Nick Foles threw for 331 yards Monday night, his sixth 300-yard game. Credit: Getty Images
1. McCoy, Sproles are a lethal combination
We saw the groundwork laid during the preseason and in Week 1 against the Jaguars, but in Week 2 against the Colts, the Eagles proved that it’s pretty darn hard for a defense to cover LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles together on the same backfield — or cover Sproles in the slot, or lined up at the tight end spot.
The Eagles’ screen game netted Sproles an incredible 152 yards in the air, with McCoy picking up 79 on a bad day (for him) on the ground.
“He’s always been a good screen runner, going back to his years with the Chargers,” Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. “He has a feel for it, he’s quick, he sort of gets lost a little bit and then all of a sudden he pops out.”
2. Foles is a true leader
Nick Foles seemed to bounce back pretty well in the Birds’ 34-point second half in Week 1, but pair his performance there with another double digit comeback, and another 300-yard game (the sixth of his career), and you have to admit, he looks like a franchise quarterback.
So what if he has as many interceptions already (2) as he did in all of 2013 — turnovers will happen. The way he leads the offense and stays calm, cool and collected makes it pretty clear he knows how to lead men into battle.
3. The defense is good enough to win it all
The Eagles won’t be winning a Super Bowl based on their defense. But they won’t be losing out on getting there because of it either. The Birds’ defense held Andrew Luck in check, and though they didn’t generate a single sack, they did create two key turnovers.
The Eagles have the longest active takeaways streak in the NFL at 15 games, and if it continues, the Eagles should have no problem in the NFC East.
4. They haven’t played their best yet
How can you improve on a 2-0 start?Just ask Chip Kelly, who agrees with assessments made by several Eagles stars like Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin.
“No one should be patting themselves on the back anywhere,” Kelly said in his Tuesday media conference. “We’re fortunate to be 2‑0. We’ve done a great job of coming back in both games, but there is a lot of work in every aspect of the game that we need to work on. So that’s the great thing about this group, they understand that.”
