Nick Foles during his time with the Eagles (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Nick Foles acknowledges the Philadelphia Eagles are one of the “top teams” in the NFL, but says they have a lot to “clean up” moving forward.
The Eagles are off to a 3-0 start this year following their come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Rams. Philadelphia trailed 26-7 before mounting a comeback in the second, culminating in a victory when the Eagles blocked a game-winning, last-second field goal attempt by the Rams.
With that being said, the Eagles don’t look efficient on offense, ranking 29th in passing yards and 24th in rush yards per attempt. Furthermore, Philadelphia also ranks 15th on defense.
“I would say right now they’re going to be one of the top favorites, but I would say with how they’re playing right now, they have a lot to clean up before they’re that team,” says Foles in a one-on-one interview with RG. “They really got to dial in the offense and make that offense more dangerous. There’s other teams out there. Every team has an issue right now, even the Buffalo Bills. Defensively, they’re still giving up points. I’m a firm believer, throughout the first six-to-eight games of the season, you’re building your identity in the locker room as a coaching staff, as a team.”
Eagles Need to “Clean it up”
While it’s true that the Eagles haven’t looked invincible, the fact that they’ve been able to close out games against their top two opponents from last year’s playoff run, the Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs, speaks volumes.
“It doesn’t worry me three games into a season — they found a way to win three games,” says Foles of the Eagles. “That’s great. I also think that they haven’t played clean, so they’re going to the facility, probably not happy. They’ve won and they’re excited, and you celebrate winning in the NFL because it’s so difficult.”
Foles — who is an Eagles Super Bowl hero himself — attributes some of the struggles likely due to the fact that they’re incorporating a new offensive coordinator into the fold. Kevin Patullo is an offensive coordinator for the first time after Kellen Moore took the head coaching job with the New Orleans Saints.
“My guess is they’re hungry to figure out what’s going offensively and how to clean it up with a new offensive coordinator, how to make it easier on him so they can be more efficient to start the game,” says Foles of Patullo. “They haven’t had that super-efficient, explosive game that we’re used to from the Philadelphia Eagles offense. I would like to see them clean it up before I put them in that category. They have a ways to go for this season.”
Bucs Could Make Statement Beating Philly
The Eagles have a huge game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road in a matchup of two unbeaten teams. Philadelphia has historically struggled against the Buccaneers in Tampa in recent seasons, losing their 2023 postseason game there and losing one of their early regular-season games last year at Raymond James Stadium as well.
Foles acknowledges that if the Buccaneers beat the Eagles, observers will start taking notice of Tampa Bay as an elite team.
“No doubt,” says Foles of the Bucs as an elite team if they beat the Eagles. “If they beat the Eagles, they become someone who has a bullseye on them. They’ve proven it the last couple of years. They obviously won a Super Bowl not too long ago, but especially with Baker Mayfield, if the Eagles go down there and they lose this game, or Tampa beats them, it definitely puts them on the map as a team that is going to be a tough team to beat in the NFC.”
Other teams that Foles places in the elite echelon of the NFC include the Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers. However, Foles is less impressed by the Packers following their loss to the Cleveland Browns.
The Packers blew a late fourth-quarter 10-0 lead over the Browns before losing on a last-second field goal by Cleveland, one of the worst teams in the NFL.
“Before this weekend, I would have said the Packers, but the Packers sort of got a little exposed against the Browns,” says Foles.
“I was only focused on my team when I played, but in the NFL, you just never know what’s going on. These teams are trying to figure it out. It would have been Green Bay, but it’s going to be an interesting year this year in the NFC.”
Williams Has More to Prove
The 36-year-old Foles last played in the NFL in 2022 and retired just prior to the start of the 2024 season. While Foles played for a number of teams, one of the last teams he started for was the Chicago Bears, where he played for two seasons.
While it’s a different regime over there, Foles has taken notice of what the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams are doing. The former No. 1 overall draft pick is coming off the best performance of his young career, throwing four touchdowns with no turnovers for 298 yards passing.
Foles is impressed by Williams’ performance, but he mentions that it was against a Dallas Cowboys defensive unit that isn’t elite. He brings up how the Cowboys made the New York Giants and Russell Wilson look impressive when they allowed 37 points against them.
“It was against a bad Dallas defense,” says Foles of Williams’ performance. “I would love to say this is the turning point. Obviously, excited for them getting Ben Johnson’s first victory as a head coach. It’s always a special moment. But I’d like to see Caleb continue to excel and play, become the player that everyone thinks he’s going to be and it needs to be against a better defense. Dallas with (defensive coordinator) Matt Eberflus, they have not shown to be very good. Just even playing against the Giants two weeks ago, they made the Giants look like the best offense, and then against the Bears, they didn’t look great at all.”
Foles says once Williams puts that type of performance up against a good defense, he’ll give the USC Trojans alum his roses.
“Once they beat a really good defense, and they do it for 300 yards and four passing touchdowns against a really solid defense, then I think that’s the turning point,” says Foles of Williams. It’s great that they got their first win. It’s always good to get a win in Chicago. Played with the Bears for two years, excited for them, but they got to keep building. He’s got to keep showing it.”