The 5 Numbers That Tell the Story of Eagles vs Giants
By Dylan MacKinnon
Once again the Eagles found themselves needing to create a game winning drive at the end of the game. Last week it ended with them getting a TD to put them down only 2, but failing on the 2pt conversion. This week, they were down 11, scored 1 td, then drove all the way down again with 2 minutes left, and Carson Wentz made one of the best throws of his life to Boston Scott who made the best catch of his life. It was ugly, it didn’t leave you feeling very good, but they won. Wentz stepped up where it mattered and won the game for them. They are 2-4-1, and technically in first place. But still, there are a ton of issues. Let’s look at the numbers.
8-12
Jake Elliott is a problem. He is 8-12 on field goals this year (75%), and that is just not good enough. I can forgive him for not making the longest field goal in Heinz Field history a few weeks ago. I cannot forgive the 29 yarder he missed tonight, or the 52 yarder last week, or that he is only 19 of 26 (73%) since he signed a contract extension last year. He is not only a below average kicker in that time, he is the 27th worst in the league. And people wonder why Doug Pederson goes for it so often on 4th down.
34
Over the last two weeks, Carson Wentz and the Eagles offense have scored a combined 34 points, and five TDs in the 4th quarter. The Eagles offense has had issues, but they do show up when it counts, at least recently. Now they need to do that in the first 3 quarters. Instead of having to make a comeback, make plays earlier, and don’t make dumb mistakes like that interception in the end zone. There is clearly something here, you don’t do what the Eagles did in the 4th quarter the last two weeks by accident. A good coach can figure out how to take the success in the 4th quarter, and make it work in the other quarters.
80
The Eagles gave up a 80 yard run to Daniel Jones. I mentioned it last week, but this team is terrible when it comes to stopping runs from non-running backs. They came into the week giving up 6.3 yards per carry to non-rbs, and after this week that is up to 8.8, thanks to the 92 rushing yards by Daniel Jones, and a 7 yard run by TE Evan Engram. I have no clue how they can be so good vs RBS, yet terrible vs QBs, WRs, and TEs, but something has to change.
5.9%
Coming into the game, The Eagles O line had the 28th worst OL Summed Pressure Rate%, per PFF. I do not yet have the updated numbers, but judging how much Wentz was under pressure, I can’t imagine it has gotten better. A bevy of O line injuries has them in a really bad position, but excuses won’t protect Carson Wentz. The offense has enough problems, it cannot function like this. Not sure if there is anything they can do about it, but if don’t figure something out they won’t go anywhere.
+2
Eagles were +2 in turnovers. Eagles are 2-0 when they win the turnover battle, and 0-4-1 when they lose it. This defense has only forced a TO in 3 of their 7 games so far. They are now -6 in Turnovers. If they have any hope of winning more games, this defense needs to make plays like they did today.