Foles was Ram tough v Seahawks
Bernie Miklasz
http://www.101sports.com/writers/bernie-miklasz/
According to the outstanding football-analysis site Pro Football Focus, no NFC quarterback faced more ]pass-rush pressure than Rams quarterback Nick Foles in Week One.
PFF’s video review of the Rams’ 34-31 overtime victory over Seattle reaffirmed what we’d witnessed.
Foles played very well. He was poised and strong. And no matter how many times those Seahawks’ defenders broke through his pass protection, Foles didn’t flinch. His cool-headed tenacity when confronted by Seattle’s invaders was Foles’ greatest attribute in his winning performance in the season-opener.
Foles dropped back to throw 31 times against the Seahawks, and the Rams offensive line was infiltrated for 17 quarterback pressures. That’s 54.8 percent of his dropbacks, an alarmingly high rate of passing under duress. In the NFL, only Baltimore’s Joe Flacco was hassled more frequently on his dropbacks (64.7%) than Foles during the league’s opening week.
So how did Foles hold up when standing amid the flames, looking downfield to make a play?
Perfect.
No, really … Foles was essentially perfect.
When passing under pressure Foles was unshakeable, completing 12 of 15 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown. Foles averaged a crazy-fat 14.1 yards per passing attempt. His completion rate was 80 percent. And his pressure passer rating was 115.8.
Wait a second, let’s go back to that completion rate … 80 percent isn’t perfect.
Perfect would be 100 percent.
Pro Football Focus adjusts a quarterback’s accuracy percentage to reflect dropped passes, balls knocked down at the line, or intentional throwaways to avoid a sack.
Throwaways are smart. Why take the sack and lose yards when you can dump the football? Throwaways shouldn’t be used to deduct points from a QB’s accuracy score. He deserves credit for having the presence of mind to get rid of the ball to save his offense from a negative play.
And that explains why Foles was perfect under pressure Sunday; his only three “incompletions” were on clear throwaways.
When Foles actually targeted a receiver to make connections, he completed all 12 of his passing attempts with the Seahawks closing in on him.
So with the adjusted number, Pro Football Focus gave Foles an accuracy rating of 100 percent for his work in standing up to the Seattle pass rush.
Foles’ 100 accuracy percentage was the best in the league Week One.
It’s interesting to note that former Rams quarterback Sam Bradford had a relatively easy time in the pocket during his first game as Philadelphia’s starter.
(I bring it up only because Foles and Bradford were traded for each other last offseason.)Against Atlanta on Monday night Bradford had to deal with pass-rush pressure on only 21.5 percent of his dropbacks.
Foles had 17 pressures on 31 dropbacks _ or SIX more pressures than Bradford had on many more (52) dropbacks.
A big difference right there.
Though Foles had to cope with a lot more traffic and harassment than Bradford _ somehow Bradford had an accuracy percentage that was significantly lower (55.6%) than Foles’ 100 percent.
The Seahawks sacked Foles twice, hit him seven other times, and hurried him to throw on nine occasions. The Rams’ pass protection was ranked near the bottom of the NFL for Week One, according to PFF.
If Foles had lost his nerve, turned soft in the pocket, and anxiously looked for a safe place to fall down … well, there’s no way the Rams would have won that game from Seattle. Not a chance.
The Seahawks brought the blitz on eight passing attempts during the game _ but Foles shredded it for seven completions in eight attempts for 123 yards including the game-tying 37-yard touchdown to tight end Lance Kendricks. Foles had a 158.3 passer rating vs. the Seattle blitz. This was one game.
Foles was abundantly tough against the Seahawks, mentally and physically. But over the next 15 games he’ll have to deal with intense pressure as opponents plot ways to exploit an inexperienced Rams offensive line to batter the quarterback. Foles held up magnificently in the first game, but more pass-rush swarms are coming his way.
When Foles had his terrific season in Philadelphia (2013) he was under pressure on 34.3 percent of his dropbacks and had an accuracy percentage of 68%. That’s a positive result.
When a beat-up Foles regressed for the 2014 Eagles, he faced more pass-rush heat than the season before (40%) and wasn’t as sturdy _ throwing five interceptions (to go with four touchdown passes.) Foles given an accuracy percentage of 51% under pressure by Pro Football Focus in ’14.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn later that Foles arrived in St. Louis with a hardened attitude, and if so I think it serves him well.
No matter what Foles says publicly, I can’t believe he took the trade in stride. I can’t believe Foles just shrugged when coach Chip Kelly dumped him one year after a Pro Bowl season for a quarterback (Bradford) that had started only 33 of the STL’s 64 games between 2011 and 2014 because of injuries.
It seems to me that the Rams acquired a quarterback who came to town with a hungry heart.
It sure looked that way on Sunday.
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Agamemnon
