The Departed: Nick Foles Struggles In Rams Loss

After nine weeks, both the Eagles and the Rams — two teams that swapped quarterbacks this offseason — stand at 4-4.

But Sam Bradford and the Eagles topped division rival Dallas in overtime on Sunday night to improve to that record. Nick Foles and the Rams, on the other hand, fell to the Vikings in overtime in a high-stakes NFC matchup.

In the loss, Foles looked average at best, and listless at worst, the St. Louis Dispatch’s Benjamin Hochman wrote Monday morning.

At the beginning of overtime, the Vikings won the coin toss and elected to defer possession, giving Foles and the Rams’ offense the chance to end the game by marching down the field and scoring a touchdown.

“Yup, the Rams signed a guy to be a franchise quarterback, and Rams opponents want him to have the ball in overtime,” Hochman wrote.

Foles threw two incomplete passes, the Rams went three-and-out, and the Vikings kicked the game-winning field goal on their ensuing possession.

At game’s end, Foles was 18-of-33 for 168 yards, a paltry 5.1 yards per attempt.

“Even an overtime win Sunday wouldn’t have masked the overall issue,” Hochman wrote. “Foles is flimsy and fallible, and the Rams’ offense has been reduced to surviving with him at the helm.”

Foles said after the game that he puts “a lot on myself, and I just have to keep playing better and growing as a quarterback.”

Through eight games, Foles has completed 58.2 percent of his passes, which would be a career-low if he finished the season at that mark. He’s thrown seven touchdowns to five interceptions, and is averaging 6.7 yards per attempt, an entire 2.4 yards per attempt fewer than he averaged during the 2013 season with the Eagles.

“It’s hard to hear that the franchise quarterback, who’s paid as such, needs to continue to grow,” Hochman wrote. “But on Sunday, the Rams entered their biggest game since 2006 — they were in the playoff picture, but it appeared they didn’t have a playoff quarterback.”

Here’s a look at how the rest of the Eagles’ offseason departures are faring after Week 9.

LeSean McCoy rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown before leaving with a shoulder injury in Buffalo’s 33-17 win over the Dolphins, writes the Buffalo News’s Tyler Dunne.

He’s as healthy as he’s been all season. One burst at a time, running back LeSean McCoy had his best game as a Buffalo Bill. Then, with the Bills comfortably ahead in a 33-17 win Sunday, McCoy went down with another injury.

This time, with a shoulder injury. He stayed on the field for several moments before heading to the sideline and getting checked out by the team’s training staff.

Afterward, McCoy said if this were a closer game, he would’ve “for sure” returned. And asked if he’s concerned at all about his availability for Thursday’s game against the New York Jets, he didn’t sound worried.

“Man, injuries. It’s another one,” McCoy said. “I’ll be all right, though. We’ll treat it up and do different things. I’ll be fine.”

Brandon Boykin didn’t see a defensive snap Sunday as the Steelers surrendered four passing touchdowns to Derek Carr and the Raiders. He’s played just 22 defensive snaps this season, and 108 special teams snaps.

Todd Herremans was once again inactive for the Indianapolis Colts.

Jeremy Maclin‘s Kansas City Chiefs and Cary Williams‘ Seattle Seahawks were both on byes this week.