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QB Nick Foles has been the perfect mix of intelligence and accuracy for Chip Kelly's Eagles - Mike Kaye, SBN
Foles has been accurate (63.6 percent completion percentage), efficient (18 total touchdowns, 128.0 passer rating) and has protected the ball (one lost fumble, zero interceptions) this season. Those three qualities are what Kelly has preached about his desire for a quarterback. Unexpectedly, he has also displayed the ability to be an effective runner with 30 scrambles for 123 yards (4.1 YPC). On top of meeting all of Kelly's requirements for the position, Foles owns the highest passer rating (128.0) for any month in league history. He has thrown 162 passes without an interception. Even more important, the team is 4-1 with him as a starter and the Eagles are in the midst of their first three-game win streak since 2011.
LBs on the Rise - Tommy Lawlor, Iggles Blitz
Bill Davis has been asked about Trent Cole since the day he was hired as Defensive Coordinator. Davis has had nothing but positive comments about Cole. At times you wondered if some of this was coachspeak. Was Davis really seeing the kind of pressure from Cole that he expected? Davis either has a good poker face or he legitimately was happy with Cole. The message he preached is that the pressure was there and that the sacks would come. 2 weeks ago Cole finally broke through and had 2 sacks. I didn’t think he did anything significantly different. Chris McPherson did a good interview with Cole for PE.com. Cole told McPherson that the light did go on for him and that he did make some small changes. Cole didn’t talk about them and said they were secret for now. I don’t know if this is a player BS’ing us or if he did really tweak some things in regard to rush angles or something like that. On Sunday we’ll see what he does vs the Cards. Carson Palmer has been sacked 30 times. Cole should have good chances to add to his sack total.
Foles showing he's a true leader - Jeff McLane, Inquirer
In a recent article about Christian Hackenberg on Grantland.com, Penn State coach Bill O'Brien said that "good quarterbacks have some things in common: They've got good poise, they're smart, and they're good team guys, buddies with everyone on the team." Foles appears to have all three. His three starts after a woeful performance against the Cowboys in October showed poise. His intellect has never been in question, but the former Arizona quarterback has exhibited a deft understanding of Chip Kelly's offense from the start.
Inside Voices: Brown Stuck In Neutral - Tim McManus, Birds 24/7
Bryce Brown has failed to get off the ground. He has carried the ball 53 times for 165 yards (3.1 avg.) and has just one run of 10-plus yards on the season — a 32-yarder against Oakland. After back-to-back scintillating performances last season against Carolina and Dallas, when he posted 347 yards and four touchdowns, expectations shot up for the seventh-round pick. This season, though, the images most closely associated with Brown are of him fruitlessly bouncing it to the outside or slipping to the turf before he hits the hole. What gives?
Healthy, stable offensive line a force for Eagles - Zach Berman, Inquirer
The Eagles offensive line includes the three-man "Elderly Council," a "secretary" who is the line's leader, and the "little brother" who is the unit's most promising player. These characters account for perhaps the biggest difference between the 2012 Eagles, who braced for a head coach's dismissal last December, and this year's team, which is in playoff contention entering Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals. Left tackle Jason Peters, left guard Evan Mathis, and right guard Todd Herremans form the Elderly Council. The three over-30 linemen have 28 years of experience and 332 combined games. They patrol the offensive-line meeting room, where seniority matters as it does in union workforces. The most vocal member of the line is center Jason Kelce, who is the leader of the group in his third NFL season. A former sixth-round pick, Kelce has become one of the team's most indispensable players.
25 random points: Curry, Black Eyed Peas & more - Reuben Frank, CSN Philly
For a team that hasn’t had a ton of success over the years -- six playoff wins in 94 years and three winning seasons since 1985 -- the Cards have been a nightmare for the Eagles. The Cards are somehow 10-5 in their last 15 meetings with the Eagles going back to the late 1990s. Take your pick of nightmare. Jake Plummer in 1997. Brian Finneran and Kwamie Lassiter in the two 1999 games. MarTay Jenkins in 2001. Josh McCown in 2005. Tim Hightower in 2008. John Skelton in 2011. Kevin Kolb last year. I mean, Kurt Warner, fine. But Josh McCown, John Skelton and Kevin Kolb? Seriously? I still think Rod Hood should have been called for pass interference on Kevin Curtis with 1:57 left on fourth down in the 2008 NFC Championship game. The Eagles haven’t won a playoff game since.
Alumni Alley: Ron Jaworski - PE.com
Alumni Alley runs every week on PhiladelphiaEagles.com and features a former Eagle who writes about his time in Philadelphia and his perspective after his NFL career ended. This week: Ron Jaworski, former Eagles quarterback who is a member of the franchise’s Hall of Fame and who has been a leading NFL analyst on ESPN since 1990.
