One of the reasons the Eagles won the Super Bowl last year is that Nick Foles proved excellent at avoiding the pass rush: In the Super Bowl he threw 43 passes and was never sacked. That came after an NFC Championship Game in which he threw 33 passes and was only sacked once, and a divisional round game in which he threw 30 passes and was only sacked once.
It would be tempting to credit the Eagles’ offensive line for that, but it would also be wrong. Because Carson Wentz, playing behind the same offensive line last season, was sacked far more often: Wentz took 28 sacks in 13 games.
This season, the story is the same: Foles is avoiding the pass rush better than Wentz did. Foles has been sacked nine times through five games after Wentz was sacked 31 times in 11 games.
Overall, in the last two seasons, counting Foles’ postseason run, Wentz has been sacked on 6.6 percent of his dropbacks, while Foles has been sacked on 3.8 percent of his dropbacks.
Foles is simply better than Wentz is at avoiding the pass rush, and that’s a significant difference between them as quarterbacks. With the Eagles heading to Chicago to take on Khalil Mack and the Bears’ defense, they may be better off with the quarterback who’s better at avoiding pressure.