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Philadelphia Eagles QB Nick Foles stays out of turnover column

By The Sports Xchange
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles looks to throw the ball during the first quarter of an NFC divisional playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field on January 13, 2018 in Philadelphia. The Eagles won 15-10 to advance to the NFC championship game. Photo by Derik Hamilton/UPI
1 of 2 | Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles looks to throw the ball during the first quarter of an NFC divisional playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field on January 13, 2018 in Philadelphia. The Eagles won 15-10 to advance to the NFC championship game. Photo by Derik Hamilton/UPI | License Photo

PHILADELPHIA -- Nick Foles turned in a solid performance in the Philadelphia Eagles' 15-10 divisional-round playoff win over the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday.

While he didn't throw a touchdown pass, he completed 23-of-30 passes for 246 yards, averaged 8.2 yards per attempt and didn't throw an interception.

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Head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich had a good game plan for Foles, which featured a lot of short, high-percentage throws that allowed him to gain confidence as the game wore on.

Twenty of Foles' 28 "aimed" passes (he had one attempt batted away and threw away another pass) traveled six yards or less beyond the line of scrimmage. Six of those 20 were thrown behind the line of scrimmage, including a 32-yard screen to running back Jay Ajayi on a fourth-quarter drive that set up Jake Elliott's third field goal of the game and gave the Eagles a five-point lead with six minutes left.

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Foles completed 12-of-15 passes in the second half, averaged 9.7 yards per attempt and wasn't sacked (he was sacked only once in the first half).

"We didn't make a lot of wholesale changes at halftime," Peterson said Monday. "We just stuck to the game plan.

"Nick started getting into a little bit of a rhythm in the second half a little bit more, and things began to open up. Alshon (Jeffery) started getting the ball a little bit (he finished with four catches on five targets for 61 yards). (Tight end Zach) Ertz got the ball a little bit more.

"We were able to take advantage of some things down the field. The screen game was a big part of that in the second half."

Foles will have his work cut out for him Sunday against Minnesota in the NFC Championship Game. The Vikings allowed a league-low 13 touchdown passes, held opponents to a league-best 6.0 yards per attempt and gave up a league-best 35 pass plays of 20 yards or more. They also finished third in opponent passer rating (73.0).

"It's just a smothering defense," Pederson said. No. 97 (defensive end Everson Griffen) is a game-wrecker. They have outstanding personnel at every position.

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"What you see with them is just the speed of the D-line getting to the quarterback and then just playing man coverage in the back end. (Xavier) Rhodes is a tremendous corner. The safeties are playing extremely well. It's not going to be easy. It's going to come down to execution."

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After the Eagles' victory over Atlanta Saturday, All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson and defensive end Chris Long donned dog masks that they wore as they walked off the field. It was in reference to the fact that the Eagles, despite being the NFC's No. 1 seed, were 2 1/2-point underdogs against the sixth-seeded Falcons. The masks, which were purchased on Amazon.com, quickly became the hottest thing in Philadelphia. Amazon.com ran out of their original supply, restocked and ran out of them again. The team is encouraging fans to wear the masks to the game on Sunday, which is going to make for a very weird scene. The Vikings opened as 3-point favorites.

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All Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox played 90 percent of the defensive snaps against the Falcons and turned in his best performance of the season. He had a season-high seven tackles, including two for losses, a sack and two hurries.

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"We went with three tackles (rather than four), and we knew these guys were going to have to play a lot," head coach Doug Pederson said. "Fletcher's the anchor of that line. He was a man on a mission and just took a lot of it upon himself and got the rest of the D-line going a little bit. He's a guy that we lean on a lot from a leadership role, and he stood out nice."

REPORT CARD VS. FALCONS

--PASSING OFFENSE: B-plus -- Nick Foles didn't have a TD pass, but completed 23-of-30 passes and averaged 8.2 yards per attempt. He was 5-for-7 for 70 yards on third down. Four of his third-down completions resulted in first downs. Alshon Jeffery had a big game. His 15-yard catch at the end of the first half set up a Jake Elliott 53-yard field goal. He had a 21-yard catch on a third-and-8 in the third quarter to set up another Elliott field goal.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: C -- The Eagles averaged 4.8 yards per carry in the first half, but a puny 1.2 in the second half. Jay Ajayi had a first-quarter fumble that squandered a scoring opportunity. He was a bigger factor in the second half as a receiver than as a rusher, gaining just four yards on seven carries.

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--PASS DEFENSE: B-plus -- The Eagles held Matt Ryan to 5.8 yards per attempt. Julio Jones had nine catches for 101 yards, but the Eagles stopped him when they had to. Cornerback Jalen Mills had a nice leaping breakup of a third-and-6 Ryan pass to Justin Hardy early in the third quarter. Ryan completed 7-of-10 passes on third down, including a 6-yard TD to Devonta Freeman. But just three of his seven third-down completions resulted in first downs, one in the second half.

--RUSH DEFENSE: C -- The Eagles did a nice job of shutting down Devonta Freeman (7 yards on 10 carries), but had trouble stopping the Falcons' other back, Tevin Coleman (79 yards on 10 carries). Coleman had four double-digit-yard runs, including a 10-yarder on the Falcons' final drive.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: B-minus -- Jake Elliott missed an extra point in the first half, but converted all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 53-yarder at the end of the first half. A bouncing Donnie Jones punt in the second quarter hit Bryan Braman and gave the Falcons the ball inside the red zone. They ended up scoring a touchdown after that.

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--COACHING: A-plus -- Doug Pederson had a good offensive game plan that featured a lot of run-ass options that kept the Falcons' defense off balance. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who usually doesn't blitz a lot, sent extra rushers after Matt Ryan in the second half on 8-of-21 pass plays and was very successful with it.

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