How should the Eagles go about replacing Nakobe Dean? What was the greatest postseason comeback in Eagles history? How good was Quinyon Mitchell on Sunday?
Consider this Volume II of this week’s 10 Random Eagles Observations. We posted the first batch on Wednesday, and you can find them here.
And here’s something else to keep in mind: In 2017 and 2022, we posted a fresh batch of 10 Observations every day during Super Bowl week. Two more wins and we’ll do it again.
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1. Oren Burks looks like an outstanding special teams player trying to play linebacker. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. looks like a linebacker playing linebacker. Burks is tough and physical and gives 100 percent effort. I just see something different when Trotter is playing, and that’s the instincts and athleticism that make him such an intriguing young prospect. And I’m sure Vic Fangio sees the same thing, and that’s why Trotter will have at least some role on defense - and quite possibly a significant one - Sunday when the Eagles face the Rams at the Linc. Nakobe Dean will be missed in so many ways. He’s been playing at a Pro Bowl level, and he’s developed into a key young leader on the NFL’s No. 1 defense, and the Eagles don’t have anybody like him. But one thing you can tell pretty quickly watching Trotter is that he’s physical, he’s around the ball, he moves well, he’s got advanced football instincts - not surprising, considering his lineage - and he’s stronger in coverage than Burks. Why play both of them? Burks is a very savvy 8th-year veteran who’s played a lot of football. But I want to see a generous helping of Trotter as well. I believe despite his youth and inexperience he’s the better option.
2. Nolan Smith has more postseason multiple-sack games as an Eagle than Reggie White.
3. A.J. Brown has had fewer than 30 yards in three of four playoff games he’s played for the Eagles, and that’s got to change. Brown had 6-for-96 in the Super Bowl but 3-for-22 in 2022 vs. the Giants, 4-for-28 vs. the 49ers and 1-for-10 Sunday vs. the Packers. That’s 39 yards per game and that’s not enough. I get that you can’t go into a game trying to force one guy the football, but Brown is too good to be a non-factor in the biggest games of the year. Nelson Agholor, Riley Cooper, Kevin Curtis, Thomas Sanders, Torrey Smith and Donte’ Stallworth have all averaged more yards per game in the postseason than Brown, and that’s unacceptable. He’s one of the three or four best receivers in football, and Jalen Hurts and Kellen Moore have to find ways to get him going. He’s too good to be making news just for reading a book.
4. The Eagles are one of only four teams to reach the playoffs in each of the last four seasons. The others are the Bucs, Chiefs and Bills.
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5. One of the greatest postseason comebacks in NFL history came in 1992 at the Superdome, where the Eagles came back from 13 points down late in the third quarter to beat the Saints. The Eagles trailed 20-7 late in the third and 20-10 with just 10 ½ minutes left in the game. That’s when the greatest 4th-quarter scoring barrage in the last 90 years began. First, Randall Cunningham threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Fred Barnett to pull the Eagles within three at 20-17. On the Saints’ next play, Seth Joyner intercepted a Bobby Hebert pass intended for Eric Martin and returned it 14 yards down to the Saints’ 26. Five plays later, Heath Sherman scored from six yards out to give the Eagles a 24-20 lead. Three plays into the Saints’ next drive, Reggie White sacked Hebert in the end zone for a safety and 26-20 lead. A Roger Ruzek field goal increased the lead to 29-20 three minutes later, and on the Saints’ next snap Eric Allen picked off a Hebert pass intended for Wesley Carroll and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown and a 36-20 lead. The Eagles scored 26 points in just 8:20, outscoring the Saints 26-0 to finish the game. To this day, that 26-point margin is the largest in a postseason 4th quarter since 1934 (when the Giants outscored the Bears 27-0). The Eagles are 1-11 in their history when trailing by double digits at halftime of a playoff game. That game in New Orleans remains their only win. It was also the Eagles’ only playoff win between 1981 and 1994 and only road playoff win in a 51-year span from 1950 and 2000.
6. Brian Westbrook has the two-longest rushing touchdowns in Eagles postseason history, and they came six days apart. Westbrook ran 49 yards for a touchdown against the Giants in the Eagles’ 2006 wild-card win at the Linc and then had a 62-yarder six days later at the Superdome in the Eagles’ conference semifinal loss to the Saints. The Eagles’ next-longest TD run in the playoffs was Wilbert Montgomery’s historic 42-yarder to open the scoring in the 1980 NFC Championship Game at the Vet against the Cowboys. Westbrook is one of only three players in NFL history with two TD runs of at least 45 yards in the same postseason. Elmer Angsman of the Cardinals had two 70-yard TD runs against the Eagles in the 1947 NFL Championship Game at Comiskey Park in Chicago, and Marcus Allen had a 49-yarder vs. the Steelers and a 74-yarder vs. Washington in Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa in 1983.
7. With their 21-7 wild-card loss to the Rams at the Vet in 1989 and 20-6 wild-card loss to Washington in 1990, the Buddy Ryan Eagles are the only team in NFL history to lose home playoff games by 14 or more points in consecutive seasons.
8. The Eagles have had 10 All-Pro 1st-team offensive linemen since Jeff Stoutland became offensive line coach in 2013. From 1940, the inception of the AP all-pro team, through 2012, the year before Stoutland got here, they had six (Al Wistert 1944 through 1947, Chuck Bednarik in 1960, Shawn Andrews in 2006).
9. According to Stathead analytics, Jordan Love was 2-for-6 for 10 yards when targeting Quinyon Mitchell with 10 air yards and no yards after the catch. Mitchell’s defensive passer rating of 2.8 is lowest on record in a postseason game since Stathead began tracking defensive passer ratings in 2018. Slay wasn’t far behind. Stathead has Love 3-for-6 for 29 yards for a 24.3 rating. That’s 8th-lowest on record since 2018. During the seven years Stathead has been tracking defensive passer ratings, the Eagles on Sunday became the first team ever with two corners recording a rating below 25 on five or more targets.
10. Among 117 quarterbacks who’ve thrown at least 100 postseason passes, Matt Stafford is tied for 4th in accuracy (67.5 percent), 5th in passer rating (103.0), 5th in yards per attempt (8.4) and 6th in yards per game (297). He goes into Sunday with a streak of six consecutive playoff games with at least 200 passing yards, 65 percent completion percentage and at least one passing touchdown. The only quarterback with a longer streak is Peyton Manning, who did that for eight straight playoff games from 2009 through 2013 - four games with the Colts, four with the Broncos. When Stafford gets hot, he's pretty dangerous. The Eagles can't let that happen, and they have the secondary to make sure it doesn't.
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