CHICAGO — He stared down Tom Brady on the biggest and brightest stage, lifted a franchise and a championship-starved city to the top of the football mountain against all odds and was rewarded with a nine-foot bronze statue outside the Linc.
Now, here he comes again, bruised ribs and unwavering belief and all, attempting to author another Rocky-like fairy tale that would resonate all across America, and maybe even as far as 1925 Giants Drive.
What can Nick Foles possibly do for an encore in what will almost certainly be his Eagles swan song?
A road victory at raucous Soldier Field with the Bears, back in the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, would only grow Foles’ postseason legend.
Another magical mystery ride to Super Bowl XLIII that ends with Foles again holding his daughter in his arms and hoisting another Lombardi Trophy could make him enticing as a fallback option in the event of some unforeseen breakdown in the relationship between Eli Manning and the Giants and they decide to divorce — if for no other reason than Foles, 30 later this month, is eight years younger than Manning.
Giants coach Pat Shurmur, was on the Vikings sidelines as the offensive coordinator when Foles engineered a 38-7 victory in the NFC Championship game at the Linc, going 26-for-33 for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Shurmur was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator under Chip Kelly when Foles exploded on the scene in the 2013 season with 27 touchdowns and two interceptions after taking over from Michael Vick.
“The quarterback piece is obviously very important,” Shurmur said at the 2018 NFL Combine, “and Carson Wentz had an outstanding year, and I was with Nick Foles when he had his very best year. So I wasn’t surprised to see that he could lead them the rest of the way.”
Foles told the media prior to last season’s NFC Championship that he enjoyed playing for Shurmur.
“He’s a tremendous coach,” Foles said.
Spoiler alert: Foles wouldn’t come cheap. He would likely command a ballpark $20 million-per-year contract. He can buy his way to free agency if he returns $2 million should the Eagles decide to extend his contract through 2019 for $20 million.
The Eagles could slap the franchise tag on him and attempt to trade him, which therefore wouldn’t include the Giants as a partner.
Shurmur has professed his belief in Manning, and GM Dave Gettleman is philosophically aligned with him. But if everything is indeed on the table, then Nick Foles should be on the table.
In the meantime, Wentz, out with a back injury, again finds himself watching Foles commandeer his team at the most compelling time of the year. And Foles getting rid of the ball as quickly as he has tells you everything about his command of coach Doug Pederson’s offense.
“I think there is an, I’ve been-there type of confidence, that Nick can carry into the game,” Eagles offensive coordinator Mike Groh said. “Not only Nick, but the rest of the guys in our locker room that were part of this team last year.”
The rest of those guys have not been surprised by Foles’ numbers over the past three weeks: 962 passing yards, 77 percent completion rate, 8.5 yards per attempt and 8.0 net yards per pass play. He has won six straight games in December or later.
In four playoff games, including last year’s run to the Super Bowl, Foles has a 71.9 completion percentage and 113.2 rating. Foles, who is 3-1 with eight TDs and one INT in the playoffs, can collect a $1 million bonus if he plays 33 percent of the snaps and wins this game.
“This guy does have a big arm, and he does like to throw the deep ball,” Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “So if there’s a chance that he can throw a deep ball and he sees it, he will throw it. That’s his mentality, that’s Doug’s mentality. So they will do it. And a big part of this game will be how we defend the deep balls.”
Bears coach Matt Nagy was Andy Reid’s offensive coordinator in 2016 when Foles posted a 105.9 QB rating over three games (one start). This is what Nagy told the Chicago media this week about Foles:
“Nick is about as good of a human being as you’ll find. You want to talk about people that do things the right way, somebody that cares about others, somebody that just wants to play for the love of the game.”
Exactly what the Giants have been saying about Eli Manning for 15 years.