 17 SL 38
Description: Q3-(12:20) N. Foles Pass Short Middle to W. Welker to 50 for 12 Yards (J. Anderson)
Its 3rd and 17 and the Bears are playing a deep shell coverage. There is nowhere for Foles to go on this play but underneath to Welker and he makes the right choice in doing this. (10/22, 112 Yards)
Pass #25
Situation: 2nd and 1 SL 26
Description: Q3-(6:18) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Deep Right to B. Quick (A. Rolle) [S. Acho]
Foles again gets stuck on his first read and needs to go through his progression. Coming off the play action fake, his first read is to Quick on the post route. There is no way Quick is going to be open on the post route as the Bears are in a Cover 1 Man coverage and Rolle is playing in center field. Foles needs to see this and go through his progression. If he goes to his next read in Cook, he would have seen Cook has inside leverage on Amos and with Amos playing off coverage, Cook gets a step or two on Amos on the dig route. Foles should throw it underneath to him instead of trying to force a pass to Quick. Foles gets hit after the throw but the pocket held up for over three seconds so Foles should of been able to move through his progression. (10/23, 112 Yards)
Pass #26
Sitiuation: 3rd and 6 SL 21
Description: Q3-(6:11) N. Foless Pass Short Middle to W. Welker Pushed Out of Bounds at SL 35 for 14 Yards (B. Callahan)
Foles does everything right on this play. His first read is the wheel route of Cunningham but he is well covered by Houston. Foles comes off of this read quickly and goes through his progression. His next read is Welker on the crossing route. Welker is open underneath due the outside alignment of Callahan and Foles makes a good read to go to Welker. Instead of throwing a fastball like he has done most of the game to Welker, he throws a touch pass that hits Welker on the run and the Rams pick up the first down. (11/24, 126 Yards)
Pass #27
Situation: 3rd and 5 SL 40
Description: Q3-(4:26) N. Foles Pass Short Middle to B. Quick to CHI 23 for 37 Yards (A. Rolle)
Foles finally throws the high and inside fastball of a pass to the right receiver and the Rams get a big gain. Foles’s is reading the two slant routes on the left hand side of the field and he sees that Quick has gotten inside leverage of Callahan. Callahan recovers nicely to get in decent position but Quick is open for a completion with the right throw. Foles takes this chance and throws a pass that looks similar to his passes to Welker earlier in the game. Quick is 6’3″ though so he is able to snatch it out of the air and break the slant route for a big gain. (12/25, 163 Yards)
Pass #28
Situation: 2nd and 7 CHI 20
Description: Q3-(2:59) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Deep Middle to B. Quick
I can see what Foles is thinking here with this throw. Quick is a big receiver and Fuller is giving up four inches against him. Also Quick does get initial inside leverage on Fuller on the post route and Amos is too far away in his deep middle coverage to get over the top of the route. But Fuller recovers well and any throw to Quick has to be perfect for a completion. Foles takes this chance and throws a high fastball. Foles throws the pass too high though and Quick cannot bring it down for the completion. This isn’t Foles’ only option though. If he goes to his second read (Cook on the crossing route), he would see Cook has beaten Callahan to the inside. There is a hole between Anderson and McClellin that Foles can throw this pass through and even if he is late on the throw, Cook is 6’5″ so he can just throw it over the LBs and let Cook go up and get the catch for a touchdown. (12/26, 163 Yards)
Pass #29
Situation: 3rd and 7 CHI 20
Description: Q3-(2:53) N. Foles Pass Incomplete to Short Middle to T. Austin
Everything Foles does on this play is fine. He sees the mismatch of Austin versus Callahan (after taking a quick peek of Porter playing tight coverage on Welker) and Austin is open underneath Callahan who doesn’t want to be burned deep. Foles throws a great pass as well but Austin drops it after being hit by Callahan. (12/27, 163 Yards)
For the 4th Quarter, see the next page
4th Quarter
Pass #30
Situation: 1st and 15 SL 15
Description: Q4-(11:24) N. Foles Pass Short Right to T. Austin Pushed Out of Bounds at SL 19 for 4 Yards (T. Porter)
There is nothing to talk about Foles on this play as this is a designed play action screen pass to Austin. (13/28, 167 Yards)
Pass #31
Situation: 2nd and 11 SL 19
Dscription: Q4-(10:55) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Left to B. Quick [M. Unrein]
Foles has had the issue of throwing a lot of high passes in his NFL career and it hasn’t gone away yet. This isn’t a bad read for going to Quick on the curl route as Fuller is bailing in his coverage and a well timed throw is going to beat Fuller. But this is a deep curl route so this ball needs to be thrown early to prevent Fuller from recovering and making a play. The timing of this throw is not that good as it is thrown late (it should have been thrown once Quick is going into his break). On top of that, Foles throws a ball that would have taken Lebron James to catch as this pass is very high. He fades on his throw due to the pass rush (Gurley does a poor job blocking Jones on the blitz and Robinson gets beaten by the bull rush of DE Mitch Unrein) but if he throws this with good timing he wouldn’t need to fade on the throw. (13/29, 167 Yards)
Pass #32
Situation: 3rd and 11 SL 19
Description: Q4-(10:50) N. Foles Pass Short Right to L. Kendricks Pushed Out of Bounds at SL 23 for 4 Yards (J. Anderson)
There is nothing Foles can do to make this play work. None of his WRs get open on this play so Foles has nowhere to go with the ball at first. Then, the pocket starts to collapse as Young is able to split Robinson and Reynolds on the stunt and get inside pressure on Foles. This forces Foles to flush to his left where his open receiver is Kendricks underneath. Foles has no choice but to go to Kendricks and the Rams fail to get a first down. (14/30, 171 Yards)
Pass #33
Situation: 1st and 10 SL 20
Description: Q4-(8:05) N. Foles Pass Short Right to B. Cunningham Pushed Out of Bounds at SL 22 for 2 Yards (B. Callahan)
This is a designed screen play to Cunningham and Foles doesn’t do anything worth commenting on. (15/31, 173 Yards)
Pass #34
Situation: 2nd and 8 SL 22
Description: Q4-(7:41) N. Foles Sacked at SL 13 for -9 Yards (L. Houston)
Foles has no chance on this play as he is given no time to go through his reads. The Rams are running deeper and longer developing routes on this play so Foles needs time to wait for these routes to open up. The offensive line gives him no time though as the pocket caves in on him almost immediately. Houston, Acho, and Goldman get past Robinson, Havenstein, and Brown respectively and all meet at Foles for the sack.
Pass #35
Situation: 3rd and 17 SL 13
Description: Q4-(7:06) N. Foles Pass Short Middle to B. Marquez to SL 24 for 11 Yards (S. McClellin)
The Rams are already expecting to go for it on fourth down considering their play call (all slants) so Foles has no options deep. Foles first read is to Marquez on the slant and he sees Callahan playing off coverage. This leaves Marquez open on the slant and Foles makes the right read to go to Marquez. His throw to Marquez is good as well and the Rams set up a 4th an manageable with this play. (16/32, 184 Yards)
Pass #36
Situation: 4th and 6 SL 24
Description: Q4-(6:41) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Right to B. Quick (T. Porter)
Foles has to get this ball out of his hand faster if he wants to complete this pass to Quick. Porter is not respecting the deep route at all and is sitting on a short route. Quick is open right as he cuts on the slant but Foles hesitates and waits to throw the pass until Quick is in the second phase of his route. This lets Porter jump the slant and break up the pass. If Foles is going to wait this long to pass the ball, he should go to the next slant over and see Marquez has inside leverage on Callahan. A high and inside throw would beat Callahan and the Rams would pick up a first down. Also I have to question why Foles is even throwing to Quick to begin with. Quick’s route breaks well short of the first down and even if this is complete pass to him, he has to break Porter’s tackle attempt to pick up a first down. (16/33, 184 Yards)
Pass #37
Situation: 1st and 10 SL 20
Description: Q4-(4:40) N. Foles Pass Short Left to T. Mason to SL 36 for 16 Yards (C. Jones)
Not much to talk about here since this is a screen pass to RB Tre Mason. Good job by Foles to look to his left (to draw the defense to his left) before going to the screen on the right. (17/34, 200 Yards)
Pass #38
Situation: 1st and 10 SL 36
Description: Q4-(4:24) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Short Right to T. Mason [W. Young]. Penalty on CHI-W. Young, Roughing the Passer, 15 Yards, Enforced at SL 36 - No Play
Another screen pass by the Rams so I have nothing to say about Foles. Mason should have caught this pass but its all for naught as Young gets called for Roughing the Passer
Pass #39
Situation: 1st and 10 CHI 49
Description: Q4-(4:19) N. Foles Pass Incomplete Deep Left to T. Austin
Foles mechanics cost him again as this should be a big completion to Austin. Austin sets up Fuller like he is going to run the post route and then cuts to the outside, leaving Fuller in his wake. Foles makes the right call to go to his first read but his mechanics are awful. Foles is fading in the pocket and this makes no sense has Foles has the ideal pocket to throw in. Foles never stops fading before the throw and he doesn’t get any momentum going forward when he releases the pass. Foles arm strength is in the bottom half of the league and this throw to Austin is one the hardest throws to make in the game purely on arm strength. Foles has to set and throw with great mechanics if he is going to throw it to Austin. Instead the ball floats out of his hand and is well under thrown to Austin who cannot make the catch. (17/35, 200 Yards)
Pass #40
Situation: 2nd and 10 CHI 49
Description: Q4-(4:14) N. Foles Pass Intended for W. Welker Intercepted by W. Young at CHI 46. W. Young to SL 15 for 39 Yards (T. Barnes)
This is a fitting end to a miserable game by Foles against the Bears. Foles is staring down Welker and Young is watching Foles’ eyes. Young is in Foles’ field of vision so I don’t know how he doesn’t see Young sitting in the throwing lane. Going to Welker isn’t a bad idea as Welker has beaten Callahan to the inside and Anderson has drifted to the middle of the field. But Foles has to wait a half second longer for Welker to get too deep for Young to take away the throw and throw the ball in the window between Anderson and Callahan. If Foles doesn’t want to do this, he should have instead looked at either comeback route as Fuller and Porter are playing off coverage and Britt and Austin are both open. (17/36, 200 Yards, 1 INT)
Overall Impressions
Nick Foles is obviously uncomfortable in this system still and it shows. Compare Foles to Eli Manning, Tom Brady, or even Cam Newton and there is a significant difference in what they do before the snap. Foles looks like he is barely doing anything pre snap and it looks like Tim Barnes is calling all of the blitz pick up and protection sets. Manning, Brady, and Newton are all over the place before the snap as they are calling out blitz pickup, checking into the right play, audibling out bad plays, using hand signals to tell WRs what they should do, and various other things. Foles not being active before the snap isn’t necessarily a bad thing as Jay Cutler is having a good season and he looks like he (pardon my french) doesn’t give a fuck before the play. But combined with everything else Foles does and it shows he doesn’t have a grasp of the system. This isn’t all that surprising either as Foles ins’t use to a Jeff Fisher offense. Foles came out of Arizona and played for the Eagles before coming to the Rams. Both of those teams run a very open system and have a lot of spread passing attack elements in the offense. Fisher wishes he could run the ball every play and runs a more traditional NFL offense. This transition wasn’t going to be easy but Foles should be improving by now. Instead he looks like he is regressing and showed many tendencies of poor QB play.
The most obvious issues he has is he doesn’t come off his first read way too often. He will stare down his first read for a long time and either try to force a pass to the first read if it isn’t open, dump it off to the RB, or take a long time to get into his progression. Eli Manning in comparison is whipping his head around as he goes through his progression and his eyes rarely lock in a one receiver for too long. Foles needs to work his way through his progression and be quick about it if he is going to be a NFL QB. His second issues is that his eyes tell all. He only looked off the defense on screen passes and he stares down his intended receiver. The good QBs will use their eyes to open up receivers. Foles doesn’t even try to do this and defenses can key off on where he is going to throw. The third issues is Foles is very hesitant on his throws. Too often Foles is late on his throws as he is trying to make sure what he is seeing is correct. This gives time for the defense to recover and make a play on the ball and what should be completions turn into passes defended and incompletions. The forth issue he has is he is jittery in the pocket. He will start drifting backwards if he doesn’t see anything open quickly and won’t start drifting backwards till he throws the ball. I don’t think he stepped up into the pocket once throughout the game and this is something he must start doing. His drifting backwards ties into the fifth issue which is poor mechanics. Foles too often is off balance and is leaning backwards when he is throwing the ball. This causes two issues. The first is the ball tends to float on Foles. This leads to overthrows on short and intermediate routes. The second thing it causes is the lack of arm strength. To get the most out of a throw, the QB needs to have his weight going forward and step into a throw. If a QB is leaning backwards, he loses the ability to use his core and legs to push the ball deeper. His poor mechanics contribute to the last glaring issue Foles has. Foles cannot push the ball deep and take the top off a defense. If the defense has no respect for the deep ball, they will tighten their coverage and suffocate a passing attack. Foles does not strike any fear into defenses that he will beat them deep so the defense creeps up. This takes away the shorter routes that Foles is more comfortable with and limits what the offense can do. Its not like Foles lacks weapons to go deep with either. Tavon Austin has all the speed in the world and Kenny Britt can go up for a jump ball with his size. But his inability to throw deep severely limits what the offense can do. Foles has a lot of work to do if he is ever going to recover his 2013 form and maybe a week or two not starting will allow him to work on his mechanics and other issues. But Foles has multiple fatal flaws and unless he gets rid of at least a few of them, he will never make it as an NFL QB.