Nick Foles, Eagles should have enough mojo to top Texans
In the movie “Major League,” Cuban slugger Pedro Cerrano builds a locker room shrine to his personal god, Jobu, to help him hit a curveball.
In a case of life imitating art, Eagles defensive end Chris Long has built a locker room shrine to Nick Foles to keep his mojo working after the backup quarterback led Philadelphia to an upset of the Rams on Sunday night.
The shrine features a framed photo of Foles, a copy of Foles’ book, “Believe It,” and some religious candles. Long made sure teammate Fletcher Cox lit the big candles first.
“It’s important that you do it in that order,” he said.
Foles replaced an injured Carson Wentz last December and helped lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl win while earning Super Bowl MVP honors. Foles also replaced an injured Wentz last week and completed 24 of 31 passes for 270 yards as Philadelphia finally looked Super in a 30-23 win.
He’ll try to help keep the Eagles’ playoff hopes alive at home Sunday against Houston. Philadelphia (7-7) is a 1½-point favorite over the Texans (10-4), and Long is convinced Foles will bring his A game.
“He’s been there to bail us out when we’ve had injuries before. And this weekend, no different,” Long said. “I know he’s going to show up big.”
Houston has a two-game division lead with two games left. It has given up an NFL-high 52 sacks and ranks 29th in pass defense. The Eagles are in the top 10 in red zone defense and third down defense and are feeling loose.
Long said he made Foles look at his shrine.
“It’s for him. I just don’t think he likes the attention,” Long said. “But it’s not about attention. It’s about energy. Give him some good energy. It’s going to work. He always shows up big for us.”
We’ll ride the positive vibes and lay the short price at home on the champs in a must-win situation.
Four more plays (home team in CAPS)
Vikings (-6) over LIONS: Minnesota’s defense is locked in, and the Vikings are in control of their playoff destiny. Minnesota held Ryan Tannehill to 108 yards passing and sacked him nine times in last week’s 41-17 win after limiting Russell Wilson to 72 yards passing the previous week. The Vikings sacked Matthew Stafford 10 times in a 24-9 win in November, and the Lions quarterback is a bit banged up for this one.
Falcons (-3) over PANTHERS: Carolina shut down Cam Newton after its sixth straight loss Monday to the Saints. For all of Atlanta’s struggles, it’s ninth in the league in scoring (24.7 ppg) and Matt Ryan ranks third in yards, fifth in QB rating and sixth in TD passes (30). We’ll take Ryan over Panthers QB Taylor Heinicke, who has thrown only five passes in the NFL and will make his first start.
SEAHAWKS (+2½) over Chiefs: Seattle is 16-2 in prime-time home games under Pete Carroll. Kansas City is 2-2 in its past four games and 1-5-1 ATS in its last seven. The Chiefs have the NFL’s best offense, but the Seahawks and their top-ranked rushing attack should exploit Kansas City’s No. 31 defense.
RAIDERS (+3) over Broncos: The Raiders’ ghosts of seasons past should help inspire Oakland when it hosts rival Denver on Christmas Eve in what could be the final game the Raiders play at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Raiders QB Derek Carr has thrown for 19 TDs this season and no interceptions in his past nine games. Broncos QB Case Keenum has been a disappointment, throwing for 15 TDs and 12 interceptions.
Last week: 2-3 against the spread
Season: 38-34-3
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Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.