[ad_1]
How Doug Pederson and Nick Sirianni helped Miles Sanders develop into extra precious, the Eagles’ document tempo on fourth down and Ben Hawkins’ forgotten brilliance.
It’s a Week 15 version of Roob’s Random Eagles Observations!
1. One factor to remember when weighing whether or not or not the Eagles ought to re-sign Miles Sanders is how good each Doug Pederson and Nick Sirianni have been utilizing him. Sanders has averaged 12.9 carries per sport in his 4 NFL seasons, and whereas there have been occasions you’d prefer to see him get the ball extra, once you see different elite backs begin fading of their mid-to-late 20s, it is smart. Sanders has the tenth-most dashing yards by energetic operating backs of their first 4 seasons however solely the 18th -most dashing makes an attempt. He’s solely had three video games in his life with greater than 20 carries and that on high of his restricted enjoying time in school — he had simply 276 carries in his whole school profession — may actually lengthen his profession. In seven seasons since 2016, he’s had simply 960 carries. Guys like Derrick Henry and Ezekiel Elliott have had over 1,600 throughout the identical span. Sanders has proven completely no signal of slowing down. Doesn’t imply he received’t, however his worth is unquestionably larger than different operating backs coming off their rookie contracts due to how he’s been used. That can increase his value but in addition make him a safer signing than different backs along with his expertise. That’s additionally encouraging going into the postseason. So many operating backs who’re overused are ineffective down the stretch and within the postseason. Over the past month, Alvin Kamara is at 2.7 yards per carry, Saquon Barkley 2.9, Dameon Pierce 3.0, Dalvin Cook dinner 3.3, Nick Chubb 3.5 and Derrick Henry 3.8. Sanders? He is averaged 5.9 yards per carry the final month — highest amongst all NFL operating backs. You need your finest gamers at their finest when the video games are the largest, and it positive seems to be just like the Eagles have that.
2. Jalen Hurts’ first 16 profession begins: 58 p.c accuracy, 210 passing yards per sport, 18 TDs, 11 INTs, 82.1 passer ranking. Hurts’ final 16 begins: 68 p.c, 242 passing yards per sport, 25 TDs, 4 INTs, 107.1 passer ranking.
3. Lots of people have been questioning how Nick Sirianni will deal with the final sport or two of the season if the Eagles are in a position to clinch the No. 1 seed early. Every part he’s finished since he bought right here factors to resting his key guys as a lot as potential. Does that imply not enjoying them in any respect the final week or two? It simply may. Take into consideration a few of the strikes he’s made: No obligatory minicamp. Shorter coaching camp practices. Walkthroughs on Wednesdays. Relaxation days for veterans on Thursday and Friday. Diminished snaps for older gamers. His entire philosophy relies on preserving gamers off their toes as a lot as potential and decreasing the probabilities for accidents. And 12-1 with a wholesome roster says it clearly works. If the Eagles do clinch subsequent weekend, they might have a month earlier than they open play within the postseason. Is that too lengthy to relaxation your starters? In 2004, the Eagles clinched with two weeks left. With the Eagles sitting at 13-1, Andy Reid barely performed the starters the subsequent week towards the Rams after which didn’t play them in any respect towards the Bengals, each lopsided losses. It was an enormous story in Philly that week — Will the Eagles be rusty? Was it an excessive amount of day without work? Will they lose the aggressive edge? The reply was no then and it’s no now. They have been up 21-7 on the Vikings early within the second quarter of the convention semifinal spherical sport and rolled previous the Vikings and Falcons to achieve the Tremendous Bowl. It’s all about attending to Jan. 21 or Jan. 22 as wholesome as potential.
4. The Eagles have transformed 76 p.c of their fourth downs this yr — 19 of 25. That’s the very best on document by a staff trying a minimum of 25 fourth downs in a season — the NFL has tracked 3rd– and 4th-down conversions since 1984. Everyone knows why the Eagles are so good on fourth down. Jalen Hurts is 12-for-13 on keepers on fourth down, and he’s 6-for-9 for 103 yards, two TDs, no INTs and a 144.9 passer ranking when he throws on fourth down. Hurts’ 12 dashing first downs on fourth down are 5 greater than anyone else. His six passing conversions are 5th-most within the league. General, Hurts has transformed 18 fourth downs. Jacoby Brissett (12) and Trevor Lawrence (11) are the one different QBs with a minimum of 10.
5. Ben Hawkins’ 1967 season needs to be one of the outstanding and underrated seasons in Eagles historical past. After catching simply 14 passes as a rookie 3rd-round pick of Arizona State in 1966, Hawkins blew up in 1967, with 59 catches for 1,265 yards (nonetheless 5th-most in Eagles historical past), 10 touchdowns and a ridiculous 21.4 common. Hawkins in some way didn’t make the Professional Bowl, however he led the NFL in yards, was 5th in yards per catch and threerd in touchdowns. Greater than half a century later, his 90.4 yards per sport determine stays a franchise document. T.O. averaged 109.0 in 2005 however solely lasted seven video games. Hawkins, who grew up 5 miles from the place MetLife Stadium now stands, stays certainly one of solely 12 gamers in NFL historical past with 1,250 yards, 10 or extra touchdowns and a 21 yards-per-catch common in a season. And he did it in 14 video games. Hawkins by no means matched these numbers, however in six full seasons with the Eagles he averaged 751 yards and scored 32 TDs. In Eagles historical past, he ranks second to Tommy McDonald with 18.3 yards per catch and 50 years after he final performed within the NFL, he’s nonetheless 11th in Eagles historical past in each receiving yards and TD catches. Hawkins performed with some unhealthy quarterbacks, was by no means on a playoff staff, by no means made a Professional Bowl. However he had a terrific profession right here and his monster 1967 season shouldn’t be forgotten.
6. Jalen Hurts has the very best passer ranking within the NFL at 108.4, and if he finishes atop the rankings, he’ll develop into solely the second quarterback 24 or youthful to guide the NFL in passer ranking because the mid-Nineteen Eighties. The one different one was Nick Foles in 2013. Technically, Hurts might be youthful on the ultimate day of the common season (24, years, 152 days) than Foles on the finish of the 2013 season (24, 343), so Hurts can be the youngest passer ranking chief since Dan Marino, who was simply 22 when he led the NFL with a 108.9 ranking as a rookie in 1984. The one Eagles apart from Foles to guide the NFL in passer ranking are Tommy Thompson in 1948 and 1949 and Adrian Burk in 1954 — earlier than passer ranking was invented.
7. The primary six weeks of the season, Britain Covey ranked 23rd out of 26 punt returners (averaging a minimum of one return per sport) at 6.1 yards per return. Over the past eight weeks, he ranks 4th at 13.6 yards per return.
8. For the Eagles to go 4-0 and common 426 yards and 35 factors per sport with out Dallas Goedert speaks volumes about Shane Steichen’s capability to regulate and get essentially the most out of his personnel. Whereas Goedert was out, Quez Watkins bought extra concerned within the offense — 14 catches and two TDs within the final 4 video games — the backs bought extra concerned within the passing sport (10 yards per sport with Goedert, 25 per sport with out him), and even tight ends Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra confirmed up with a decent 10 catches for 109 yards in Goedert’s absence. Within the 4 video games the Eagles didn’t have Goedert, that they had the No. 1 offense within the NFL, and Jalen Hurts had an NFL-best 111.8 passer ranking. That’s an damage that may have derailed a variety of offenses, a variety of groups. The Eagles shrugged it off and simply saved rolling. Now he’s again and they need to be higher than ever.
9. With six sacks towards the Titans and 7 towards the Giants, the Eagles have put collectively consecutive video games with six sacks for the primary time since 1998, after they had six in a 17-12 win over Washington and 6 in a 13-10 loss to the Chargers. They’ve additionally bought a streak of seven straight video games with a minimum of three sacks, and that’s their longest since a 10-game streak over the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
10. Each time the Eagles play in Chicago, I can’t assist pondering again to the primary Eagles playoff sport I lined: The Fog Bowl, the Eagles’ convention semifinal playoff sport towards the Bears on New 12 months’s Eve 1988. The fog rolled in off Lake Michigan simply earlier than halftime, and it was so onerous to see from the press field, the NFL let the writers onto the sphere for the complete second half. And it’s straightforward responsible the Eagles’ 20-12 loss on the fog, however they weren’t going to win that sport both method. The Bears have been up 17-9 when the fog rolled in, and the Eagles squandered quite a few scoring alternatives each earlier than and after the thick blanket of fog engulfed the stadium. That they had drives to the Bears’ 4, 11, 13, 24, 24 and 25-yard strains with out scoring a landing earlier than halftime after which drives to the 11, 16 and 17 after halftime with out a TD. That’s an astounding 9 drives all the way down to the Chicago 25 or deeper with out a landing (4 discipline targets, one missed discipline aim, one unsuccessful fourth down and three interceptions). Plus two different drives to the 37 and 43 that resulted in punts. The Eagles moved the ball simply advantageous between the 20’s within the foggy second half — that they had 174 yards, 139 passing yards and 11 first downs after halftime. They simply couldn’t rating, due to penalties, turnovers and errors. The fog is a handy excuse nevertheless it’s not why they misplaced.
Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast
Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',
'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');
function getCookie(cname) {
let name = cname + "=";
let decodedCookie = decodeURIComponent(document.cookie);
let ca = decodedCookie.split(';');
for (let i = 0; i < ca.length; i++) {
let c = ca[i];
while (c.charAt(0) == ' ') {
c = c.substring(1);
}
if (c.indexOf(name) == 0) {
return c.substring(name.length, c.length);
}
}
return "";
}
if (getCookie('usprivacy') === '1YYN') {
fbq('dataProcessingOptions', ['LDU'], 0, 0);
}
fbq('init', '674090812743125');
fbq('track', 'PageView');
[ad_2]
Source link