Quarterback Nick Foles ended 2017 with his third start of the regular season. He only saw action in the first quarter before being replaced by quarterback Nate Sudfeld, who made his NFL debut on the opening drive of the second quarter.
"I thought coming out on our first drive we got a couple of things going. Offensively, as a whole, it's not exactly what we wanted, but there's a lot to build on and I'm confident that we will build on it," he said.
Foles' biggest play of the game was an on-target third-down pass to wide receiver Torrey Smith, who dropped the ball which led the offense to finish the first quarter 0-for-3 on third down in four possessions. In his only quarter of play, Foles completed 4 of 11 passes for 39 yards with one interception.
"Obviously, you always want to put points on the board. These are the situations I trust Doug and his call," Foles said of the limited game action. "Playing a quarter we were able to go out there, we were in there for four drives, and we as an offense expect to execute better and that's the thing, this wasn't acceptable.
"We also know what we're capable of and how talented we can be because of how we play together. We're just going to keep working on that, keep our confidence high. There's no reason not to be confident. We have an amazing group of guys, an amazing group of athletes that can do some special stuff. This week we'll go back and analyze everything, have some break, whatever our schedule is, get some great work in and be ready to roll."
This afternoon's frigid cold temperatures, the wind chill was 3 degrees at kickoff, also certainly factored into both teams' struggles. Foles touched on how it will benefit the Eagles as they prepare for playoff action.
"As it gets colder in Philadelphia, we'll be able to practice in it and be outdoors in it and do more of that," Foles said. "So we're going to be able to get more used to it and that's a great thing. And playing these last two games at home in a cold environment does nothing but benefit us, just because the weather has gotten colder the last couple weeks so we're still getting used to it but it is a huge advantage to us. Teams coming up here don't want to play in this."
As the regular season comes to a close, Foles and the Eagles finish 13-3 on the season and will begin to prepare for the playoffs. After last Monday's 19-10 win over the Oakland Raiders, the Eagles claimed the NFC's No. 1 seed, a first-round bye, and home-field advantage.
"I know everyone's really positive in the locker room," Foles said. "It's been a tremendous season with these guys, we're 13-3. Unfortunately, we didn't put together this week and the last two weeks as an offense we haven't done what we wanted to, but we found a way to win against Oakland and we're going to continue to improve and look at the film and be ready to go for the playoffs."
Despite the loss and it being just his third game as the starting quarterback this season, Foles feels very confident in his ability and his teammates' ability to find success in the playoffs.
"I've played a lot of football. I know who I am as a player and I also know that throughout my career and my life I haven't always played great games, I've been in games where execution hasn't gone the way we wanted to and the key is you remain confident because you know who you are, you know that you're going to prepare every day and do everything to the best of your ability," Foles said.
"It's not like we go out there and say, 'Hey, we're not going to play to the best of our ability today.' We went out there, played as hard as we could, we didn't execute the best stuff we could because I know every single guy in that offensive huddle and on this team gives everything they have. That's something that you can't just teach, that's something that's within and we have that. The 13-3, that's because of that, guys believe and they give everything they have. So there's where I'm confident because I'm confident in myself and I'm confident in my teammates because I know what we're capable of doing."
The Philadelphia Eagles fell to the Dallas Cowboys, 6-0, to end the regular-season.