Football

QB Nick Foles leads Chicago to comeback win in first appearance with Bears

By Kevin Mercer Sep 28, 2020
Chicago Bears quarterback Nick Foles against the Atlanta Falcons. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Chicago Bears quarterback Nick Foles finds himself back in the headlines on Monday, a day after coming off the bench to lead his team to an incredible 30-26 comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

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The Bears trailed the Falcons 26-10 on the road in the third quarter when head coach Matt Nagy decided to replace starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Foles proceeded to toss three fourth-quarter touchdown passes with less than seven minutes remaining in the game to give the Bears a dramatic 30-26 win.

Foles finished the day with 16 completions on 29 attempts for 188 yards, those three touchdowns and an interception. The Bears are now 3-0 in 2020 and are tied with Green Bay for first in the NFC North.

“It’s not easy coming in cold like that,” Foles said in the post-game press conference, “but if you approach it with the mindset of, ‘Hey, just one play at a time, you can’t get all the points back in one throw,’ that helps a lot.”

Foles continued later: “All of this is so new. I wasn’t expecting this today. Obviously we just went out there today and got a win as a team. I felt good out there — not perfect — but I felt good.”

The 31-year-old Foles came to Chicago this past March in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars to provide competition for Trubisky. Trubisky earned the starting job coming out of training camp, and Foles graciously slid back into a backup role. But the starting spot is now Foles’, as Nagy on Monday announced him as the starter for Week 4.

Foles’ heroics off the bench on Sunday had shades of the 2017 playoffs, when he originally rose to stardom with the Philadelphia Eagles.

That year, Foles replaced injured starter Carson Wentz in Week 14 and, in one of the most memorable backup-turned-hero stories in NFL history, led the Eagles through the playoffs all the way to the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. He out-dueled opposing quarterback Tom Brady, won the game 41-33 and earned Super Bowl MVP.

After the game, Foles made sure to give glory to his Lord and Savior.

This past May, he launched “The Mission of Truth” podcast with his friend and former teammate, Chris Maragos.

“God has allowed us to have a platform,” Foles said, adding, “we can share different life experiences we’ve gone through, talk about the real stuff, but then also show people there is hope. There is light. There is a way to get through them.”

Foles and Maragos discussed their 2017 Lombardi Trophy on the podcast in May.

“The Lombardi Trophy was a platform that God allowed us to have, and our sufferings and trials are places we can meet every single person on the earth and we can talk about that,” Foles told Sports Spectrum this spring. “But then the most important thing is, ‘Where does our hope lie?’ And that’s ultimately in Jesus Christ.”

Foles, who has said he wants to be a pastor when he’s done with football, dealt with a collarbone injury for much of his 2019 season with the Jaguars. He was asked about it last November, and he was quick to point back to Christ.

Now, whether he is the starter or the backup, Foles will carry that faith into the Bears’ Week 4 matchup against the 2-1 Indianapolis Colts. The game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

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