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Nick Foles' calm under pressure key in Rams' wins
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...ck-foles-calm-under-pressure-key-in-rams-wins
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Many would argue that the hardest thing to do in football is stand in the pocket as a quarterback and deliver a well-timed, accurate pass knowing that at any moment you could be hit from any angle.
It's what separates the great quarterbacks from the, well, not so great ones. St. Louis Rams quarterback Nick Foles has been a little bit of both in the team's first four games. It's no coincidence that when he's been good against pressure, the Rams have won. When he's been average or worse, they've lost.
Never was Foles' performance against pressure on better display than last week's 24-22 win against the Arizona Cardinals. Facing Arizona's blitz late in the game, Foles knew he was going to take a shot but stood tall and delivered a strike to Tavon Austin for the game-winning touchdown. He even pulled back on the throw before reloading and firing.
How did he manage to do it?
“You really just have to trust your linemen, trust them to pick it up," Foles said. "Or if they have an extra guy, just maneuver around in the pocket. The situation during the game at the end is we needed a score, so it’s one of those times where no matter what it takes, you try to get the ball off and give the guy a chance. On that particular play, Tavon was able to really get across the field and I was able to put it around the guy. It all started with the O-line keeping the guys off of me.”
But the Rams' offensive line hasn't been able to consistently keep guys off of Foles. While they have managed to mostly limit sacks -- the Rams have allowed six in four games -- Foles has found himself under duress or hit on 26 occasions, 13 times in the team's two wins and 13 times in the team's two losses, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
In the victories, Foles is seven-of-13 for 103 yards and a touchdown with six first-down conversions when under pressure. In the losses, he's five-of-13 for 24 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and just one first down. The difference is only two completions but the yards per attempt drops from 7.9 to 1.8 in the wins versus the losses.
According to Pro Football Focus' metrics of passing under pressure, Foles has an 85.3 quarterback rating under pressure but that number jumps to 103.6 when he has a clean pocket. But Foles has also thrown four of his five touchdown passes against the blitz, proving that he has the ability to not only stand and deliver under pressure but deliver big plays.
This week, Foles will face a Green Bay Packers defense that ranks first in the NFL in sacks per passing attempt (13 percent), tied for second in sacks (17) and third in disrupted drop backs (a combination of sacks, passes defended, batted balls and interceptions).
"We talked about it today," Fisher said. "(Foles) got hit too many times. We have to get better there. I don’t like to see our quarterback on the ground. But when he hung in there, he bought himself time. He trusted a clean pocket and got the ball down the field.”
Which means that even though the Rams and Foles are playing a Packers team known for its offense, Foles and the offensive line will have to be on point when Green Bay brings the heat.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...ck-foles-calm-under-pressure-key-in-rams-wins
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Many would argue that the hardest thing to do in football is stand in the pocket as a quarterback and deliver a well-timed, accurate pass knowing that at any moment you could be hit from any angle.
It's what separates the great quarterbacks from the, well, not so great ones. St. Louis Rams quarterback Nick Foles has been a little bit of both in the team's first four games. It's no coincidence that when he's been good against pressure, the Rams have won. When he's been average or worse, they've lost.
Never was Foles' performance against pressure on better display than last week's 24-22 win against the Arizona Cardinals. Facing Arizona's blitz late in the game, Foles knew he was going to take a shot but stood tall and delivered a strike to Tavon Austin for the game-winning touchdown. He even pulled back on the throw before reloading and firing.
How did he manage to do it?
“You really just have to trust your linemen, trust them to pick it up," Foles said. "Or if they have an extra guy, just maneuver around in the pocket. The situation during the game at the end is we needed a score, so it’s one of those times where no matter what it takes, you try to get the ball off and give the guy a chance. On that particular play, Tavon was able to really get across the field and I was able to put it around the guy. It all started with the O-line keeping the guys off of me.”
But the Rams' offensive line hasn't been able to consistently keep guys off of Foles. While they have managed to mostly limit sacks -- the Rams have allowed six in four games -- Foles has found himself under duress or hit on 26 occasions, 13 times in the team's two wins and 13 times in the team's two losses, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
In the victories, Foles is seven-of-13 for 103 yards and a touchdown with six first-down conversions when under pressure. In the losses, he's five-of-13 for 24 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and just one first down. The difference is only two completions but the yards per attempt drops from 7.9 to 1.8 in the wins versus the losses.
According to Pro Football Focus' metrics of passing under pressure, Foles has an 85.3 quarterback rating under pressure but that number jumps to 103.6 when he has a clean pocket. But Foles has also thrown four of his five touchdown passes against the blitz, proving that he has the ability to not only stand and deliver under pressure but deliver big plays.
This week, Foles will face a Green Bay Packers defense that ranks first in the NFL in sacks per passing attempt (13 percent), tied for second in sacks (17) and third in disrupted drop backs (a combination of sacks, passes defended, batted balls and interceptions).
"We talked about it today," Fisher said. "(Foles) got hit too many times. We have to get better there. I don’t like to see our quarterback on the ground. But when he hung in there, he bought himself time. He trusted a clean pocket and got the ball down the field.”
Which means that even though the Rams and Foles are playing a Packers team known for its offense, Foles and the offensive line will have to be on point when Green Bay brings the heat.