A familiar face was on the sideline Saturday night, and Nick Foles was awfully glad to have him there.
For the first time since he tore his ACL against the Rams at L.A. Coliseum on Dec. 10, Carson Wentz was allowed to watch an Eagles game on the sideline.
Maybe it made a difference.
Foles, who had struggled in his last two appearances leading up to the playoffs, played a solid game, completing 23 of 30 passes for 246 yards without an interception or touchdown pass, and the Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship Game with a 15-10 win over the Falcons at the Linc.
"To have him there on the sideline to go through stuff? Nate (Sudfeld), him, and I have done all this together all season and it’s really cool with all of us still together going through all the pictures, talking through the game," Foles said.
“We go through the pictures, we talk through it. A lot of times when you are playing, you’re zoned in, but you talk through different looks, different things that they see and you go from there.”
The Eagles are actually 4-1 since Wentz got hurt, with the only loss coming against the Cowboys in a game that had no postseason ramifications.
Foles, who spent the 2012 through 2014 seasons with the Eagles before a year in St. Louis and a year in Kansas City, rejoined the Eagles to back up Wentz, and the two quickly became close friends.
Foles was asked what Wentz said to him after Foles led the Eagles to their first playoff win since 2008.
“He was just really excited, he was just really excited," Foles said. "He is all about this team. He has been an amazing friend to me throughout this.
"He is a big reason we are here, so no one should forget that. He is a tremendous player and an even better person."
Foles is now 17-5 since 2013 as the Eagles' starting quarterback. His 102.7 career postseason passer rating is sixth-highest in NFL history among quarterbacks with 50 or more attempts.
Wentz is among the leading candidates for the MVP award, which will be announced Super Bowl week. He threw a franchise-record 33 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions this season before getting hurt.
"It is always great to have Carson around," Nelson Agholor said. "Carson is always in the building and when he is not there, he is still a part of us. Even when he is not physically out there, he is always a part of us and we feel his presence.”