The Philadelphia Eagles are going with Super Bowl LII hero and MVP, quarterback Nick Foles, in their season opener versus the Atlanta Falcons. Here’s why he’ll win Thursday night.
The Philadelphia Eagles are going to start Nick Foles, not Carson Wentz, at quarterback for the 2018 NFL regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons Thursday night.
Wentz, of course, suffered a torn ACL late in 2017, which gave way to Foles stepping in and becoming an unpredictaded hero in Philly’s magical run to victory in Super Bowl LII.
And Foles ended up being the MVP of the game.
But the 2017 season is history, now, and the decision to hold Wentz back gives Foles a chance to get the Eagles off on the right track in Week 1. Yet Foles hasn’t exactly wowed since his memorable run during the playoffs.
His line during two exhibition games? An unimpressive 16-of-26 for 171 yards, zero touchdowns against two interceptions and a lowly passer rating of 48.7.
OK, so it’s a preseason narrative. Head coach Doug Pederson and Co. aren’t going to open up the playbook until the games matter. Scheming and game planning are at minimums, which is precisely the reason why Eagles fans shouldn’t panic at all about Foles starting the regular season.
In fact, he’s in good shape to help lead Philadelphia to a season-opening win.
To understand why, let’s start off with some trends from Foles’ efforts against Atlanta in the NFC divisional round at the end of last season.
