Without Michael Vick (injured again), the Philadelphia Eagles turn to Nick Foles, who had a strong performance against the New York Giants in week 5, although the Giants aren’t exactly a team that provided any kind of solid indication for anything this season, being 0-5 and among the two worst teams in the NFL right now.
Foles bring a different kind of style obviously than Vick. More traditional in the sense that he can’t run as well, and might be more of a sitting duck inside the pocket, although Vick’s tendency to roll might have something to do with the Eagles’ o-line collapsing so often. He simply does things no one can predict.
The Eagles have so far allowed 15 sacks through the first five weeks of the season, tied for sixth in the NFL, which means Foles should be ready to face quite a lot of pressure as he gets his first start of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Eagles’ offensive line hasn’t been doing a great job in keeping their quarterbacks safe from incoming pressure. Michael Vick has been pressured in some way or another on 45.6% of his dropbacks so far this season, as only Brandon Weeden and Russell Wilson has seen more. Vick doesn’t do that well in that situation, completing only 34.6% of his passes.
But Foles, in his short career of 10 games and six starts, hasn’t done much better, completing only 39% of his passes under pressure. He didn’t have a problem in the win over the New York Giants, coming in to complete 16-of-25 for 197 yards and two touchdown passes, but last season was a very different story: Foles completed 60.8% of his passes through 7 games, throwing 6 touchdowns but also 5 interceptions in a rough start to his career, getting throw in with a losing team and a bad offensive line instead of the injured Michael Vick.
The Bucs are in the bottom half of the league when it comes to getting to the quarterback with 14 sacks so far this season, so Foles might not be in for the most difficult of games in terms of handling a fierce pass rush.