The worst Eagles offense this century, and more numbers to know ahead of Eagles-Giants
The stats are grisly, but the now Joe Milton-led Eagles will try to find some semblance of an attack this week against the visiting Giants.
Mercifully, the Eagles are almost at their bye week.
Their roster could look a little different this time next week after Tuesday’s trade deadline, but it’s safe to say the Eagles — and their fans — are ready for a break.
They’re 2-6 after six consecutive losses. Their offense has been woeful. Their defense has been leaky. They have suffered a rash of injuries to important players.
And there’s still nine more games to go, starting Sunday with a 1 p.m. home game vs. the New York Giants.
Here are some numbers and trends worth noting ahead of the NFC East showdown (we use that term liberally):
1998
Only the winless Los Angeles Chargers have a worse point differential than the Eagles, who are minus-65 in that category through eight games. (Side note: the Chargers have only played seven games. Yikes.)
When was the last time the Eagles were at minus-65 or worse through eight games? You have to go all the way back to 1998. Parallels have been drawn to Andy Reid’s final season of 2012, but even that team was 30 points better in point differential at this juncture of the season, as pointed out by The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia.
The Eagles have scored an NFC-low 137 points. No team that has completed eight games has scored less than the Eagles.
Here comes Joe Milton to save the day, right?
350
Hat tip to NBC Sports’ Reuben Frank for this doozy.
The last time the Eagles went through eight games without topping 350 yards in a game was 1971, when they did it through 11 contests.
The Eagles racked up a season-high 341 yards in Week 2 in Tennessee, and dating back to last season have gone 10 consecutive games without going over the 350 mark.
The Eagles are averaging 244 yards during their six-game skid.
42.6%
It is hard for an offense to do much moving when the quarterback is being pressured at a rate of 42.6% of dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats, the fourth-worst mark in the NFL. That’s the world Milton is stepping into. It’s what Tanner McKee dealt with, and it was life for Jalen Hurts, too, before his season was stalled.
The Eagles are allowing too many unblocked pressures. They haven’t consistently communicated and dissected defenses in order to have any sustained success.
Run blocking isn’t much better. According to Sharp Analytics, the Eagles are tied for the league low in average yards before contact per running back rush at 0.7, and their run stuff rate of 23.7% is 31st in the league.
The Giants’ pass rush without Brian Burns (knee), whose season ended in Week 3, has not been as dangerous. They are 20th in the NFL with a pressure rate of 34.2%.
9%
That’s the pressure rate of the Eagles’ biggest acquisition of the offseason, edge rusher Jonathan Greenard.
Injuries have limited him to five games, six full practices, and only a limited role in the games he’s played, but Greenard’s pass rushing being nonexistent has been a big factor on a team that is struggling to get after opposing quarterbacks.
The Eagles rank 29th in pressure rate (31.5%), according to Next Gen. They have just 10 sacks on the season, none of them from Greenard.
The Giants have been just OK protecting their quarterback. They’re 20th in pressure rate allowed (37.4%).
2009
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Eagles were 3-point home underdogs to the Giants.
It’s been a while since the Eagles were home ‘dogs against their NFC East rival. According to Yahoo betting analyst Ben Fawkes, Sunday would mark the first time the Giants are road favorites in Philadelphia since Nov. 1, 2009.
The Eagles have problems. Eight games into the season, that much is sure. But which ones are symptomatic, versus the ones that are systemic? From the head coach to the personnel, from coordinators to the front office, The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and David Murphy scrutinize the micro issues that point to some of the larger dilemmas the Eagles now face: should they start to pack it in, and who will be held accountable for the team’s shortcomings? Listen here.
Listen to all episodes here or wherever you get your podcasts.
