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Chicago Bears quarterback Nick Foles is doing for the offense exactly what GM Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy could’ve hoped he would when the team traded a fourth-round pick for him in the offseason. He’s brought a cool, calm, and composed demeanor to his side of the ball and is managing Nagy’s system well, even though he’s only three official starts into it.
If there’s one thing Foles has excelled at so far this season, it’s the up-tempo, no-huddle approach. He stressed its importance on Thursday (again).
“It’s always good to have that,” Foles said of going no-huddle. “And for us to do that effectively is huge. I think it’s something we can build on, and it’s shown in games where we’ve been down and we’ve had to go to no-huddle, and it’s helped us get back in games where statistically we should have lost at that point in the game. It’s great to have the ability to do that when you need it.”
Through four games this season, Foles is completing 62.5% of his passes for 878 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions. His 66.1 Pro Football Focus grade ranks 27th among starting quarterbacks, and his 65.1 passing grade ranks 30th.
Those are hardly great numbers from a statistics and analytics standpoint, but that’s never been Foles’ calling card. He’s a gamer; a player who plays his best football in the most challenging moments.
And sometimes, it’s those challenging moments that require a hurry-up offense. Teams deploy a no-huddle approach when clawing back from a big deficit, something Foles and the Bears have proven capable of doing multiple times over the first six weeks of the 2020 season.
“It’s just when you do it and how you do it,” Foles said. “The big thing is communication. I’m constantly talking to coach Nagy, and we have an idea of what we want to do and the coaching staff has an idea of what we want to do . . . so there will be specific times where you implement change of pace.”