Feb 9

KC15-2
PHI14-3
FOX @11:30 PM UTC
Roob's Eagles Stats

10 of the most ridiculous, preposterous, impossible Eagles stats ever

The NFC Championship game deserves its own special edition of Roob's Eagles Stats.

Share
NBC Universal, Inc.
Reuben Frank breaks down his three biggest takeaways from the Eagles’ Conference Championship victory over the Commanders.

Fifty-five points? Seven rushing touchdowns? A rookie 4th-round pick whose longest regular-season run was nine yards unleashing a 57-yarder? 

This was a game tailor-made for my weekly stats column. 

To make room for everything, I put all the Jalen Hurts stats in a separate post, which you can find here.

Everything else? It’s right here in the wildest, most improbable, jam-packed edition of Roob’s Eagles Stats ever conjured up.

Until the next one.

1. That’s really an awful lot of points

1A. The Eagles’ 55 points Sunday are the 7th-most in NFL postseason history and the most in 25 years, since the Jaguars beat the Dolphins 62-7 in an AFC conference semifinal round game at Alltel Stadium in 1999. It was the Eagles’ 2nd-most postseason points. They beat the Lions 58-37 behind Rodney Peete in a 1995 wild-card game at the Vet. It’s the most points ever scored in a conference championship game. The previous high was the Bills’ 51 in 1990 in a 51-3 win over the Raiders at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. The most previously in an NFC Championship Game was the Panthers’ 49 in a 49-15 win over the Cards at Bank of America Stadium in 2016. It’s the 7th-most points the Eagles have ever scored and the 2nd-most at the Linc, after a 56-21 win over the Lions in 2007. It’s also the 2nd-most points the Eagles have scored against Washington. They won 59-28 behind Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson at FedEx Field in 2010. The 55 points are the 2nd-most Washington has allowed in a playoff game. They lost 73-0 to the Bears in the 1940 NFL Championship Game at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., in the most lopsided game (regular season or postseason) in NFL history. 

Philadelphia Eagles

Find the latest Philadelphia Eagles news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Eagles injury update: Several key Eagles missing but Graham returns

A Brandon Graham miracle return is one big huge step closer

1B. The 32-point margin of victory is the Eagles’ largest ever in the postseason, one more than their 38-7 win over the Giants in 2022 and their 38-7 win over the Vikings in 2017. It’s Washington’s largest margin of defeat in the postseason since that 73-0 loss to the Bears 84 years ago. 

1C. The Eagles have won four postseason games in franchise history by at least 24 points, and Nick Sirianni has been their coach for three of them – Sunday’s win over Washington and those two 38-7 wins. Their only other win by at least 24 points was the Eagles’ 38-7 win over the Vikings under Doug Pederson in the 2017 NFC Championship Game.

2. A balanced blowout

With 27 points in the first half and 28 points in the second half, the Eagles became the first team in 35 years and only the fourth ever to score at least 27 points in both halves of a postseason game. In 1989, the 49ers beat the Broncos 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV at the Superdome, outscoring Denver 27-3 in the first half and 28-7 in the second half. The only other times that’s happened: In that 1940 Bears-Washington game, the Bears scored 28 in the first half and 45 in the second half, and in 1957, the Lions beat the Browns 59-14 in the NFL Championship Game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, scoring 31 in the first half and 28 in the second. Last time the Eagles scored 27 or more points in each half of any game came during the 1953 regular season, when they scored 28 before halftime and 28 after halftime in a 56-17 win over the Chicago Cardinals at Comiskey Park. 

3. The Saquon Seqution

3A. Saquon Barkley’s 60-yard touchdown run Sunday was his seventh this year, three more than any other player has ever had. Jim Brown in 1963 and Adrian Peterson in 2012 had four. It was his third 60-yarder in this postseason. Only Elmer Angsman of the Cardinals in 1947, with two in the NFC Championship Game against the Eagles, also had more than one. Barkley’s three career postseason 60-yard runs are also the most in NFL history, one more than Angsman. Every other back in the NFL combined for 10 TD runs of 60 yards this year. Barkley now has three of the four-longest postseason TD runs in Eagles history.

3B. With 2,005 rushing yards in the regular season and 442 in the postseason, Saquon Barkley now has 2,447 rushing yards combined, only 29 behind Terrell Davis’s record of 2,476 set in 1998. The previous Eagles single-season record was 1,684 by LeSean McCoy in 2013. Barkley has topped that by 763 yards.

3C. Barkley increased his career rushing average to 6.6, which is 4th-highest in postseason history by a running back (minimum 50 attempts), behind only Marion Motley of the 1940s and 1950s Browns (7.1), Timmy Smith from Washington in 1987 (6.7) and Paul Lowe from the 1960s Chargers (6.7). Including the regular season and postseason, Barkley is averaging 6.0 yards per carry, matching the highest ever by a running back with at least 300 combined carries. O.J. Simpson in 1973, Barry Sanders in 1997 and Derrick Henry this year also averaged 6.0.

4. Dallas is a God-ert

With seven catches for 85 yards Sunday, Dallas Goedert improved his career postseason totals to 50 catches for 535 yards. He now ranks 10th in NFL history among tight ends with 50 postseason receptions and 12th with 535 yards. He’s also caught at least four passes in nine straight playoff games, the 7th-longest streak in history among all positions and 2nd-longest among tight ends, behind only Travis Kelce’s 15-game streak that ended Sunday, when he only had two catches vs. the Bills. With four catches in the Super Bowl, Goedert will be tied for the 4th-longest streak in history of playoff games with four or more receptions.

5. The Will Shipley is the greatest player ever section

Will Shipley’s 57-yard run is the 5th-longest run in Eagles postseason history, between three Saquon Barkley runs this year and Brian Westbrook’s 62-yarder against the Saints in 2006. The previous record for longest postseason run by an Eagles rookie was Correll Buckhalter’s 31-yarder vs. the Rams in the 2001 NFC Championship Game in St. Louis. The 57-yarder was the longest postseason run by a rookie since Zack Crockett had a 66-yarder in the Colts’ 35-20 win over the Chargers in San Diego in 1995. His 77 total rushing yards Sunday were most ever by an Eagles rookie in a playoff game, breaking the record of 69 set by Miles Sanders in the loss to the Seahawks in 2019. And his 19.3 rushing average is highest in a game in NFL postseason history by a player with at least 75 yards. Shipley is also the first rookie in NFL history with at least 75 rushing yards and a 30-yard kick return in the same game. Believe it or not, he’s not the first player in NFL history with 75 rushing yards, a 30-yard kick return and a forced fumble in any game. Ahmad Bradshaw somehow did that for the Giants at Buffalo in 2007. Shipley is the first Eagles running back to force a fumble since Ryan Moats forced one on Andrae Thurman on a kickoff return in the Eagles’ win over the Packers at the Linc in 2005.

6. Nolan > Reggie

Nolan Smith continued his torrid sack pace, picking up his fourth sack of the postseason Sunday on Jayden Daniels. That’s the most sacks in Eagles history in a single season, breaking Haason Reddick’s record of 3 ½ in 2022. Including his half sacks last year in Tampa, Smith now has 4 ½ career postseason sacks in four games, 2nd-most in Eagles history behind only Brandon Graham’s 5 ½. Smith on Sunday passed Derrick Burgess, Hugh Douglas and Reggie White, who all had four. Smith’s 4.0 sacks this postseason are 2nd-most in NFL history by a player 23 or younger. One-time Eagle Greg Townsend had 4 ½ for the Raiders as a 22-year-old rookie in 1983. His 4 ½ career sacks are 3rd-most ever by a player 23 or younger, behind the Chiefs’ George Karlaftis III (7.0), who the Eagles will see in New Orleans, and J.J. Watt (5.0). After recording one sack in his first 21 career games, Smith has 10 ½ in his last 15 games. His three-game postseason streak of games with at least one sack in the same postseason ties an NFL record shared by numerous players. With a sack in the Super Bowl, he’ll be the first player ever with a sack in four straight playoff games within the same year. He’s the first Eagle with a sack in three straight postseason games. Reddick, Burgess, Jevon Kearse, Douglas and White had two-game streaks.

7. More than Q

Quinyon Mitchell became the first rookie to record his first two career interceptions in the postseason since safety Quinton Carter of the Broncos picked off Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady in the 2011 playoffs. They turned out to be Carter’s only career interceptions. The 49ers’ Riki Ellison in 1983, the Vikings’ Najee Mustafaa in 1987, Washington’s Brian Davis in 1987, the Rams’ Tommy Polley in 2001 Washington’s LaRon Landry in 2007 were all rookies who had their first two career INTs in the postseason. The only other Eagles rookie with two INTs in the postseason was Roynell Young in 1980. Mitchell is the first Eagle with multiple interceptions in the same postseason since Asante Samuel in 2008. 

8. Rush to judgment

The Eagles’ seven rushing touchdowns Sunday tied an NFL postseason record set 84 years ago in that ubiquitous 73-0 Bears win over Washington. It also tied the 3rd-most rushing touchdowns ever in any NFL game, regular season or postseason. The only team with more since 1922 is the 2004 Chiefs, who ran for eight TDs in a 56-10 win over the Falcons at Arrowhead. Priest Holmes and Derrick Blaylock each had four rushing touchdowns in that game. That’s also the only other time in history that two players on the same team had at least three rushing TDs in the same game. Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts each had three on Sunday. The Eagles’ 683 rushing yards so far this postseason are 6th-most in NFL history by any NFL team in any three-game postseason span and the most in 50 years, since the 1974 Steelers had 694 in their three-game span on the way to the Super Bowl championship in 1974. 

9. The completely insane turnover numbers

This is just hard to believe, but since the bye week the Eagles have 34 takeaways and have committed seven turnovers for a preposterous plus-27 turnover margin over a 16-game span. During the postseason, they’ve forced 10 turnovers without committing any. No team that’s reached a Super Bowl has ever gone an entire postseason without a turnover. The highest turnover margin in postseason history is the 1992 Cowboys’ plus-13.

10. Miscellaneous stats that didn’t fit anywhere else

✔️ The Eagles have now won 10 consecutive games at the Linc, their 3rd-longest streak ever. They won 14 in a row over the 1947 through 1949 seasons and 11 in a row from 1991 through 1993.

✔️ The Eagles this year are 9-2 this year against teams with winning records. That’s the 5th-most wins in a season by a team against winning teams. They’re 24-8 against winning teams since 2022. Only the Chiefs – at 25-8 – have a better record over the last three seasons against winning teams.

✔️ Eagles Super Bowl hero Zach Ertz continued his postseason success with 11 catches for 104 yards Sunday against his former team. That’s the 5th-most catches ever by a tight end in a postseason game. Ertz finished the 2024 postseason with 18 catches, matching his total from 2017. Among tight ends, only Travis Kelce, Dallas Clark and Ertz have had multiple seasons with at least 18 receptions. He’s now up to 54 career postseason catches, 7th-most all-time among tight ends, although Goedert is only four behind. Ertz has had 12 career games with at least 10 catches, 3rd-most among tight ends behind Kelce (18) and Tony Gonzalez (15).

✔️ DeVonta Smith increased his franchise-record postseason total to 526 receiving yards, 13th-most in NFL history by a player in his first four years but only 22 yards out of ninth place.

✔️ Three of the last 16 conference title games have been decided by at least 14 points: Eagles 38, Vikings 7 in 2017, Eagles 31, 49ers 7 in 2022 and Eagles 55, Commanders 23 on Sunday.

✔️ Their 459 total yards are the Eagles’ 2nd-most in a playoff game. They had 538 in their Super Bowl LII win over the Patriots.

✔️ It’s been 14 years and a span of 10 games since an Eagles quarterback threw a postseason interception at the Linc. During that stretch, Eagles quarterbacks have thrown 242 consecutive passes at the Linc without an INT – 118 by Jalen Hurts, 96 by Nick Foles, 24 by Josh McCown and four by Carson Wentz. The last postseason interception by an Eagles QB at the Linc was Michael Vick’s game-ender against the Packers in 2010. Before that, the last one was Koy Detmer’s at the end of the 2003 NFC Championship Game against the Panthers. Donovan McNabb threw three interceptions against the Panthers in the span of six passes in that game. Since then, Eagles quarterbacks have thrown one interception at the Linc in the span of 343 postseason pass attempts. You just can’t make this stuff up.

Tune in to Mission 59 Specials leading up to the Super Bowl on NBC Sports Philadelphia, presented by Toyota.

Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts: 
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Simplecast | RSSWatch on YouTube

Contact Us