When it comes to pressure-packed moments as a NFL quarterback, Nick Foles continues to be as cool as the other side of the pillow. Foles has led the Chicago Bears to two fourth-quarter comeback victories since taking over for Mitchell Trubisky as the Bears' starter midway through their Week 3 game, the latest rally coming in Chicago's 20-19 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thursday night.
With the Bears down two points and 2:21 to play, Foles took Chicago on a nine-play, 32-yard drive -- including a perfect 17-yard completion to David Montgomery on a wheel route -- to set up the winning 38-yard field goal by Cairo Santos.
Facing a key 2nd & 11, #Bears QB Nick Foles identified man coverage and yelled "Rub! Rub!" to Allen Robinson, scheming David Montgomery wide open against a blitz.
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) October 9, 2020
This perfect call (and throw) basically won the Bears the game. HUGE play. pic.twitter.com/PCuZz0K31W
On a mediocre night from Foles, the former Super Bowl MVP saved his best throw when the Bears needed him most.
"That's who he is," said Bears head coach Matt Nagy on Foles delivering clutch throws late in games. "The throws that Nick made, the protection that the line had, the opportunistic plays that these guys made at the most perfect time, that's is what is so key about these players, these coaches. These coaches are on the headsets trying to figure out what we like and what we don't like.
"Again that was a pretty good defense we played. Overall the offense made plays when they had to and I think that's one of the special traits that Nick has."
Foles was just 30 of 42 for 243 yards with a touchdown an an interception in the game, recovering from a slow start which he missed a wide open Allen Robinson on third down in the first quarter and Darnell Mooney on a deep pass that would have resulted in a touchdown. Foles demonstrated the ability to put those misses behind him, going 4 of 6 for 30 yards on the game-winning drive, after completing just 1 of 3 passes for two yards on the possession before.
The Buccaneers gave Foles an second opportunity to win the game, and he took advantage.
"The big thing is just trusting my teammates and trusting the guys in the huddle to where, you know what, I can have that short memory because I trust them and I'm going to lean on them, and we have to continue to believe in one another," Foles said. "And doing it tonight showed it and we just continue to gain confidence with one another, working with one another to obviously win these games.
"I felt like today was a big one because it was just -- I keep saying, like it's a fistfight. It wasn't an easy game by any means. We just kept fighting, kept fighting, and everyone just kept, you know, throwing punches."
