By: Thomas Yu

If you told me at the beginning of the season that the Eagles would have over 10 wins, I wouldn’t believe you. If you told me the Eagles would have the best record in the NFL and have a chance to lock up home field with a first round bye, I would smack you across the face for taunting my team, but here we are. Now we find ourselves in a situation that any other team would die to be in but why are we still so sour? Is it because we don’t know how to appreciate winning? Is it because we enjoy being bashed by other fan bases by the fact that we have never won a Super Bowl and our sports icon boils down to a fictional boxer commemorated with a statue from a movie I have yet to see and afraid to admit because Dave may crucify me? Well…I digress.

Without one of our top weapons in Ertz, we still managed to beat a surging Rams team and clinched a playoff spot for the first time in four years, but at what cost? We lost Ginger Jesus. We lost our Franchise Savior. We lost Carson James Wentz with a torn ACL. This man stayed in after sustaining the gruesome injury and completed a two-point conversion, then hobbled off the field as all of Philadelphia and North Dakota held their collective breaths. I don’t think I have ever seen a fan base this defeated after a statement win in my life. I still remember turning off the TV with disgust as my father-in-law sat puzzled on why I was so enraged after a quality win. He’s a Raiders fan so wins have not come easy for him in the past decade (barring last season) so I understood his confusion.

Without Wentz, the Eagles traveled to MetLife Stadium and won a very ugly game to clinch a first round bye in the playoffs. Now how did Nick Foles fare in his return back to the starter slot as Philadelphia’s man behind center? How does throwing for 237 yards, 4 touchdowns, no interceptions, and 115.8 passer rating sound? Lots of arguments could be made that this was nothing special as it was against a Giants’ defense that surrenders almost 400 yards a game (a league worst). But how does that compare to our MVP candidate Wentz? Well, in his game against this same team in Week 4, Carson had 176 yards, 1 touchdown, and a passer rating of 92.9.

Now what does this tell us? Is Foles superior to Wentz? Well you tell me. In Carson’s first 24 games as a starter for Philadelphia, he has a 14-10 record, 35 touchdowns, 19 interceptions, and 5,845 yards. Foles on the other hand has a 15-9 record, 42 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, and 6,288 yards.

Foles’ number looks much better here but this could be a bit deceptive. Nick was put into Chip’s quarterback friendly system that had schemes to get receivers open early and often. Carson on the other hand was thrown into the fire when the Eagles unexpectedly traded Bradford to the Vikings. All excuses aside, Foles’ first 24 games as the starter for the Birds is better in every category compared to Wentz’s.

This is one of those moments where numbers don’t tell the whole story. This does not take into account all of Wentz’s 2017 season where he has completed 60.2% of his passes for 3,296 yards, 33 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and a 101.9 passer rating. Also, Carson has something Foles doesn’t and that’s his ability to keep plays alive with his feet. Did you see that play against the Redskins this year? I went from yelling at my TV for Wentz to get rid of the ball to screaming with joy. I didn’t think a grown man could make me feel this way. Move over Russ, Wentz has some magic too.

Hang out in Philly and it will be easy to see that we are not as optimistic as we once were about this season. I cried to the staff in a group chat saying that our season was over as soon as it was official that Wentz tore his ACL. Wentz makes plays when it matters, the king of third downs, and can put the team on his back when are down; he’s a candidate for MVP for a reason. Now is it time to throw in the towel and and expect a one and done in the playoffs? Hold your horses buddy, the Vikings would like to have a word with you.

Yes, it’s true. Nick Foles is not Carson Wentz but look what they’re doing over in Minnesota. They lost Teddy Bridgewater last year so they traded with us to get Bradford. Sammy Sleeves enjoyed a rebirth over with the Vikings and played very well with Pat Shurmur’s offense, but as we all know, Bradford is made of glass. Minnesota then lost Sam to a season ending injury and they had to resort to Case Keenum. You know, that mediocre quarterback that didn’t do much with the Rams? Wait, what do you mean he has completed about 68% of his passes this year? He has 20 touchdowns to only 7 picks and he didn’t even start the whole year? Hold on, he has a 98.9 passer rating and is a big reason that the Vikings are currently sitting at 11-3 and chasing the Eagles for the number one seed? I don’t know how Zimmer has 3 starting caliber quarterbacks on his roster but hey, if the Patriots had Brissett and Garoppolo alongside Brady, I guess it’s possible.

While it’s true that most would consider the Vikings to have a more complete team than the Eagles, they are showing that an average quarterback can rise with the team to reach unseen heights. Foles is more than a capable quarterback here in Philadelphia. I am guilty for giving up on this team as soon as Carson’s knee decided to shatter every heart in Philly, but fear not. Foles proved that he can still sling the ball when he needs to when he helped overcome a shaky start. Also, lets not forget that Foles isn’t some slouch either. He led the Eagles to an NFC East title before and earned Pro Bowl MVP honors along the way. Can he finish what Wentz has started?

I’m not going to sit here and preach saying that we are going to win the Super Bowl or anything, but if Minnesota has dreams that Case Keenum can lift the Lombardi for the Vikings, why can’t we rally with Foles? Although our season could be plagued by “what ifs,” there is no need to lose faith. I will, however, go as far and state that the biggest problem for the Eagles is not the loss of Wentz, but actually our defense. That’s an article for another time but come rally with Saint Nick because he’s about to show why he still has a chip on his shoulder. Lets buckle up because I know one thing’s for sure, we punched our ticket to the playoffs and guaranteed a first round bye. Who knows, maybe this team has some more surprises left in them. Fly Eagles Fly.