Great Expectations

After last week's loss where Foles put up 428 yard, 3 TD performance several of the media analysts were laying blame on the loss at the feet of Nick Foles. Defensive performance aside, some fans thought the criticism was overly harsh. Since then, there has been a lot of discussion about "expectations" around Mr. Foles. Some believe that expectations are too high where a 428 yard performance isn't good enough. Sheil Kapadia argued that Foles could have put up 600+ yards. The good news is that Foles does not seemed fazed by the high expectations. 

However, I agree with Sheil. Is it fair to say that Nick should put up 600 yards passing each week? Of course not. I don't expcet him to do that. but the bottom line is that he put up 428 yards on a bad Vikings pass defense, and the biggest reason he did not put up before, was because he didn't make the plays he should have. 

That's the difference. We can't expect Foles to put up 600 passing yards every week, but we should expect him to make the plays he's been making all year. Foles missed a lot of potentially huge plays. It's not about placing blame (that goes on the defense, IMO) but I don't think there is anything wrong in expecting Foles to make wide open plays when he has a clean pocket to step into. 

Here are some examples. Ertz is going to cut back across the field. You see Nick has a really nice pocket:

As Ertz comes open, Foles has the room to step up and deliver:

One could argue that maybe Ertz should pull this in, but it's a routine throw and Ertz can't haul it in, and the Eagles have to punt:

 

Another clean pocket for Foles as he attempts a sideline throw to Jackson:

Foles drives the ball down into the dirt for another incomplete pass:

Here the Eagles have 3 WRs to the top. Celek is going to run a quick out. Desean will go deep and draw 2 defenders. Avant is going to settle with a lot of room along the sidelines:

Another clean pocket:

Foles flat out misses him:

 

This was a huge missed opportunity. JAckson is going to run a delayed drag across the field and get matched up on a LB. 

What's even better is that Cooper is going to draw his man deep, and Ertz is going to take the LB and safety over the middle. This is a potential TD with Jackson's open field speed:

But Foles throws the ball painfully behind Jackson:

 

FInally Foles missed 2 opps here. The Vikings bite hard on the run fake and Jackson gets behind the LBs. He's wide open over the middle, but Foles doesn't see him. He has his eyes on Avant who is coming open over the middle:

Avant is wide open, and Foles overthrows him my a mile:

I don't think it's unreasonable expectations to expect Foles to make these plays. I know no QB is perfect, and all QBs mis throws. But when people come away saying they were a little disappointed wih Foles' performance despite the 400+ yards and 3 TDs it were these types of plays they were referring to.