Nick Foles' dreadful night stirs painful Patriots Super Bowl memories
BOSTON -- Life as a football fan in New England has by and large been quite wonderful over the past 20 years. Nine Super Bowl appearances, six Super Bowl wins, employing a GOAT head coach and quarterback, and being the epicenter of the football universe for two decades is more than anyone could have asked for from a franchise that had previously been to two Super Bowls -- losing them both -- in the team's entire history.
So when it comes to pain -- like real, Jets fan pain -- nobody in New England can really complain.
That being said, human beings can find space to complain about anything. And on Monday night, with Nick Foles starting at quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, there was a whole lot of reminiscing and disbelief about the fact that he beat the Patriots in a Super Bowl.
For some of us ... that incredulity began as soon as Foles stepped onto the field:
For others, the amazement, wonder, and shock set in over the course of the game, during which Foles was just plain awful. He was 17-for-29 for 143 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions while taking seven sacks.
The disbelief wasn't just from Patriots fans, either, as seemingly nobody who observes football can believe what happened, even though it's been five years.
Unfortunately for Matt Patricia, who's had a tumultuous season calling offensive plays for the Patriots this year, the conversation obviously shifted toward him, because he was running the Patriots' defense the night that that Foles lit up the Patriots.
To be fair, Foles was a decent quarterback once upon a time. He had 27 touchdowns and two interceptions in the 2013 season, when he went 8-2 as a starter for the Eagles. But he started just 23 games over the next four seasons, going 13-10 and throwing 28 touchdowns with 22 interceptions for a 77.7 rating. He didn't do much in the Eagles' playoff opener in 2017, but then he found some magic to light up the Vikings before tearing it up against the Patriots.
We all know it happened. But Monday night showed that all these years later, few can really believe it happened.
