Gordon: Rams fans want to see Foles do something

Gordon: Rams fans want to see Foles do something

Jeff Gordon

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/jeff-gordon/gordon-rams-fans-want-to-see-foles-do-something/article_1fff16f2-eb19-5dfb-9796-931a4e91c671.html

The Rams fed their fans an unhealthy diet of Kellen Clemens, Shaun Hill and Austin Davis at quarterback the past two years.

And with all due respect to Sam Bradford, fans don’t want their Sunday’s entertainment to hinge on knee brace technology.

They are more than ready for a new face at quarterback and they are eager to see what Nick Foles can do.

So far they haven’t seen much. He hit a couple of big plays early in his debut, connecting with tight end Lance Kendricks over the top of the Raiders and feeding Tavon Austin’s open-field sprint off of a screen pass.

Foles accomplished little after those plays in Oakland and he did nothing notable at Tennessee, save for his egregious “pick six” interception that left fans suffering Keith Null flashbacks.

That play broke down on many levels, but Foles should have detected the chaos. He couldn’t blame the no-thrills game plan for that mishap or the offense’s overall struggle.

“You still want to execute, you still want to move the ball, you’re still playing football,” Foles said. “Is the whole playbook in the game? No. Do we need to execute better? Absolutely. That’s on us, that’s on me. We have to execute better.”

Week 3 of the preseason provides the last chance for Foles and other offensive starters to get any real work in before the regular season. They will make cameo appearances (if that) during the Governor’s Cup against the Kansas City Chiefs next week.

“Offensively we just need to move the ball and get some points on the board,” Foles said. “We’re just focusing on the correction, execution. Just get into a rhythm. Football is a rhythm game. Get out there, get into a rhythm early, get the ball into the end zone … show some improvement.”

Foles doesn’t have Bradford’s pure passing ability, but his training camp work has been encouraging. He has remained accurate on short throws while hitting many of the longer throws too.

He can’t run around like NFC West rivals Russell Wilson or Colin Kaepernick, but he has two good knees and some ability to evade pressure. He did a nice job shuffling away from pass rushers to buy time for a completion at Tennessee.

Foles, 26, has a mixed NFL track record to date. He carved up defenses during his second season with the Eagles, throwing 27 touchdown passes and just two interceptions.

Skeptics argued that his freakish 119.2 passer rating resulted from Chip Kelly’s unique offensive system that caught NFL teams off-guard. They also gave plenty of credit to Bill Lazor, his quarterbacks coach that season.

And that meager interception total in 2013? Experts noted that clumsy defensive backs muffed numerous would-be INTs to leave Foles with that outlier statistic.

He was more ordinary last season, throwing 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight games before he suffered a broken collarbone. His average-per-pass dipped from 9.12 to 6.96.

But Foles played behind a diminished offensive line that afforded a less reliable pocket. The Eagles still won six of the eight games he played last season and he came through under some tough circumstances, such as the fourth quarter of Philadelphia’s 30-27 victory at Indianapolis.

Overall the Eagles averaged more than 400 yards offense in the 18 games Foles started and finished during the last two years under Kelly. Such production gets the attention of long-suffering Rams fans.

He is a classically tall quarterback, equipped to see over the top of the line and stand in against the rush. But critics spotted him drifting in the pocket last season, throwing inaccurate passes off of his back foot and failing to spot open targets downfield.

These mixed results after 28 pro games make him hard to define. ESPN.com asked a panel of 35 NFL talent evaluators to grade quarterbacks in the league. Foles came in at No. 22, one slot ahead of the star-crossed Bradford.

“You wish he was your backup because he could go win some games for you, but I wouldn’t want him to be my starter,” sniffed one unnamed head coach.

Perhaps that unnamed head coach was Kelly, since the Eagles mastermind was willing to shed Foles and go with the unlikely QB corps of Bradford, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley and (ahem) Tim Tebow during this preseason.

Meanwhile Foles wants to prove 2013 wasn’t a fluke. He wants to prove he can grow in this offense, the Frank Cignetti model with lots of West Coast offense tendencies.

While the Colts game should be illuminating, fans shouldn’t draw any firm conclusions on Foles for several more weeks. This entire offense remains a work in progress.

Rookie running back Todd Gurley will eventually become the focal point of the attack, but he just eased into team drills while continuing his recovery from major knee surgery. Don’t expect him to make a big impact for some time.

Key receiver Brian Quick was cleared for contact work just this week, allowing him to work with Foles for real. Don’t be surprised if it takes him a while to get rolling this season.

The offensive line will be learning on the fly all season with two rookies manning the right side and inexperienced players likely to start at left tackle and center. That will create extra urgency for Foles to get his passes out quickly.

The Rams must make the most of the final weeks of the preseason to prepare for the tough challenges opening the regular season schedule. Come Saturday night we’ll have a much better idea of how much work remains.

“We’re still getting this thing going,” Foles said. “We’re still improving. Right now I want to take advantage of each day we have. We’re a young team. I want to show improvement in this third game.”

That would be a start, anyway