If you’re near the bottom of the barrel of factoids to silence Bears haters in football arguments before training camp begins, Pro Football Focus provided an extra, extremely specific nugget to use in debates.
They tweeted that new Bears quarterback Nick Foles is actually tied with Patrick Mahomes for the second-highest-graded playoff QB of the decade.
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To wield the power of this new-found information most effectively, it’s probably best to skip past that top slot to the tie for second.
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It might sound crazy, but the players share some similarities. They’ve each won four playoff games, including a Super Bowl-- and they each won Super Bowl MVP.
Sure, Mahomes put up bigger numbers, but the 2019 Chiefs offense as a whole outpaced the 2017 Eagles offense. To put it in perspective the Chiefs’ top receiver, Travis Kelce, accumulated 1,229 yards. Tyreek Hill, who came in second, racked up 860 yards. The Eagles top receiver, Zach Ertz, finished with 824 receiving yards, which would’ve been third on the ‘19 Chiefs.
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Making matters even tougher for Foles is the fact that in both 2017 and 2018, he started the playoffs with only the momentum of a few regular season games. In a freaky coincidence, Foles replaced Wentz as the starter from Week 15 through the postseason in both 2017 and 2018, after Wentz suffered a torn ACL in ‘17, and a back injury in ‘18.
Does that make Foles the superior playoff QB, even though he’s technically tied with Mahomes? Let’s not go crazy, but maybe Foles makes that debate a little more interesting at the conclusion of this season.
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