Nick Foles In The NFCCG Had One Of The Best Passing Games In Playoff History

by Chase Stuart on January 25, 2018

Nick Foles is no stranger to great games. He has the greatest passing game in Eagles history, recorded on November 3rd, 2013 against the Raiders. Foles completed 22 of 28 passes for 406 yards and 7 touchdowns, with just one sack for one yard and zero interceptions. That translates to a whopping 18.79 Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt.

We can adjust that result for both era and quality of defense: Oakland’s pass defense was bad that season, allowing 7.41 ANY/A to opposing passers, but even still, that means Foles still averaged well over 11 more ANY/A against the Raiders than the average passer that season. Over the course of his 29 dropbacks, Foles provided 330 ANY above expectation, easily the best game in Eagles history. In fact, it’s one of just eight games since 2002 with over 300 ANY over expectation, joining three Peyton Manning games (against the Broncos in both the ’03 and ’04 playoffs, and with the Broncos against the Ravens in the 2013 Kickoff Classic), two Ben Roethlisberger games (Packers 2009, Colts 2014), and performances by Drew Brees (Patriots, 2009) and Kurt Warner (Packers, 2009 playoffs).

But then, against the Vikings, Foles had another masterpiece. And what made this one particularly special was that it came against a really good Minnesota defense. During the regular season, the Vikings allowed just 4.57 ANY/A, second best in the NFL. But in the NFC Championship Game, Foles was 26 for 33 for 352 yards with 3 TDs and no interceptions, with one sack for six yards. That translates to 406 Adjusted Net Yards on 34 dropbacks, or 11.94 ANY/A. That is 7.37 ANY/A above what the average opposing QB produced against the Vikings during the regular season; over the course of 34 dropbacks, that translates to 250 Adjusted Net Yards of added value.

The table below shows all games in the playoffs in the Super Bowl era where a quarterback produced over 200 yards of ANY above expectation. Foles in the 2017 NFCCG checks in at number thirteen. ^[1]Note that in some cases for pre-1980 games, the sack data may not be completely accurate.

Rk	QB	Team	Year	Opp	Boxscore	Rd	DB	ANY/A	OPP	Value
1	Peyton Manning	clt	2003	den	Boxscore	W	26	18.35	5.20	342
2	Kurt Warner	crd	2009	gnb	Boxscore	W	34	13.97	4.24	331
3	Dan Marino	mia	1984	pit	Boxscore	C	32	14.25	4.06	326
4	Daryle Lamonica	rai	1968	kan	Boxscore	D	40	10.90	2.84	322
5	Peyton Manning	clt	2004	den	Boxscore	W	34	14.38	5.26	310
6	John Elway	den	1989	cle	Boxscore	C	37	11.81	4.01	289
7	Drew Brees	nor	2011	det	Boxscore	W	45	11.53	5.28	281
8	Joe Montana	sfo	1989	den	Boxscore	S	30	13.23	3.89	280
9	Peyton Manning	clt	2009	nyj	Boxscore	C	41	10.24	3.48	277
10	Daryle Lamonica	rai	1968	nyj	Boxscore	C	49	8.43	2.80	276
11	Daryle Lamonica	rai	1969	oti	Boxscore	D	18	19.11	3.83	275
12	Tim Tebow	den	2011	pit	Boxscore	W	21	16.95	4.52	261
13	Nick Foles	phi	2017	min	Boxscore	C	34	11.94	4.57	250
14	Kurt Warner	crd	2008	pit	Boxscore	S	45	8.64	3.17	246
15	Jim Plunkett	rai	1980	phi	Boxscore	S	22	14.55	3.44	244
16	Doug Williams	was	1987	den	Boxscore	S	31	11.52	3.77	240
17	Jeff Hostetler	rai	1993	den	Boxscore	W	21	16.71	5.50	236
18	Jake Delhomme	car	2003	nwe	Boxscore	S	37	9.59	3.26	234
19	Joe Montana	sfo	1989	min	Boxscore	D	24	13.38	3.67	233
20	Jim Kelly	buf	1990	mia	Boxscore	D	29	12.21	4.22	232
21	Joe Theismann	was	1983	ram	Boxscore	D	23	14.87	4.91	229
22	Terry Bradshaw	pit	1976	clt	Boxscore	D	19	16.68	4.64	229
23	Joe Montana	sfo	1984	mia	Boxscore	S	36	10.72	4.43	227
24	Terry Bradshaw	pit	1978	dal	Boxscore	S	34	9.59	3.01	224
25	Kurt Warner	ram	1999	min	Boxscore	D	35	12.26	5.89	223
26	Steve Young	sfo	1994	sdg	Boxscore	S	39	11.03	5.31	223
27	Daunte Culpepper	min	2000	nor	Boxscore	D	31	11.68	4.53	221
28	Brett Favre	gnb	1995	sfo	Boxscore	D	29	11.52	3.91	221
29	Bart Starr	gnb	1966	dal	Boxscore	C	33	10.45	3.79	220
30	Joe Montana	sfo	1988	chi	Boxscore	C	29	11.31	3.78	218
31	Peyton Manning	clt	2003	kan	Boxscore	D	31	11.35	4.36	217
32	Tom Brady	nwe	2011	den	Boxscore	D	34	12.88	6.57	215
33	Joe Flacco	rav	2012	den	Boxscore	D	35	10.97	4.87	214
34	Matt Ryan	atl	2016	gnb	Boxscore	C	38	12.42	6.85	212
35	Jake Delhomme	car	2005	chi	Boxscore	D	34	9.59	3.37	211
36	Troy Aikman	dal	1992	buf	Boxscore	S	31	11.32	4.53	211
37	Kurt Warner	crd	2008	phi	Boxscore	C	30	11.57	4.57	210
38	Dan Fouts	sdg	1982	pit	Boxscore	W	42	9.36	4.37	209
39	Jeff George	min	1999	ram	Boxscore	D	54	7.83	3.96	209
40	Kelly Holcomb	cle	2002	pit	Boxscore	W	45	9.42	4.79	208
41	Joe Montana	sfo	1988	cin	Boxscore	S	39	9.77	4.46	207
42	Aaron Rodgers	gnb	2010	atl	Boxscore	D	38	10.68	5.24	207
43	Warren Moon	oti	1991	den	Boxscore	D	36	9.44	3.71	206
44	Philip Rivers	sdg	2007	clt	Boxscore	D	19	14.68	3.98	203
45	Matt Ryan	atl	2012	sfo	Boxscore	C	43	9.56	4.88	201
46	Lynn Dickey	gnb	1982	crd	Boxscore	W	23	14.78	6.06	201
47	Aaron Rodgers	gnb	2009	crd	Boxscore	W	47	9.34	5.08	200
48	Peyton Manning	den	2013	nwe	Boxscore	C	43	10.23	5.59	200

What stands out to you?

References[+]

References
↑1	Note that in some cases for pre-1980 games, the sack data may not be completely accurate.

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