Eagles Find the Missing Linc

The Eagles scored a critical division win Sunday, defeating the Washington Redskins, 24-16, and following quarterback Nick Foles to the team’s first win at home this season.

The pressure on
Foles was immense, and he handled it like a pro, completing more than 65
percent of his passes for nearly 300 yards and going pick-free yet again. He
managed the game with veteran aplomb, and helped stake the Eagles to a 24-0
lead after three quarters.

Foles ran an
improbable nine times for an even more improbable 47 yards, even adding a short
touchdown run of his own on a day that saw the Eagles go three-for-four in the
red zone.

The Eagles again
ran very few plays, finishing with 62 to the Redskins’ 77, while possessing the
ball for only 26 minutes. This group is last in the league in time of
possession, but it hasn’t hurt them yet as they seem to move the ball well and
score in bunches.

As important as
the win was for playoff positioning, it was more important because it broke the
Linc Curse, which had become a living, looming entity punctuated by last
month’s disasters against the Cowboys and the Giants.

Had the Eagles
lost this game—or running back LeSean McCoy to a frightening first-half
hamstring tweak—it may have seemed impossible to ever win in South Philly.

The curse proven
mountainous indeed, as the Washington Redskins awakened to stage a brief but
furious comeback late in the game. As they had in their first game of the
season against these same Redskins, the Eagles seemed to take their foot off
the gas after building a big lead.

Washington
quarterback Robert Griffin III, who could be said to be suffering a regression
in his sophomore year, completed two long touchdown passes, and as the Eagles
offense repeatedly surrendered the ball to the Redskins, the fans felt an
impending sense of doom.

At the last
instant, however, a ferocious pass rush from the Eagles defense came to the
rescue, forcing RGIII into an ill-advised heave-ho that nickel corner Brandon
Boykin cradled in just before his momentum carried him out of bounds.

On a day that
the Eagles took an important step forward as a team, its defense continued to
rapidly mature in the 3-4 scheme, holding an opponent to fewer than 21 points
for the seventh consecutive contest.

Led by a
solid individual effort from Connor Barwin, the Eagles sacked Griffin four
times—twice by converted DB Trent Cole—and forced two critical turnovers, the
second of which preserved the all-important win.

The defense
that had seemed somehow incomplete for much of the season as new players began
to gel in a new scheme seems to have fused to a degree, allowing the opposition
to pile up yardage, but not points. The Eagles also boast a plus-four turnover
differential—undeniably aided by the benching of Vick, who threw three
interceptions and two lost fumbles in six games—good enough for eighth in the NFC
(and third in the AFC) on that metric.

Sunday was an
incredibly positive day if only because the Eagles were able to vanquish the
Linc Curse. Now a game there can be simply a game where the team enjoys
home-field advantage.

So here we are at the conclusion of Week 11, and the Eagles
are sitting atop the NFC East thanks to the pluck of a rookie coach in his
inaugural NFL season and a quarterback who started the year on the bench.

If the playoffs
started today, the Eagles would be in the dance. But there is a lot football to
be played, and there will be many more obstacles to overcome if this group
means to take those slim odds to an NFC East title. This year’s Eagles are
already somewhat ahead of schedule, having possibly found their quarterback of
the future.

Regardless, this season has already been more entertaining
than the last two by a long shot.