Philadelphia Eagles Don't Need 2013 Version of Nick Foles to Win

Last year, with the rest of the NFL not knowing what to expect from him in his first semi-full season as a starter, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles posted the single best touchdown-to-interception ratio in NFL history (13.5), the third-highest passer rating in NFL history (119.2) and a league-high average of 9.1 yards per attempt. 

Unsurprisingly, with Foles tearing it up, the Eagles went 8-1 in games that the second-year quarterback started and finished. 

Thus far this season, Foles has come back to earth. Maybe opposing defenses have taken advantage of all the tape he gave them last year, or perhaps he's just becoming human again after a superhuman statistical season that might be impossible to match. 

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Regardless, it's a great sign for Eagles fans that the team beat the Indianapolis Colts 30-27 on Monday night to move to 2-0 despite Foles being off his game. The 25-year-old completed just 21 of his 37 passes, throwing one interception and one touchdown pass. 

His yardage total of 331 was impressive on paper, but that comes with a caveat: Football Perspective notes 233 of those 331 yards came after the catch. 

That's right. Basically, Foles' weapons did all the work. Running back Darren Sproles had 152 receiving yards on seven catches, almost all of which started at, near or behind the line of scrimmage. He and fellow back LeSean McCoy were the heroes, combining for 280 yards from scrimmage on 35 touches. 

"Once they [Sproles and McCoy] have the ball in their hands," Foles said after the game on the ESPN set, "they're going to do something outstanding, they're going to make a guy miss."

That and two huge second-half takeaways from the defense—a forced fumble from Fletcher Cox and an interception from Malcolm Jenkins, both of which led directly to Philly touchdowns—were the difference. Foles didn't get in the way, but he was a custodian. 

Eventually, the Eagles will need more from Foles. He made some big throws in the second half Monday, just as he did when helping to rally Philly back from a double-digit halftime deficit Week 1 against Jacksonville. But he dug big holes during the first halves of both of those games, and it's not as though the Jaguars or Colts have unforgiving defenses. 

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Next up, Washington and San Francisco. Both have stellar defensive fronts. They'll be tougher to solve. 

But it's a good sign that this offense isn't missing a beat without Foles punishing defenses in record-breaking fashion. DeSean Jackson is gone, and the quarterback looks average, yet Philadelphia has a league-high 64 points through two weeks. 

Team	Points/game	Yards/game
1. Philadelphia Eagles	32.0	439.0
2. New Orleans Saints	29.0	434.5
3. Seattle Seahawks	28.5	343.0
4. Denver Broncos	27.5	343.0
5. Cleveland Browns	26.5	356.5

In this quarterback-dominated era, it's hard to sustain offensive dominance without a franchise-caliber pivot under center. Through two weeks, Foles hasn't looked like that type of player. His numbers have been inflated by yards after the catch, but he's been ordinary outside of the second half of that Week 1 matchup with Jacksonville. 

Despite being somewhat of a "captain checkdown," he's completed just 58.5 percent of his passes for a passer rating of 86.1, ranking 32nd and 20th among 35 qualifying quarterbacks in those respective categories. 

Quarterback	Comp.%	Team record
Drew Stanton	48.3	1-0
Chad Henne	53.5	0-2
Tom Brady	56.4	1-1
Alex Smith	58.4	0-2
Nick Foles	58.5	2-0

And yet despite those numbers, and even though they're without Jackson and down to a third-string right tackle and a backup left guard, the Eagles keep winning.

AJ Mast/Associated Press/Associated Press

That's a testament to the team head coach Chip Kelly has built in only 20 months. They can lose key guys, get mediocre performances from their most important player and still put up 30-plus points.

The Eagles have been built not to rely on one or two players, and that's why they're emerging as a legitimate Super Bowl contender early this season.