Foles' presence represented why the Eagles have been domestic underdogs in each their NFC playoff games. It additionally nfl.bite modified a franchise's large-level fortunes. Losers of four NFC name video games from 2001-08 and losers of both Super Bowls they'd played, the Eagles noticed a backup pressure Bill Belichick's defense to bend and break. Carson Wentz's December ACL tear summoned Foles, who sliced up the Giants in Week 15 but struggled inside the weeks that observed. Foles turned into masterful in an NFC championship rout of Minnesota, and he etched his name on the QB2 Mt. Rushmore by way of flaming the Patriots for 373 yards and three TDs (and scoring another through the "Philly Special."

Williams' comeback got here close to happening in Los Angeles, in preference to Washington. Joe Gibbs subsidized out of an nflbites August 1987 alternate with the Raiders, one that might have brought mid-spherical reimbursement, to maintain Williams as Jay Schroeder's backup. Williams ultimately rewarded Gibbs' choice. Replacing Schroeder on more than one events, Williams led Washington to a Week 1 comeback win over the Eagles but also lost both his normal-season starts. Given the keys for correct in Week sixteen, Williams powered Washington to Super Bowl XXII. His 340-backyard, 4-TD overall performance against Denver stays a defining NFL big-stage time out. Schroeder changed into a Raider with the aid of 1988.

Rote is accountable for leading teams to NFL and AFL championships, forming a one-guy QB membership right here. The first nfl bite part of that dual accomplishment got here in his first Lions season while Bobby Layne suffered a broken ankle in Week eleven. Because the Lions and 49ers each completed eight-4, a Western Conference playoff commenced. San Francisco's 20-point 1/3-sector lead vanished, with Rote leading a 31-27 win. He then made a late access into the Lions-Browns rivalry, throwing for 280 yards and 4 touchdowns to offer Detroit a fifty nine-14 win to give Detroit a three-1 part within the groups' 4 Fifties identify video games.

Keenum's 2017 will probably be a one-hit-wonder, but this season lifted the Vikings to heights they've now not hit with Kirk Cousins. After Sam Bradford's damage trouble resurfaced that September, Keenum -- on a one-12 months, $2 million agreement after ceding his Rams activity to Jared Goff in 2016 -- drove the Vikes to 11 wins and the NFC's No. 2 seed. Mike Zimmer's steady defense helped the journeyman, but Keenum (3,547 yards, 22-7 TD-INT ratio) led the league in quarterback DVOA. A Saints shielding miscue raised the profile of this season, sure, however Keenum nonetheless went back and forth with Drew Brees in a divisional-round classic.

Placing Brady's debut is tough. The protection-fueled Patriots did no longer ask Drew Bledsoe's backup to do an excessive amount of, and the crew benefited from the debatable "Tuck Rule" to thieve a playoff victory. Bledsoe additionally guided the Pats past the Steelers within the AFC name recreation, after Brady went down. And, Spygate. But the 2000 Pats went five-11. The '01 version went 14-three in Brady's regular-season and playoff begins, and the destiny NFL icon turned into now not exactly focused on an elite skill-function corps. Brady's final pressure in Super Bowl XXXVI -- to take down a heavily preferred Rams team -- signaled a defining American sports activities turning point.