The title of this article might throw you off if you were privy to what happened in Oakland on Sunday when the Philadelphia Eagles absolutely destroyed the Raiders by the score of 49-20. Replacing an injured Michael Vick, the second-year quarterback completed 22-of-28 passes for 406 yards and seven scores.
Yes you read that right, seven scores.
Nick Foles joined Peyton Manning, who accomplished the same feat Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens, as one of just seven quarterbacks in NFL history to throw seven touchdowns in a single game. In the process, Foles put his name in the record books by throwing more touchdowns than incompletions throughout the process of the game.
Seven-Touchdown Games, NFL History | Year | Player | Team | Comp/Att | Yards | TD/INT | Rating |
| 2013 | Nick Foles | Eagles | 22/28 | 406 | 7/0 | 158.3 |
| 2013 | Peyton Manning | Broncos | 27/42 | 462 | 7/0 | 141.1 |
| 1969 | Joe Kapp | Vikings | 28/43 | 449 | 7/1 | 129.8 |
| 1962 | Y.A. Tittle | Giants | 27/39 | 505 | 7/0 | 151.4 |
| 1961 | George Blanda | Oilers | 20/32 | 418 | 7/1 | 132.8 |
| 1954 | Adrian Burk | Eagles | 19/27 | 232 | 7/1 | 120.7 |
| 1943 | Sid Luckman | Bears | 21/32 | 433 | 7/1 | 135.4 |
As you can see above, only three quarterbacks in the history of the NFL have compiled seven touchdowns without an interception in a single game. Manning and Foles this season as well as Y.A. Tittle 42 years ago. The interesting dynamic here is that it took Foles only 28 passes to tally those seven scores, where Tittle amassed nearly 40 and Peyton put up 42. The second-year quarterback from Arizona is also the only quarterback on this list with a perfect quarterback rating.
Foles' performance also represents just the 25th time a quarterback who has attempted a minium of 20 passes put up a perfect rating. Robert Griffin III accomplished that feat as a rookie last season. Prior to that, you have to go back to 2010 when Tom Brady tallied a perfect rating. Of the 25 games with a perfect quarterback rating prior to Foles' performance on Sunday, Drew Brees five-touchdown performance held the standard for the most scores. Alex Smith tallied a perfect rating for the San Francisco 49ers last season against the Arizona Cardinals. That being said, he didn't meet the threshold of 20 pass attempts (19) in the victory. Interestingly enough, it was the second-to-last game Smith ever started for the 49ers.
Most people refuse to look solely at quarterback rating when drawing a conclusion about how well a signal caller played. Generally, I fall under that category.
Even then, there are other things to look at here.
Yards per Attempt, seven-touchdown games (NFL History) | Player | Team | Avg |
| Nick Foles | Eagles | 14.5 |
| Sid Luckman | Redskins | 13.6 |
| George Blanda | Oilers | 13.1 |
| Y.A. Tittle | Giants | 13.0 |
| Peyton Manning | Broncos | 11.0 |
| Joe Kapp | Vikings | 10.4 |
| Adrian Burk | Eagles | 8.6 |
Foles averaged a ridiculous 14.5 yards per attempt against the Raiders on Sunday. To put that into perspective, only four active quarterbacks have tallied a higher total in a single game with a minimum of 20 pass attempts.
Peyton Manning, 2001 vs Buffalo Bills (14.52)
Philip Rivers, 2009 vs Cleveland (14.92)
Carson Palmer, 2011 vs San Diego (14.95)
Drew Brees, 2009 vs New England (16.30)
This isn't to say that Foles is going to continue the ridiculous level of play we saw Sunday against Oakland. Nor is it an indication that he's magically become one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Instead, it is to point out that many experts out there discounted his performance simply because of his lack of name recognition. Put Peyton Manning or Tom Brady right next to those statistics and you can bet we would be hearing people say how it was the greatest single-game performance in regular season NFL history.
What's also important to look at is the level of competition Foles went up against here. Prior to Sunday, the Oakland Raiders pass defense ranked in the top-10 of the NFL in yards against. Considering that they have already taken on Philip Rivers and Peyton Manning in 2013, that's a pretty impressive statistic right there.
In addition, we are just looking at statistics here. In no way am I indicating that Foles' performance against the Raiders in an early-November game compares in any way to what we have seen from some of the most clutch quarterbacks in postseason history. That would be utterly foolish.
It is, however, important to take a step back and realize that you were able to witness history being made on Sunday if you watched the Eagles' beatdown of the Raiders.
1) Foles has more touchdown passes than incompletions
2) He is only one of 25 players to compile a perfect quarterback rating in a NFL game (minimum 20 passes).
3) He is only one of seven quarterbacks to throw for seven touchdowns in a single game.
4) He is only one of three quarterbacks to throw for seven touchdowns without an interception in a single game.
5) Second-fewest amount of pass attempts to record seven touchdowns in a single game in league history.
6) The highest average yards per pass attempt for a quarterback who threw seven touchdowns in a single game.
7) The highest quarterback rating for a quarterback who threw seven touchdowns in a single game.
8) The fifth-higest yards per attempt total in a single game among active quarterbacks (minimum 20 attempts).
If you add all of this up, Foles might have actually put up the best statistical performance that any of us have seen or will see. That in of itself is simply stunning considering he's not even legitimately the Eagles' starter once Michael Vick is 100 perecnt healthy.