Getty Anthony Miller #17 celebrates his touchdown with Nick Foles #9 of the Chicago Bears.
Doug Pederson’s ability to motivate and mentor players has come under intense scrutiny this week. The offense is broken, Carson Wentz looks dazed and confused.
Naturally, the onus goes on the head football coach especially since Pederson is the lead play-caller, a responsibility he has refused to give up. So when former Eagles quarterback Nick Foles — the dreamy Super Bowl MVP who has a statue in Philly — credited one of Pederson’s old assistants for his success, well, it raised some eyebrows. Foles was thrust into action last week for Chicago and orchestrated a miraculous three-touchdown comeback win. He’s now the starter for the Bears.
The Bears (3-0) host the Colts (2-1) this week in a reunion of sorts between Foles and Frank Reich, his former offensive coordinator in Philly and current Colts coach. There have been rumblings for years that Reich was the mastermind — not Pederson — behind the Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl run. And Foles (kind of?) hinted that was true with some recent comments, too.
“I think the big thing with Frank is it wasn’t so much about football. When we talked, it was just about life and our faith. It was really simple. He was the one who really figured me out as a player and realized that we had it all wrong and they just threw some plays out there one day and just said, ‘Go play these plays, we studied you and these are the plays you do.’ And sure enough something triggered inside of me. And he figured me out as a player to where even during games when I’d come to the sidelines, like, usually coaches want to coach you up and do all this. He would just say ‘Keep doing it. Just keep doing it.’”
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The Legend of Nick Foles Continues to Grow
Foles was already considered a magician in Philly, but this nugget from last week’s come-from-behind victory is pure magic. The Bears quarterback diagnosed the defense and called his own play on the game-winning touchdown toss to Anthony Miller. Seriously.
According to NFL Network’s Peter Schrager, Foles sensed an all-out blitz was coming and told Miller to run “to the L in the ATL in the end zone” for an easy touchdown. Sure enough, the Falcons blitzed and Foles hit Miler for a 28-yard score. Game over.
“In the 2-minute warning TV break, Nick Foles tells @AnthonyMiller_3, ‘If it’s an all-out blitz, you’re running to the L in the ATL in the end zone, & it’ll be a TD.” Sure enough, it’s an all-out blitz. You know the rest.” –@PSchrags on @ChicagoBears comeback W.
“Nick Foles looks at Anthony Miller and says: ‘If it’s an all-out blitz, I need you to run to the ‘L’ in the end zone.’ He’s like, ‘What?’ ‘Run to the ‘L’ in Atlanta Falcons in the end zone. Just run there, and I’ll find you.'”
So Nick Foles’ game-winning TD pass to Anthony Miller was the same play Mitch Trubisky overthrew to Miller at the end of the first half.
“I gotta make that throw in the first half, but I’m glad the guys finished if off in the fourth quarter and we got a win,” Trubisky said.
Wait, there’s one more wrinkle to the story: Foles’ game-winning touchdown pass was the exact same play benched starter Mitchell Trubisky overthrew to Miller in the first half. The Super Bowl MVP’s legend continues to grow larger every day.
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