Zone Read: Eagles-Giants, the Day After
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CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN…
1. What Nick Foles was thinking with his two interceptions?
There are stretches when Foles looks fantastic, like a guy who can be the franchise quarterback of a Super Bowl caliber team. There are other times when he resembles a nervous rookie.
On his first interception, Foles didn’t appear to even look in Darren Sproles’ direction before unloading to the sideline, where Antrel Rolle was waiting for an easy pick.
On the second INT, Foles rolled to his right, threw into traffic in the direction of Jordan Matthews and was picked off by Zack Bowman. He now has 10 turnovers on the season (seven interceptions and three fumbles). Foles’ seven INTs in six games are equivalent to the number he posted in his first 20 games as an NFL QB.
Asked if he’s concerned about the number of interceptions, Foles said: “No, I’m not. I will correct those. I will fix it, and that’s just part of football. You want to keep being aggressive. I made a couple dumb mistakes with the football that I will work on. I can fix those things. They’re not over my head.”
Foles showed the ability last year to be judicious and take care of the football. Good decision-making was his best attribute. We have not seen the same thing through six games in 2014.
Overall, he completed 21 of 34 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. Foles made a lot of good throws and kept the offense moving. But the turnovers will prove costly sooner or later.
2. Why Tom Coughlin was calling timeouts on the last drive?
The Giants’ offense took over with 1:51 left in the game, down 27-0. I guess Coughlin wanted to get Ryan Nassib some work because he called timeout on three different occasions. Why not just run the plays, let the clock run and get out of there at that point?
Kelly seemed ready for the game to be over. It looked like he was two-thirds of the way across the field by the time the clock finally hit zero.
As for his thoughts on the Giants’ effort overall, this was my favorite Coughlin comment:
“You want to know if something magical happened? I don’t think it did. I think… they just played hard and made things happen, and we weren’t able to stop them.”
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THE NUMBER THAT MATTERS: 10.9
That was the average distance to go on third down for the Giants’ offense. Overall, New York was 2-for-14 on third down. And on 10 occasions, the Giants faced 10 yards or more. There was a 3rd-and-19, a 3rd-and-25, a 3rd-and-20 and a 3rd-and-21.
“We were kind of stuck in third… it felt like we were stuck in 3rd-and-20 a lot,” said Eli Manning. “It just seemed to be going backwards. They definitely won the physical battle and played a lot better than we did, and we just didn’t have any answers for them.”
I asked Connor Barwin if Billy Davis is in a nice zone calling plays.
“I think he’s in a nice zone, and when you get him in manageable downs, it makes it easier,” Barwin said. “When you’re in 3rd-and-2, it’s a lot harder than when you’re in 3rd-and-8.”
The Eagles did an excellent job on third down, but a lot of that was getting into favorable situations on early downs.
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THE BEST OF 140
One of my favorite things in football is when players beg for a safety. Looks like they’re doing the “Walk Like An Egyptian” dance.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) October 13, 2014
I am not ashamed to admit I too enjoy this.
Per ESPN Stats&Info: Eli Manning was pressured on 48 pct of dropbacks Sunday, tied for second-most for any QB in a game this yr. — Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) October 13, 2014
It’s always helpful to have stats that back up exactly what you see.
Eli Manning was just asked how he felt about a Bradley Cooper promo video and a cartoon on the Eagles website. Thanks, Bob Costas.
— Dan McQuade (@dhm) October 13, 2014
I have nothing to add here.
Boyz II Men just killing it. Logical replacement for the Eagles Pep Band when they retire.
— Noah Becker (@Noah_Becker) October 13, 2014
There are good ideas, and then there are ideas that have to happen. This is the latter. I know most sportswriters poo-poo any musical act not named Bruce Springsteen, but I’ve always been in on B2M. Mock me all you want, but I wouldn’t mind more of them in my life. Not one bit.