In Roob's Eagles Stats: The Saquon legend grows (and some depressing stuff)

Here’s the plan with this week’s Roob’s Eagles Stats: We’re going to load up with as many positive stats as we can until we get to the inevitable sobering stats to finish up.

After that game? We’ve got to mix it up. But we’ll start with the good so if you want to bail before the depressing stuff, it’s easy to do it! 

1. More Saquon Greatness

1A. Saquon Barkley’s 68-yard touchdown run was his fourth this year of at least 60 yards, tying the NFL record set by Jim Brown in 1963 and matched by Adrian Peterson in 2012. Barkley now has eight career TD runs of at least 60 yards, which means he has as many in 15 games as an  Eagle as he had in 76 games as a Giant. The only players in NFL history with more 60-yard TD runs than Barkley are Peterson (15), Brown (9) and Derrick Henry (9). Barkley also already has the Eagles career record. Bosh Pritchard had three in the 1940s, Wilbert Montgomery had three in the 1970s and Miles Sanders, Barkley’s college teammate, had three in 2019 and 2020.

1B. Barkley’s 1,838 rushing yards are 9th-most in NFL history through 15 games and most since Chris Johnson had 1,872 15 games into the 2009 season. He’s the only back in history with 1,800 rushing yards, a 5.9 average or higher and 13 rushing touchdowns through 15 games. Barkley needs 268 yards the last two weeks of the season to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season record of 2,105 yards set in 1984. 

1C. With 1,356 rushing yards and a 6.1 average since Week 7, Barkley is the first running back with 1,350 yards and a 6.0 average over any 10-game span since Peterson in 2012 (1,598, 6.8). Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson and Barry Sanders are the only other backs to achieve that.

2. Piling up the yards

With 211 rushing yards Sunday, the Eagles now have 2,087 rushing yards in their last 10 games. It’s the first time they’ve averaged 200 rushing yards over a 10-game period since they averaged 214 yards in a 10-game span in 1950. The only other team with 2,087 or more rushing yards in any 10-game span since 1980 (within a single season) is the 2019 Ravens.

3. First team in history

Barkley’s two touchdown runs Sunday gave him 13 this year to go along with Jalen Hurts’ 14. The Eagles are the only team in NFL history with two players rushing for 13 or more touchdowns. The Lions could join them, however. Montgomery and Gibbs each have 12 with two games left. This year’s Eagles and Lions are the only teams that have ever had two players with 12 rushing TDs.

4. A.J. and Quick

Thanks to his 97 receiving yards, A.J. Brown increased his season total to 1,043 and joined Mike Quick as only the second Eagle with three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Quick had five in a row from 1983 through 1987. Despite missing three games, Brown is now up to ninth in the NFL in receiving yards, and his 86.9 yards per game is 4th-highest and second to Justin Jefferson in the NFC. 

5. The safety dance

5A. With Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson both picking up their fourth interceptions of the year, this is the first time in 30 years the Eagles have two safeties with at least four interceptions. In 1994, Greg Jackson had six and Mike Zordich four. Last time any two Eagles had four INTs in the same season was 2010, with Asante Samuel (7) and Dimitri Patterson (4). The Texans and Lions are the only other teams with two players with at least four INTs.

5B. Blankenship’s eight INTs are the most by an Eagle in his first 39 NFL games since Eric Allen had 13 from 1988 through 1990. His seven INTs since opening day last year are 5th-most among all safeties. The last undrafted player with more INTs in a season for the Eagles is Andre Waters, who had six in 1985. Patterson also had four in 2010. Blankenship’s seven INTs since the start of last year are the most by any undrafted player. 

And now the maybe not so much fun - but just as fascinating - portion of this week’s Eagles Stats. Continue at your own risk!

6. Five touchdowns? Seriously?

Jayden Daniels became the third quarterback in NFL history and the first rookie to throw five touchdown passes and rush for at least 80 yards in the same game. Cam Newton did it in 2015 against the Giants and Lamar Jackson in three weeks apart against the Rams and Jets. Overall, he’s the seventh rookie with five TDs in a game and the second to do it against the Eagles. Jameis Winston threw five TDs for the Bucs as a rookie against the Eagles in 2015 in his 10th NFL start.

7. A quarter to forget

Daniels is the sixth QB to throw three touchdowns against the Eagles in a fourth quarter, following Wade Wilson of the Vikings in 1985, Joe Montana of the 49ers in 1989, Erik Kramer of the Bears in 1994, Boomer Esiason of the Cards in 1996 and Eli Manning of the Giants in 2017. 

8. This just shouldn’t happen

This was the first time in 25 years the Eagles lost a game in which they had five takeaways. In 1999, in a game started by Doug Pederson, they lost 16-15 to the Giants despite interceptions by Jeremiah Trotter, Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor (for a touchdown) and forced fumbles by Bill Johnson and Mike Mamula. They also fell to 64-5 since 1988 when they’ve been plus-three or better. They had won 28 straight games when they won the turnover differential dating back to a loss to the Chiefs in 2021.

9. Remember the Brian Finneran game?

This was also the first time in 25 years the Eagles lost a game after scoring 21 points in the first quarter. Last time it happened was the first game Andy Reid ever coached. The Eagles took a 21-0 lead over the Cards at the Vet on Doug Pederson touchdown passes to Luther Broughton and Duce Staley and a Staley TD run. But Jake Plummer and the Cards outscored the Eagles 25-3 the rest of the way. The Eagles also lost that game on the final play of the game, a 31-yard Chris Jacke field goal set up by Brian Finneran’s drop on a Pederson deep ball on a 3rd-and-4  just after the two-minute warning that turned into a Kwame Lassiter interception.

10. The floodgates finally opened

The Eagles allowed two touchdown passes of 30 or more yards Sunday after not allowing any in their previous 12 games. Daniels had a 32-yarder to Terry McLaurin in the second quarter and the 49-yarder to former Eagle Olamide Zaccheaus in the fourth quarter. The only other 30-yard TDs the Eagles allowed this year were the first two weeks of the season - Jordan Love’s 70-yarder to Jayden Reed in São Paulo and Kirk Cousins’ to Darnell Mooney in Week 2 at the Linc. 

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