The Eagles miss DeSean Jackson's big plays
Chip Kelly's Eagles' offense is not as explosive as it used to be. It's easy to see why.
In Chip Kelly's first year in Philadelphia, DeSean Jackson produced a high number of big plays. He had 25 receptions of 20+ yards a year ago, which was second in the NFL, and eight receptions of 40+ yards, which was third. More often than not, those receptions of 20+ yards resulted in points -- 141 of them to be exact.
Here's a list of all of Jackson's 20+ yard receptions in chronological order (including the playoffs), and the result of each drive in which Jackson had a reception of 20+ yards.
If you'll note, including the playoffs, all 26 of Jackson's receptions of 20+ yards led to at least a FG attempt. On drives in which Jackson had a 20+ yard reception, the Eagles eventually scored 17 touchdowns, kicked 7 field goals, and missed 2 field goal attempts, for a total of 141 points. In other words, the Eagles scored 30.3% of their total points last season on drives in which Jackson made an explosive play.
Through six games this season, if you wipe away the Eagles' seven defensive and special teams touchdowns, their offense has produced 134 points.
The 2014 version of the Eagles' offense under Chip Kelly has been far less explosive. In 2013, the Eagles had 80 pass plays of 20+ yards during the regular season, for an average of five "explosive pass plays" per game. That led the league by a significant margin, with the closest team being Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos, who had 68. In 2014, the Eagles only have 22 pass plays of 20+ yards, and are on pace for 58.7.
The Eagles also led the NFL in pass plays of 40+ yards a year ago, with 18. As noted above, Jackson accounted for eight of them. This season, the Eagles have four, and are on pace for 10.7. Jackson, for the record, already has five receptions of 40+ yards so far in 2014, which leads the NFL.
That lack of explosion has also shown up in the form of the Eagles' inability to score in a flash. Last season, the Eagles had 27 touchdown drives that occurred in less than two minutes. Ten of those quick TD drives included a Jackson reception of 20+ yards. This season, the Eagles have just six TD drives of under two minutes, and are on pace for 13.3.
There are certainly some other extenuating circumstances to account for the dip in big play production. For example, Nick Foles has not been as good a quarterback as he was a year ago, and perhaps there's an argument to be made that defenses around the league are getting better at defensing the Eagles' offensive scheme.
Yes, the Eagles are 5-1, and seem to have a very healthy culture. And no, this should not not serve as an argument that the Eagles should not have cut DeSean Jackson.
But a fairly obvious thing to point out here is that the Eagles cut perhaps the most explosive receiver in the NFL, and as a result, are not as explosive as they used to be.
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