Eagles vs. Cowboys: Flailing offenses, struggling teams, and more numbers to know ahead of Monday Night Football
Can the Eagles stop their slide against the also-struggling Cowboys? Here's what the numbers indicate.
The 2-4 Eagles and the 2-4 Dallas Cowboys meet on Monday Night Football at Lincoln Financial Field for a chance to be the outright second-place team in the NFC East.
If that sentence doesn’t get you geared up to watch the two rivals meet, maybe this one will: Tanner McKee will remain the man trying to right the ship for an offense that leads the NFL in punts and hasn’t scored more than two touchdowns in a game since Week 2.
Things haven’t been going well for the Eagles, who likely will play the rest of the season without Jalen Hurts as he deals with blood clots.
The numbers don’t provide much in the way of confidence that McKee and Co. can get things going.
Here’s a look at some stats and trends ahead of the Eagles’ Week 7 game vs. the Cowboys:
650
After the Eagles put up 222 yards to Carolina’s 399 in a 25-14 loss on Sunday, they have been outgained by 650 total yards through six games this season. That’s the worst margin in the NFL and the franchise’s worst start through six games since 1999, according to The Ringer.
» READ MORE: What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering Week 7 vs. the Cowboys
It marked the third consecutive game the Eagles were on the wrong end of a yards differential of at least 175 yards. As PHLY pointed out, that three-game streak matched the amount of times the Eagles were outgained by 175 yards in each of Nick Sirianni’s first five seasons combined.
That’s a tough trend to tackle. The sample size is growing, and while the Eagles have had plenty of personnel issues (injuries, a key retirement, etc.), the ineptitude is jarring.
5
The Eagles started Sunday’s game with punts on five consecutive possessions. According to The Athletic, it’s the first time that’s happened under Sirianni.
Braden Mann’s 33 punts lead the NFL, one ahead of Denver’s Jeremy Crawshaw and two ahead of Cleveland’s Corey Bojorquez.
29
The Eagles aren’t the only team bringing a slumping offense to this one. The Cowboys have scored 29 points over their last two games combined, marking the first time since 2019 they’ve done so in consecutive games that quarterback Dak Prescott has started and finished, according to Next Gen Stats.
Dallas’ 2-4 start also is the worst in any season that Prescott has started each of the first six games.
60%
What’s going wrong for the Cowboys? Start here: Their downfield passing game hasn’t been connecting.
Over the last two games, 60% of Prescott’s passes have been what Next Gen labels “short” passes (0 to 9 air yards).
» READ MORE: Best of unCovering the Birds: Is the Sean Mannion offense really fixable?
According to Next Gen, Prescott has posted a short pass rate of at least 60% five times during the Brian Schottenheimer era, and all five instances have resulted in losses.
This trend actually works in the Eagles’ favor. They have allowed a 43.6% success rate on short passes this season, the third-lowest mark in the NFL, according to Next Gen.
15.2%
How many times did you read in these pages and maybe elsewhere that Sean Mannion was going to bring a dynamic offense to the Eagles, one that utilized under-center play action to marry the run and pass games?
Here’s an update on how that’s going: The Eagles have a 15.2% success rate on their overall under-center dropbacks this season, according to Penn professor and Eagles data scientist extraordinaire Deniz Selman. That’s the worst success rate in the league by leaps and bounds. Denver ranks 31st in under-center passing success rate at 30.3%.
McKee dropped back to pass five times from under center on Sunday, according to SumerSports. All five plays were play actions, and they resulted in zero completions and two sacks for a total of minus-17 yards.
33rd
Monday night will mark the 33rd primetime matchup between the longtime NFC East rivals. Dallas holds a 17-15 edge over the previous 32, according to Next Gen.
But Monday is a rarity among the primetime games.
It will be just the second time the teams meet in primetime with both of them at least two games under .500. The first was in Week 8 of 2020, when Carson Wentz led the Eagles to a win over Ben DiNucci’s Cowboys in a game that also was on Monday Night Football.
This time, it’s the Eagles starting the backup and the Cowboys with the healthy starter.
Even with all the injuries and ineffectiveness through six games, Sean Mannion is still a believer in the Eagles’ offense, saying the problems are “totally fixable.” The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Marcus Hayes have some thoughts on the state of Mannion’s group, as well as a defensive unit that’s also been underwhelming this season. Listen here.
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