Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Eagles-Redskins II: The stats that matter | Paul Domowitch

LeGarrette Blount has been one of the league's most productive first-down runners in the first six games.

LeGarrette Blount runs with the football against the Carolina Panthers on  Oct. 12.
LeGarrette Blount runs with the football against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 12.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Every stat you could possibly need to get you ready for Eagles-Redskins II tonight:

First down is Blount’s down

— Forty-five of LeGarrette Blount's 70 rushing attempts have been on first down. He's gained 245 of his 390 yards on first down for a 5.44 yard-per-carry average. Blount went into Week 7 ranked eighth in the league in rushing and sixth in first-down rushing. Just two players with at least 30 first-down rushing attempts were averaging more yards per carry than Blount: Kareem Hunt (7.01) and DeMarco Murray (6.12).

— During Blount's career, 749 of his 1,238 carries, or 60.5 percent, have been on first down. He has rushed for 5,512 yards, 3,603 of which (65.4 percent) have come on first-down runs. He has averaged 4.8 yards per carry during his career on first down and 3.9 on all other downs.

— In their first two games, the Eagles ran the ball on first down on just 24 of 65 plays (36.9%). In their last four games, they've run on first down on 72 of 116 plays (62.1%). That's the fifth-highest first-down run percentage in the league from Weeks 3 to 6. The four teams with higher first-down run percentages during that period: Chicago (70.8%), Washington (68.2%), Jacksonville (64.1%) and Indianapolis (62.2%).

Third-down success

— Carson Wentz leads the league in third-down passing with a 130.5 rating. He has completed 66.7 percent of his third-down attempts, is averaging 10.2 yards per attempt, and has thrown seven touchdown passes and just one interception on third down. Thirty-five of his 42 third-down completions, or 83.3 percent, have resulted in first downs. Last year, Wentz was 28th in third-down passing (67.0) with a 55.8 completion percentage, 6.1 yards per attempt, three TDs, five interceptions and a 69.0 first-down percentage on his completions.

— The Eagles are first in the league in third-down efficiency. They've converted 50.6 percent of their third-down opportunities in the first six games. They have converted 39.5 percent of their third downs of eight yards or more (15 of 38). Last year, they converted just 21.3 percent (22 of 103).

— Oddly, the Redskins, who are 12th in the league in third-down efficiency (40.6%), have been better in longer third-down situations than shorter ones. They have converted 45.5 percent of their third downs of eight yards or more, but just 38.1 percent of third downs of seven yards or fewer. They are the only team in the league with a better success rate than the Eagles on third and 8 or more.

— Wentz has a 114.9 passer rating on third and 8 or more, including a 12.1 yards-per-attempt average. The Redskins' Kirk Cousins has a 94.9 third-and-8-plus passer rating.

Stuffing the run

— The Eagles are first in run defense, allowing just 65.7 yards per game. One reason for that has been the fact that teams are averaging a league-low 17.5 rushing attempts against them. Just one team has run the ball more than 19 times against them so far (Carolina, 25).

— The Eagles defense has allowed just 23 rushing first downs in their first six games. Only two teams had allowed fewer going into Week 7: Denver (14) and Miami (20).

— The Eagles have allowed just 12 runs of 10 yards or more. That's the seventh fewest in the league. Five of those 12 double-digit yard runs have been by quarterbacks: the Panthers' Cam Newton (3), the Chiefs' Alex Smith (1) and the Redskins' Kirk Cousins (1).

— In the Eagles' last four games, the defense has allowed just 1.65 yards per carry on first down.

— Twenty-two of their opponents' 69 rushing attempts in the last four games have been for losses.

Formation stuff

— The Eagles' use of three-wide receiver sets is up this season. They have used 11 personnel (1RB, 1TE) 62.5 percent of the time in the first six games. Last year, they used it on 56.3 percent of their offensive snaps. Their use of 12 personnel (1RB, 2TEs) has dropped from 29.4 to 25.2 percent, and 13 personnel (1 RB, 3TEs) is down from 10.6 percent to 8.4 percent.

— In last Thursday's 28-23 win over Carolina, the Eagles held Cam Newton to 4.6 yards per pass attempt. Newton completed 28 passes. His receivers managed just 105 yards after the catch on those 28 pass plays. They were held to two or fewer yards after the catch on 14 of those completions.

— Eagles wide receivers already have seven touchdown catches in the first six games and are averaging 14.5 yards per catch. Last year, they had eight TD receptions the entire season and averaged just 10.8 yards per catch.

Blount not a shotgun runner

— Fifty of LeGarrette Blount's 70 rushing attempts have been from under center. He is averaging 6.7 yards per carry from under center as opposed to just 2.7 out of shotgun. The rest of the Eagles running backs have a total of 24 rushing attempts (for 51 yards) from under center. In the Eagles' first meeting with the Redskins, Blount had two carries for no yards from shotgun and 12 for 46 from under center.

In the Eagles' first six games, 279 of their 405 plays, or 68.9 percent, have been run out of shotgun.

Wentz and the deep ball

— Carson Wentz is 4 for 7 on pass attempts of 20 yards or longer in the last two games. He was 5 for 22 on 20-plus-yard attempts in the first four games.

— The breakdown on Wentz's 29 20+ throws: Torrey Smith (2-10, 81 yards, 1TD), Zach Ertz (2-3, 91), Alshon Jeffery (1-9, 37), Nelson Agholor (3-5, 166, 2TDs), Mack Hollins (1-1, 20), Marcus Johnson (0-1, 0).

— Wentz completed just 7 of 17 passes for 67 yards (3.9 yards per attempt) on passes of 0 to 10 yards against Carolina. In the Eagles' first five games, he had a 70.6 completion percentage on 0-to-10-yard attempts and averaged 6.2 yards per attempt.

The blitz game

— The Eagles blitzed on 11 of 54 pass plays (20.4 percent) against the Panthers. Cam Newton was 4 for 11 for 22 yards, one touchdown and one interception when the Eagles blitzed. For the year, the Eagles have blitzed on 22.0 percent of their opponents' pass plays. Opponents have a 53.5 passer rating and a 44.4 completion percentage and have averaged just 4.2 yards per attempt when Jim Schwartz has sent more than four rushers.

— In the Eagles' Week 1 win over the Redskins, they blitzed Kirk Cousins on 13 of 44 pass plays (29.5%). That was their second-highest single-game blitz percentage in the first six games. They blitzed on 15 of 46 pass plays (32.6%) against Carson Palmer and the Cardinals in Week 5.

Ertzmania

— Zach Ertz has four red-zone touchdown catches in the first six games. Going into Week 7, that tied him for the third most in the league behind only the Packers' Jordy Nelson and the Texans' DeAndre Hopkins, who each had five. Also with four: Bucs tight end Cameron Brate, the Packers' Davante Adams and Chargers running back Melvin Gordon.

— Ertz was fifth in the league in receptions going into Week 7 with 34. Twenty-two of them, or 64.7 percent, have resulted in first downs. That's the fourth best among tight ends with at least 20 receptions, behind TB's Cam Brate (76.2, 16-24), the Patriots' Rob Gronkowski (73.1, 19-26) and the Titans' Delanie Walker (68.0, 17-25) Last year, 42 of Ertz' 78 receptions, or 53.8 percent, resulted in first downs.

— Alshon Jeffery has been targeted by Wentz 48 times, second to Ertz's 53 targets. He has 24 receptions, 17 for first downs, and nine third-down catches. The 17 first-down receptions are second to Ertz's 22. The nine third-down catches are tied with Nelson Agholor behind Ertz's 11. He has three red-zone receptions, two for touchdowns. His career high for red-zone TDs is six in 2014.

— Torrey Smith has been targeted 25 times and has 14 receptions. Just five of those 14 catches have resulted in first downs.

— Wentz has 10 rushing first downs in the first six games. Blount is the only Eagle with more (15). In his last 13 games, dating to last season, Wentz has 21 rushing first downs.