Nick Foles decided to take the words of Charles Dickens and turn them around.
"It was the worst of times, it was the best of times."
Two weeks ago, Foles flopped when given the opportunity to seize the starting quarterback role for the Eagles. With Michael Vick on the shelf with a hamstring problem, Foles got the start against the Cowboys with first place in the NFC East on the line.
The result was not pretty.
Foles was atrocious. He literally looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights, coming up small in his chance to grab the spotlight. Foles looked confused, shaky and basically spent the afternoon missing open receivers, throwing high, wide, or into the ground.
When he wobbled toward the locker room with a concussion at the end of the third quarter, many wondered if he would ever again be considered a starting QB in the NFL.
Fast forward two weeks. Michael Vick's hammy again is keeping him off the field. Foles is named the starter early in the week.
What would Foles do with a second chance?
How about tying the NFL and Eagles record by throwing seven touchdown passes as the Eagles crushed the Oakland Raiders, 49-20.
Two weeks ago I wrote in this blog that Foles could not play in the NFL, so overmatched did he appear against the Cowboys. Anybody could have a bad day. This seemed like more than that. Foles simply seemed to shrink when the spotlight hit him.
Yesterday was redemption - and an eye-opening one at that.
With Chip Kelly once again revving up the tempo that appeared to have gone AWOL since he rolled it out on opening night in D.C., Foles' play was nothing short of a revelation.
Here are the numbers: 22 of 28 for 406 yards and seven touchdown passes. That ties a record held by several others, including Peyton Manning and old-time Eagles QB Adrian Burke. You read that correct, Nick Foles will now be in the same sentence as Peyton Manning. He's in the history books.
At one point before he exited the game early in the fourth quarter, Foles had seven touchdowns and just five incompletions. His day ended with one more TD than incomplete.
But it wasn't just the numbers. It's the way he looked running Kelly's offense.
He owned it. It was not a coincidence that Riley Cooper had another big day, hauling in three of those TD passes. The tight ends also got involved in the offense, something that was expected but has been decidedly missing from Kelly's offense.
The question today is which Nick Foles is the real deal, the guy who looked lost against the Cowboys, or the guy who was all-world yesterday in Oakland.
Don't look for Mike Vick to get back behind center any time soon, even if his hamstring fully heals. How do you bench a guy who just threw seven touchdown passes.
You don't.
This is now Foles' team. Does that mean the Eagles will not be in the market for a quarterback in next year's draft. That likely will be determined by how Foles plays in the Birds' remaining seven games. Interestingly enough, the Eagles now have as many games left on their schedule as Foles threw touchdown passes yesterday.
Peyton Manning, Y.A. Tittle, Sid Luckman, George Blanda, Joe Kapp, Adrian Burk. And now Nick Foles.
Two weeks ago I said I didn't think Foles could play in this league.
I was wrong.
And I hope Foles keeps proving me wrong.
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