The Philadelphia Eagles squared off against the Washington Redskins this past Sunday in what turned out to be another in a long line of classic NFC East divisional games. For the third straight week, Nick Foles lead a 4th quarter game winning drive in what my opinion was the best game he’s played in his career. Yes, even better than his seven touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders last season. Foles put the team on his back Sunday and carried them across the finish line, and he took a heck of a beating while doing it. He completed just about every throw in the book on Sunday; square outs, curl routes, seam routes, fly routes, crossing routes, etc… and he did so while under extreme duress at times. So in this week’s All-22, I’ll take a look at some of the key passing plays from this past Sunday.

On this first play, Foles completes a touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Jordan Matthews for Matthews’ first career touchdown. I highlighted this play to show the importance of the rushing attack for this offense and how geared up Washington was to stop it. Look at how linebacker Perry Riley bites hard on the playaction fake, leaving a wide open space behind him for an easy pitch and catch between Foles and Matthews.



This next play comes on 2nd and 5 on the Eagles final drive of the first half. Foles rolls out to his left and is able to hit Matthews in stride for a first down. Foles makes this play look easy, but it is no simple task to hit a guy in stride while rolling out to your left. Not to mention that had this throw been just slightly behind Matthews it would have been broken up by safety Brandon Meriweather.



Four plays later, Foles hits Matthews for another touchdown on the same route they scored the first one on. This time there is no playaction before the throw. Perry Riley has tight coverage on Matthews, but it doesn’t matter as Foles fits this ball in there perfectly and Matthews does a great job of hauling in the pass while getting both feet down in the end zone. Look at how Foles throws with anticipation on this play. At the time he begins his windup, Matthews isn’t even at the same depth as Riley, let alone behind him.



Here is a look from behind the line so you can see what Foles was looking at on this play and how tight a window he was throwing into. The other key part about the timing of this throw is that by the time Riley turns his head to look back for the pass, it’s too late and he is unable to get his hands to the ball as it’s going over his head.



This next play comes from midway through the fourth quarter on the Eagles’ go-ahead drive. It’s 3rd and eight, and Foles delivers a strike to Jeremy Maclin on a deep curl route in the face of pressure. Maclin does an excellent job of catching this pass and getting his knee down. This play was initially ruled as an incomplete pass but was overturned on a challenge by Chip Kelly. Once again, look at the anticipation by Foles. He begins his windup before Maclin even makes his cut. Had he waited until Maclin made his cut to throw, the cornerback would have had a chance to make a play on this ball.



Here is a look from the end zone view so you can see the pressure Foles was under on this pass. The Skins run a double stunt to perfection on this play, freeing up Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan to get a clean shot on Foles. It is no matter though, as Foles stands tall, plants his feet, and delivers this throw knowing full well he is about to take a big hit.



Two plays later, Foles hits Maclin on a seam route for the go-ahead touchdown. Maclin shows on this play that he knows the tricks of the trade when it comes to route running. Watch as he starts off on this play running on a slight angle to his right. This gets Meriweather’s hips pointed to the outside. Maclin then cuts back to the inside, forcing Meriweather to change his hip position as he turns to run downfield, during which time Maclin is able to get separation and beat Meriweather down the field. It’s those little nuances of route running that can make the difference between getting open and being covered.



This final play was Foles’ last throw of the game. The situation is 2nd and 11 with 1:43 left to play. A first down wins the game as the Skins only have one timeout left. Foles is going to roll out to his left and hit tight end James Casey on an out route for the game clinching first down. Great playcall by Kelly, and great execution by Foles and offense. Foles fits this ball in there perfectly, throwing it into Casey’s gut as opposed to leading him out in front, preventing cornerback David Amerson from getting his hands to the ball. It should be noted that he was also able to do this while he had Meriweather coming full speed ahead at him.



Here is a look from behind, so you can see the ball placement and how it prevented Amerson from being able to get his hands to the ball.



If he hasn’t done so already, Foles is starting to really turn some heads and prove that he isn’t just a quarterback who can put up big numbers when things are going good, but a quarterback who can win games in the face of adversity. Even Chris Collinsworth seems to be coming around on him based on my “brief discussion” with him via Twitter last night.



Well that raps up this week’s All-22 review. The Eagles head out west to San Fransisco this Sunday as they look to improve to 4-0 in what should be a hard fought game.