This is going to be an in depth look at Nick Foles performance against the Cardinals in 2014. I wanted to do this because there has been a lot of criticism laid at Nick Foles' feet and I was curious to see how much of it was actually deserved. I will be taking a look at every throw Nick Foles made against the Cardinals to see what went right or wrong on every play and try to see what could have been done better. Occasionally I will deem a throw "Not Important". This means that this was a quick throw and not much quarterbacking was involved. It was either a screen or a bubble screen that didn't take much time and effort on his part.

Why did I choose the Cardinals game? Because this was against a top tier defense and seemed to be, from memory, one of his worse games compared to others. This game especially, from memory, seemed to be the game where he back pedaled a lot and threw off his back foot. We will see how much of this he actually did.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the Arizona Cardinals at the time were ranked 1st against the run and 32nd against the pass but had a very good pass rush because of their strong front 7. They would finish the season ranked 5th in points allowed.

I graded this on a scale of A, B, C, D, and F. A of course being the highest and F being fail. A is considered great. B is good. C is average or what you would expect from a quarterback. D is bad. F is awful. A complete failure on Nick's part.

I will include pictures and videos throughout this piece. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Now strap in and let's begin because this is going to be a while.

Throw #1

Nick is not under pressure for most of the play. He stands in the pocket and hits an open McCoy for a short gain. No other players open.

C for Nick. Average routine play.

Throw #2

No pressure on Nick. He stands in the pocket and hits Celek for a short gain.

C for Nick.

Throw #3

Pressure up front causes Nick Foles to drifts back. No one is open for a while. He leaves the pocket and wings it to Maclin and the ball is batted away.

D. Ideally you would like to see him roll out, get his feet set, and deliver a good ball. Could definitely been a better ball but we should give credit to the defense for making a good play.

Throw #3

Throw #4

No pressure. Nick stands in the pocket and hits an open Maclin for a short gain.

C.

Throw #5

A lot of pressure up front causes Nick to drift back. No one is open for a while before Huff finally comes open for a first down.

C.

Throw #5

Throw #6

All out Blitz. Pocket is collapsing as Nick Foles is dropping back. Hits an open Matthews for a big gain. For staying calm, easing back and away from pressure, and hitting Matthews he gets a.

B.

Throw #6

Throw #7

Cardinals get a lot of pressure. Nick Foles drifts back and eventually hits Zach Ertz for a first down.

A. For staying calm and delivering a good ball. He takes a hit for making this play.

Throw #8

No pressure on Foles. Three man rush means they drop everyone else into coverage so no one is open. Nick has to throw the ball away.

C.

Throw #8

Throw #9

I could consider this not important but because it's a touchdown it is so here we go. Nick Foles fakes the handoff and then passes back to an open Maclin who runs in for a touchdown. Great play design by Chip Kelly.

C.

Throw #9

Throw #10

No pressure on Nick for most of the play. Finally a blitzer gets through at the last second. Nick finds wide open Matthews for a big gain. Nick Foles takes a hit for making this play. Sadly this play is later ruled incomplete. But the quarterbacking is solid.

B.

Throw #11

Nick Foles is under no pressure. Hits Maclin near the sideline for a first down. There is a chance he could have hit Matthews for a bigger gain. But we still got the first down.

B.

Throw #12

Nothing Important.

Throw #13

Pressure up front causes Nick Foles to drift back. Hits Ertz for a short gain. It would have taken a perfect ball to hit Celek on this play.

C.

Throw #14

Pressure up front causes Nick Foles to drift back. Hits Maclin for a big gain.

B.

Throw #15

Play action. Nick Foles rolls out left. On this play they are trying to get the safety to bite on the run and get Maclin in behind him. Doesn't quite work and Foles dumps it off to Huff with a blocker in front of him. Huff will fumble near the goal line.

C.

Throw #15

Throw #16

This play should look familiar by now. Not the first time we've seen this route. Not the last time we will see it.

B. Unfortunately this play gets called back.

Throw #16

Throw #17

Cardinals get pressure and pocket is collapsing. Nick Foles drifts back before throwing. McCoy doesn't seem to be expecting the ball.

D.

Throw #17

Throw #18

Nick Foles drops back, feels edge pressure, escapes pressure, buys time, and hits Ertz deep.

A.

Throw #18

Throw #19

Play action is meant to suck up the linebackers and safeties while the receivers run verticals. Cardinals stay disciplined and Nick can't squeeze it into Ertz his first read. Unable to get his body into his throw and it floats before being intercepted. This ball should have been out in front of Huff more and not so close to the cornerback. He threw at Huff instead of throwing Huff open.

F.

Throw #19

Throw #20

No pressure. Nick stands in the pocket and hits Maclin for a short gain.

C.

Throw #21

Nick steps up into the pocket and will throw to Ertz. The pass will be broken up by Cromartie. Great defensive play. Bad on Ertz for getting outplayed in this matchup. I hope he takes a step up and starts winning his matchups more. This won't be the last time Ertz lets us down this game.

C for Nick.

Throw #22

Not Important

Throw #23

This is a weird play. He drops back and is under some pressure. He has two open receivers in front of them but at this point it would be tough to get the ball to them. He has Huff deep if he throws the ball perfectly and does. Unfortunately Huff gets damn near tackled on the way there and Cardinals get away with a blatant pass interference that is not called.

B.

Throw #24-#26

Not Important

Throw #27

Nick gets flushed out of the pocket. When he goes to throw his feet aren't set and the ball floats. This ball is nearly picked off and Cooper drops it. We've seen Foles make this play rolling to his right. Because he's rolling left and because he can't get his feet set he doesn't have enough arm on this ball. Only Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson could have made this throw. Maybe Luck too.

D for Nick.

Throw #27

Throw #28

Nick is under some pressure but hits Maclin for a medium gain.

B.

Throw #29

The pocket is collapsing as Nick Foles drops back. This throw is behind Ertz but Ertz is able to make a play. Lucky.

D.

Throw #29

Throw #30

Cards big an A-gap blitz as Nick Foles is dropping back. He shuffles left a bit before throwing to Cooper. He should have hit Ertz for a big gain but in this position he probably couldn't.

D.

Throw #31

Plays like these are why people are so bullish on Mariota. This is a mobile quarterbacks dream. No one open but there is a lot of room for Foles to work with. Foles is only able to get a first down on this play.

B though for escaping the rush and getting a first down.

Throw #31

Throw #32

Cardinals blitz and the pocket collapses. No one is open and Nick Foles throws it away.

C.

Throw #33

Under some pressure as he drops back. Throws off his back foot and over throws Maclin.

D.

Throw #34

Foles is flushed left and gets rid of it. No time to see Ertz because of the rush and the referee is in the way.

C.

Throw #35

Play action. Rolls left. You might say he has Matthews but I'm not sure Aaron Rodgers could make that throw. Wilson might be able to. Mariota might be able to. But this is a very tough throw. A right handed quarterback rolling left with pressure in his face? Tough one. Throws to Celek. Incomplete.

D.

Throw #36

All out blitz. There is an unblocked rusher and Foles has to get this out quick. He hits Maehl for a short gain.

B.

Throw #36

Throw #37

All out blitz. Looks left and either doesn't see Matthews or doesn't think he can make the throw. Seems to just throw it away.

F.

Throw #37

Throw #38

Not Important

Throw #39

Drops back and hits Ertz.

C.

Throw #40

Not Important

Throw #41

Play action. Nick Foles rolls left. Third time now. At this rate this is just bad play calling. Yes, receivers get open. 3 of them in fact. But a right handed quarterback 9/10 times just won't make this play. CAN'T make this play. Now again, if he had time and got his feet set this would be fine. But we have to give credit to the Cardinals for staying disciplined and sniffing this out. But this play is really designed to get every defender flowing right and it has backfired multiple times now. Cardinals were having none of it!

D.

Throw #41

Throw #42

No pressure. Stands in pocket. Delivers a strike to Maclin.

B.

Throw #43

Not Important

Throw #44

No pressure. Drifts back. Still able to hit Celek but the pass gets broken up.

C.

Throw #45



Not Important

Throw #46

All out blitz. Nick Foles drifts back to avoid the rush. Floats one out to Matthews that is batted away.

F.

Throw #46

Throw #47

No pressure. Fakes left and then hits Maclin deep center field for a touchdown. Stands in the pocket and takes a hit for making this play.

A.

Throw #47

Throw #48

Not Important

Throw #49

A lot of pressure causes him to drift back. Eventually rolls right to buy time and escape rush. This is third down so Matthews isn't much of an option. Throws it away. No one else is open.

D.

Throw #49

Throw #50

Pressure up front. Looks middle and scans left. Over throws Cooper. Never sees Celek. Even then he may not have been able to set feet and throw to Celek.

D.

Throw #51

Pocket collapsing. This is either a terrible overthrow to Maclin or a terrible throw behind Cooper. Either way it results in an interception.

F.

Throw #51

Throw #52-55

These are a bunch of short throws. Not Important.

Throw #56

Pressure causes Nick to drift back. Overthrows Matthews.

D.

Throw #57

No pressure. Drops back and hits Cooper deep.

B.

Throw #57

Throw #58

Blitz gets picked up. Celek and Matthews are open but Foles will throw to Maclin down the sideline. They've made money on this play all year but for some reason he just misses Maclin this time.

D.

Throw #59

All out blitz. Stands in pocket and delivers a strike to Maclin.

B.

Throw #60

Not Important

Throw #61

Some pressure. No one is open so he has to throw it away.

C.

Throw #62

All out blitz flushes him right. Hits McCoy. Could have had Matthews but with defenders closing in he just gets rid of it.

B.

Throw #63

Blitz. Overthrows Ertz. Might have had Maehl.

D.

Throw #64

Some pressure. Will hit Maclin on the route he just missed in throw #58.

B.

Throw #65

Pressure flushes him left. No one is open. Overthrows Matthews.

D.

Throw #65

Throw #66

These next two are going to hurt. Trust me. This one in particular. First off, remember how I said Ertz would hurt us again? Well here he goes. There is a blitz and Nick Foles stands in the pocket. He delivers a damn near perfect ball to Ertz. All the 6'5" Ertz has to do is high point this ball and come down with it in bounds. Instead he waits a bit too long and is out elevated by 6'1" Deone Bucannon who was taken one spot after the Eagles took Marcus Smith. Ouch. Could this ball have been placed better? Maaaaybe? It could have been thrown towards the edge of the end zone instead of more inbounds buuuuut...

Throw #66

Throw #67

This hurts a lot to watch. We were sooo close. Anyways. A blitz forces Nick to back pedal, and back pedal, and back pedal, and back pedal. Finally someone gets open and he throws to Matthews. This one is thrown too much out of bounds and could have been more inbounds. Matthews can't get his feet down. Sigh.

Throw #67

So what can we glean from this? First off, no quarterback should have to throw 67 times. That was the first mistake. Even against the number 1 ranked rush defense you have to find a way and be more consistent running the ball. And they had good enough of a pass rush that he wasn't able to take full advantage of their 32nd ranked pass defense. On top of their good rush the Eagles were still missing Mathis and Kelce. I also believe Herremans was playing hurt at this point. So many times I think you will find he was forced to back pedal/drift back because the rush was coming for him. Good blocking would hopefully stop that from happening. This also seemed to be the game where he threw off his back foot. But unless I'm missing something that actually didn't happen very often. There were a lot of times he didn't have his feet set but I wouldn't call it throwing off his back foot.

So based on this game alone I don't think Foles deserves as much of the shit as he's gotten. Play calling was bad this game and the Eagles didn't have Mathis and Kelce back. And even then he almost won us the game. Better defense here or running on the goal line there and this is a win.

So I hope you guys enjoyed this. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Update

I decided to include a final grade. What I did was turned the letter grades to numerical values then turned the numerical value back into a letter grade.

Nick Foles final grade was 2.9

I round that up to a 3 making it a C.

That means, in my book, Nick Foles had an AVERAGE game against a top tier defense missing two key pieces of his offensive line.