In Roob's Stats: What the Eagles did for the first time since 1950

The Eagles have done something over the last three weeks that they hadn’t done in 74 years.

And their linebackers did something they hadn’t done in 25 years.

And Jalen Hurts did something that only one other Eagles quarterback has ever done.

We’ve got stats. Oh yeah. 

1. Saquon Barkley continues to put up mind-blowing numbers and he continues to do it in mind-blowing fashion. Let’s start with some Saquon stats:

1A. Barkley has rushed for 443 yards over the last three weeks, the most by an Eagle in any three-game span in 76 years. Late in the 1948 season, Steve Van Buren rushed for 143 yards in a win over the Giants at the Polo Grounds, 137 yards in a win over the Boston Yanks at Shibe Park and 171 vs. Washington, also at Shibe Park.  

1B. Barkley now has 925 rushing yards, 1,071 scrimmage yards, eight touchdowns and a 5.9 rushing average. The only other players in NFL history to put up those numbers through eight games are Jim Brown in 1958 and 1963 and Adrian Peterson in 2007. 

1C. Barkley is averaging 115.6 rushing yards per game. The only players to average 115 yards per game with a 5.9 average are Brown in 1963 and O.J. Simpson in 1973. Barkley’s 199 scrimmage yards Sunday were the most by an Eagle since LeSean McCoy had 217 in the Snow Bowl vs. the Lions in 2013. 

2. Let’s talk about the quarterback: 

2A. Jalen Hurts’ passer ratings the last four games have been 126.1, 119.3, 132.5 and 132.3. He’s the first quarterback in Eagles history with four straight games over 119 and only the 13^th in NFL history. Among the others are Kurt Warner, Aaron Rodgers, Jim Kelly, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. 

2B. Over the past three games, Hurts has completed 75.9 percent of his passes on 44-for-58. That’s 2^nd-highest in franchise history over any three-game stretch, behind Nick Foles’ 77.0 percent over the Rams, Texans and Washington games to end the 2018 season. Those were the final regular-season games Foles played in an Eagles uniform. 

2C. Hurts has now gone five straight starts without an interception, also the 2^nd-longest streak in franchise history by a starting quarterback. Foles had a seven-game streak during in 2013. Hurts is now 40-19 as a starting quarterback, and those 40 wins are 15^th-most by a quarterback in his first 59 career games. Hurts has 125 combined touchdowns in those 59 starts – 76 passing, 49 rushing. Only five quarterbacks had more in their first 59 games – Patrick Mahomes (149), Dan Marino (147), Aaron Rodgers (138), Josh Allen (132) and Deshaun Watson (128).

2D. Hurts now has eight completions of at least 40 yards, tied with Brock Purdy for most in the NFL this year, more than he had all last year and most by an Eagles quarterback through eight games since Donovan McNabb had 11 in 2006 – four to Reggie Brown, two to Matt Schobel and one each to Hank Baskett, L.J. Smith, Brian Westbrook, Greg Lewis and Donte’ Stallworth. Hurts had three 40-yarders as a rookie in 2020, five in 2021, 11 in 2022 and seven last year. The Eagles have an NFL-high 12 plays from scrimmage this year of at least 40 yards, two more than the Ravens (who’ve played one more game). 

3. And the takeaway section!

3A. The Eagles forced three turnovers for the first time since Week 2 of last year against the Vikings, and they have five turnovers in their last two games after recording just seven in their previous 14 games. They also intercepted two passes for the first time in their last 35 games. Last time they did it was the 2022 game against the Packers, when Reed Blankenship and Josiah Scott each intercepted Aaron Rodgers. That streak of 34 games without more than one interception is 2^nd-longest in NFL history, behind the Raiders’ 40-game streak over the 2003 through 2006 seasons. 

4. How about an insane linebacker stat?

In the second quarter Sunday, Zack Baun became the first Eagles linebacker with an interception in their last 49 games, since Alex Singleton picked off Mike Glennon in the Eagles’ 34-10 win over the Giants at the Linc. In the fourth quarter, Nakobe Dean became the second Eagles linebacker with an interception in their last 49 games, since Alex Singleton picked off Mike Glennon in the Eagles’ 34-10 win over the Giants at the Linc. This was the first time in 24 years the Eagles got two interceptions in the same game from linebackers. It happened in the 2000 season opener, the Pickle Juice Game, when Carlos Emmons and Jeremiah Trotter had interceptions in the Eagles’ 41-14 win at Texas Stadium. Trotter had a 27-yard pick-6 off Troy Aikman early in the second quarter and then Emmons picked off Randall Cunningham in the second quarter after Randall replaced Aikman (who was 0-for-5, sacked four times and threw a pick). The Eagles had gone 425 consecutive games without getting two INTs from their linebackers.

5. We’ve got rushing stats! 

5A. The Eagles have rushed for 667 yards in their last three games, their 3^rd-highest 3-game total since 1950. They had 674 vs. the Saints, Dolphins and Colts in 1978 and 683 yards against the Packers, Titans and Giants late in 2022.

5B. The Eagles’ 1,398 rushing yards are their most through eight games in 74 years. The 1950 team had 1,764 after eight games. The Eagles are the first team in more than half a century with 1,398 rushing yards, a 4.9 average and 14 rushing touchdowns through eight games. The 1972 Miami Dolphins had 1,687, a 4.9 average and 15 TDs on their way to an undefeated season and a win over Washington in Super Bowl VII at L.A. Coliseum.

5C. The Eagles are only the second team since 1999 – when the NFL began tracking first downs – to open a season with eight straight games with at least eight rushing first downs. The 2019 Ravens also did that. 

6. This hadn’t been done since 1950

Over the last three weeks, the Eagles have rushed for 667 yards and allowed 194 rushing yards. The difference – 473 rushing yards – is their largest rushing margin in a three-game span since Week 2 through 4 of the 1950 season, when they had a 527-yard rushing gap vs. the Cards at Comiskey Park, the Rams at Shibe Park and the Colts at Memorial Stadium.  

7. Let’s get to the defensive stats. They’re wild:

7A. During the Eagles’ four-game winning streak, their defense has allowed only 44 points – nine vs. the Browns, three vs. the Giants, 17 vs. the Bengals and 15 vs. the Jaguars. That’s the fewest they’ve allowed in a four-game span in 32 years. Under legendary defensive coordinator Bud Carson, the Eagles opened the 1992 season with wins over the Saints, Cards, Broncos and Cowboys, allowing only 34 points.

7B. The Eagles have allowed 858 yards over the last four games, their 2^nd-lowest four-game span in the last 30 years. They had a four-game stretch in 2017 where they allowed 829 (against the 49ers, Broncos, Cowboys and Bears). Only the 1991, 1992 and 2017 teams had better four-game stretches since 1956.

7C. Over the last four games, the Eagles have allowed just one passing touchdown and 564 passing yards and they have 16 sacks. Last time they allowed one passing TD and fewer than 600 passing yards and recorded at least 16 sacks in a four-game span was in 1995 against the Giants, Washington, Seahawks and Cowboys.

8. And this one is ridiculous

With Darius Slay out with a knee injury Sunday, the Eagles’ oldest defensive starter was 27-year-old Zach Baun. This was the first meaningful game in franchise history in which the Eagles didn’t have a single defensive starter older than 27. Of their 11 starters, Cooper DeJean is 21, Jalen Carter, Nakobe Dean, Quinyon Mitchell and Nolan Smith are 23, Jordan Davis is 24, Reed Blankenship is 25, C.J. Johnson-Gardner and Isaiah Rodgers are 26 and Josh Sweat and Baun are 27. (On the last day of the 2010 season, the Eagles played mainly rookies and backups in a meaningless game against Dallas at the Linc. They were all 27 or younger: Jamar Adams, Colt Anderson, Brodrick Bunkley, Jeremy Clark, Keenan Clayton, Moise Fokou, Omar Gaither, Trevard Lindley, Dimitri Patterson, Darryl Tapp and Daniel Te-o-Nesheim).

9. Six times in 92 years

This was only the sixth game in Eagles history in which they allowed 23 points in the second half and won. Most recently, they led the Giants 14-0 at the Linc going into the fourth quarter in 2017 before the Giants scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to tie it. Jake Elliott, playing in his second career game, won it with a 61-yard field goal as time expired. Also happened against Washington on opening day 1947, at St. Louis late in 1969, in overtime in San Francisco on the final day of the 1993 season and against the Bengals in the Bobby Hoying-Boomer Esiason showdown at the Vet in 1997. Overall, the Eagles are 5-52 when they allow at least 23 points in a second half.

10. You again?

Over the last five years, the Eagles have converted two third downs of 22 yards or more. In a game against Washington at FedEx Field, the Eagles had a 3^rd-and-22 on their own 23-yard-line in the first quarter. Carson Wentz converted with a 55-yard completion to Jalen Reagor. And then on Sunday, Jalen Hurts converted a 3^rd-and-22 with that 25-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith. What did those two plays have in common? The cornerback covering both Reagor and Smith five years apart for two different teams was Ronald Darby, a starter on the Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl championship team.

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