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Kelly: Foles’ struggles easily fixable
PHILADELPHIA — Chip Kelly said Monday that there’s nothing wrong with quarterback Nick Foles that a little film room and practice field tinkering won’t cure.
Foles had another wobbly performance in Sunday’s closer-than-it-should-have-been 34-28 win over the St. Louis Rams. He did complete 24 of 37 pass attempts, but he had two more turnovers — a fumble and an interception, and once again was inconsistent with his throws and his decision-making.
Kelly acknowledged Monday that Foles has been throwing off his back foot even when there hasn’t been a need to. Foles has taken some pretty good shots in the first five games, but has been sacked just once in the last 18 quarters.
“I think sometimes when that happens, there’s a rush and he’s trying to slide to the right or left and not setting his feet when he slides, in terms of staying on top of it and staying on a good platform to throw the ball,” Kelly said. “That’s one of the things you look at with some of the movement stuff within the pocket where he’s got to be a little bit firmer with his feet.”
Foles’ passing numbers are down dramatically from a year ago when he posted the third best passer rating (119.2) in NFL history. He had 27 touchdown passes and just two interceptions in 317 attempts last season.
After five games, he is 23rd in the league in passing (82.5), has a sub-60 completion percentage (59.1) and has turned the ball over eight times — five interceptions and three lost fumbles.
Kelly said Foles’ problems are very fixable.
“It’s just a matter of drill work, fundamentals, do a lot of movement drills,” he said. “Bill (Musgrave, the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach) does a really nice job with him from that standpoint. We just have to get him to where he’s really comfortable in there. Sometimes the guys are coming clean or coming off at times that you didn’t expect, and it may have been a three-technique (tackle) that beat the guard, so he’s got to slide.
“Usually, you kind of understand that when there’s a blitz coming and you know where the unblocked guy is coming from. But sometimes you think (the protection) is going to be solid, but you feel a little bit of pressure and you’re stepping to your right or to your left. You just need to do a little better job of getting your feet set before you throw the football.”
NOTES, QUOTES
–The Eagles have scored four special teams touchdowns in the last three games, including one in Sunday’s win over the Rams on a blocked punt by James Casey that Chris Maragos took in for a touchdown.
The week before in a five-point loss to San Francisco, Darren Sproles returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown and Trey Burton blocked a punt that Brad Smith recovered in the end zone for a score.
In Week 3, Chris Polk had a 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
“The biggest thing for us is being consistent for this team,” said Maragos, who was signed as a free agent in March after being a special teams standout with the Seattle Seahawks. “Trying to help our team win any way we can. Field position. Big plays. Whatever. Guys (on special teams) really believe we can make a difference.
“There’s so many (other) places where people don’t take special teams seriously. But we believe we can make a difference.”
–Right tackle Lane Johnson, who missed the first four games while serving a PED suspension, started Sunday and played every snap. He assessed his performance as “pretty decent.” He had a nice block on a 19-yard run by LeSean McCoy and did a solid job in pass-protection. “It’s definitely a different feeling being out there than sitting on the couch watching it,” Johnson said. “This game was good to get under my belt. Next week, I need to keep building and get in game rhythm.”
REPORT CARD V. RAMS
RUSHING OFFENSE: B — It tells you how far LeSean McCoy has fallen that a game in which he averaged 3.4 yards per carry is considered a sign of improvement. In his first game back from his PED suspension, Lane Johnson had a nice block on Darren Sproles’ big 25-yard run on a third-and-4 play late in the fourth quarter that allowed the Eagles to retain possession. Sproles finished with 51 yards on seven carries, including three double-digit runs.
PASSING OFFENSE: B — It wasn’t Nick Foles’ best game, but it wasn’t his worst either. He had an ugly underthrown interception in the second quarter and had another turnover when he fumbled at the end of a 14-yard scramble. But he completed 64.8 percent of his passes and threw a pair of touchdown passes, including a jump-ball throw in the end zone to Riley Cooper. For the third time in the last four games, Foles wasn’t sacked.
RUN DEFENSE: C-minus — The Rams, who were ranked 20th in the league in rushing average (3.9), averaged 5.4 yards per carry against the Eagles, who gave up six double-digit-yard runs and seven rushing first downs. They gave up a pathetically easy right-up-the-middle 14-yard TD run to Bennie Cunningham at the end of the third quarter.
PASS DEFENSE: D-minus — Cornerbacks Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams continue to struggle mightily. The Eagles did a decent job on the Rams’ inexperienced quarterback, Austin Davis, in the first half. But they made him look like Aaron Rodgers in the second half when he completed 19 of 30 passes for 252 yards and two of his three touchdown passes.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A-plus — The Eagles once again got a big performance from Dave Fipp’s units. They blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. They got another 20-plus-yard punt return from Darren Sproles. And when they needed to pin the Rams deep in their own end of the field late in the game, punter Donnie Jones landed one on the seven yard-line.
COACHING: B — Dave Fipp’s special teams had another outstanding day and helped salvage another victory as the Eagles improved to 4-1. But Chip Kelly continues to have trouble finding a way to get his running game going. Defensive coordinator Bill Davis got a little too conservative with his play-calling in the fourth quarter as the Rams nearly pulled of an historic comeback.
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