In Roob's Eagles Stats: Crazy pass defense numbers and more Saquon

This week’s edition of Roob’s Eagles Stats is a mixed bag. Mostly good, some bad and some that we’re just not sure what to make of.

But we’ve got the usual Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts facts and figures, some impressive defensive numbers, the incredible Eagles rushing stats and a shocking look at Jake Elliott’s kicking slump.

1. A different way of winning

The Eagles have 1,501 net passing yards during their nine-game winning streak. That’s the fewest by any team during a nine-game winning streak in 20 years and 2^nd-fewest in nearly half a century. The 1,501 yards are fewest since the Steelers netted 1,487 during a nine-game winning streak in 2004. The fewest before that was also the Steelers back in 1976. They went 9-0 and somehow netted only 963 passing yards during that stretch with Franco Harris in the Saquon Barkley role. Jalen Hurts is also the first quarterback to win nine straight starts without throwing 30 passes in any of those games since Ben Roethlisberger during that same Steelers winning streak in 2004.

2. The Saquon Seqtion

2A. Saquon Barkley is only the third back in NFL history with 1,600 rushing yards and a 6.1 average after 13 games. Jim Brown had 1,738 rushing yards and a 6.6 average with the Browns in 1963, O.J. Simpson had 1,803 yards and a 6.1 average in 1973 with the Bills and Barkley has 1,623 yards and a 6.1 average this year. The 1,623 yards are 9^th-most ever through 13 games and most since Chris Johnson had 1,626 with the Titans in 2009. 

2B. Barkley’s ninth 100-yard game this year is not only the most in Eagles history – Wilbert Montgomery had eight in 1981 – it’s already 7^th-most overall in franchise history … after just 13 games. Joe Mixon has the 2^nd-most 100-yard games this year with seven.

2C. Barkley has 1,141 rushing yards over the last eight games, the most in Eagles history in an eight-game span. The previous most was LeSean McCoy’s 874 yards in an eight-game span in 2013. Barkley is the first player with over 1,100 yards and a 6.5 average in an eight-game span since Adrian Peterson in 2012. 

3. First-quarter nightmare

The Eagles are the first team to make the playoffs despite scoring 17 or fewer 1^st-quarter points through their 13^th game since the 2001 Buccaneers, who scored 16 points in the first quarter of their first 13 games. They finished 9-7. The Eagles are the first team to win 11 games despite scoring 17 points in the first quarter of their first 13 games since the 1986 Giants, who scored just 12 (but won the Super Bowl). The Eagles are the first team in the last 50 years to win 11 of their first 13 games despite being outscored by 40 or more points in the first quarter. The 1999 Bucs were outscored by 48 and opened up 9-4.

4. Keeping the points down

The Eagles’ defense has now held nine straight opponents to 20 or fewer points. The Jaguars scored 23 but only 15 were against the defense. That’s the Eagles’ longest streak holding opposing offenses to 20 or fewer points since a nine-game streak in 2003. The Eagles’ last stronger streak was the first 14 games of 2001, a streak that ended when they beat the Giants 24-21 in Week 16.

5. Jalen Hurts Stat(s) of the Week

5A. With three more touchdowns Sunday – two passing, one rushing – Jalen Hurts now has 136 combined touchdowns in his first 64 career starts. That’s the 7^th-most touchdowns in NFL history by a quarterback in his first 64 starts. Here are the top 10, listed with total TDs on the left and passing then rushing TDs on the right.

164 … Patrick Mahomes [156, 8]
159 … Dan Marino [157, 2]
150 … Aaron Rodgers [134, 16]
146 … Josh Allen [113, 33]
138 … Joe Burrow [127, 11]
137 … Daunte Culpepper [110, 27]
136 … Jalen Hurts [82, 54]
135 … Deshaun Watson [116, 19]
132 … Len Dawson [123, 9]
131 … Andrew Luck [118, 13]

5B. Sunday’s game was Hurts’ 25^th with at least one passing TD and one rushing TD. That’s 5^th-most in history, behind Cam Newton (45), Josh Allen (41), Steve Young (31) and Aaron Rodgers (31). Hurts had been tied with Russell Wilson and Fran Tarkenton at 24.

5C. Hurts is only the second Eagles quarterback ever to throw one interception in the span of 10 starts in a single season. Nick Foles did it in 2013. Hurts has his career interception ratio down to one every 49 attempts, tied with several quarterbacks including former teammate Carson Wentz for 12^th-best INT ratio in NFL history (minimum 1,000 attempts). 

6. He’s how old?

With nine catches for 102 yards Sunday, Adam Thielen became the oldest player with a 100-yard receiving game against the Eagles in 16 years. Thielen, 34 years, 108 days old on Sunday, is the oldest 100-yard receiver against the Eagles since Terrell Owens of the Cowboys had 103 yards in the Eagles’ 44-6 season ender in 2008. That was the game that got the Eagles into the postseason. The only other players with 100-yard games against the Eagles who are older than Thielen are Joe Horn in 2006 (34 years, 272 days), James Lofton in 1990 (34 years, 150 days) and Joe Morrison in 1990 (34 years, 120 days). 

7. Pounding the rock

The Eagles have 2,476 rushing yards this year, 3^rd-most by any NFL team after 13 games in the last 40 years. The only teams with more are the 2006 Falcons with 2,570 and the 2019 Ravens with 2,612. The Eagles are on pace for 3,237 rushing yards, which would be the 3^rd-most in history, behind the 1948 49ers (3,663 in 14 games) and 2019 Ravens (3,296 in 16 games). The Eagles are only 239 yards shy of the franchise record of 2,715 rushing yards in a season set by the 2021 team. The Eagles’ 5.2 rushing average is 2^nd-highest in franchise history as of now. The 2010 team – with Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy – averaged 5.4.

8. You can’t throw on them

The Eagles have held all nine opponents during their winning streak below 225 net passing yards. It’s the first time the Eagles have held nine straight teams to fewer than 225 net passing yards since 1997 and matches their longest such streak since the first 10 games of 1979.  The 1,372 passing yards they’ve allowed since the Browns game is their fewest in any nine-game span since 2001.

9. C.J. piling up the picks

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson’s interception off Bryce Young Sunday was his ninth in just 25 games in an Eagles uniform. That’s the most interceptions by a player in his first 25 games as an Eagle since Eric Allen had 10 in 1988 and 1989. The only active NFL players with more interceptions in their first 25 games with a specific team are Marcus Peters, who had 13 INTs in his first 25 games with the Chiefs in 2015 and 2016, and Trevon Diggs, who had 12 in his first 25 games with the Cowboys in 2020 and 2021. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship have 16 of the Eagles’ last 28 interceptions, and C.J. wasn’t even on the team last year.

10. How bad has Jake Elliott been?

Jake Elliott is 0-for-5 from 50 yards and out this year. The rest of the NFL is 151-for-209 (72 percent). Coming into this season, Elliott was 26-for-37 from 50 yards and out, 13^th-best in NFL history at 70 percent. No kicker has gone 0-for-5 or worse from 50 yards and out in a full season in 30 years. In 1994, the Saints’ Morten Anderson was 0-for-6, and the Lions’ Jason Hanson was 0-for-5. Elliott was 13^th in NFL history with 86.2 percent accuracy coming into this year (minimum 100 attempts). He’s dropped to 84.9 percent and is now 23^rd.

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