Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Eagles-Giants: Pre-game stats that matter | Paul Domowitch

Jay Ajayi has played 44.6 percent of the offensive snaps in the Eagles' last two games, showing that his role in the playbook has increased.

Jay Ajayi has played 44.6 percent of the offensive snaps in the Philadelphia Eagles’ last two games, showing that his role in the playbook has increased.
Jay Ajayi has played 44.6 percent of the offensive snaps in the Philadelphia Eagles’ last two games, showing that his role in the playbook has increased.Read moreYong Kim/Staff Photographer

Some numbers to get you ready for today's Eagles-Giants game:

Ball control

— The Eagles controlled the ball for 39 minutes, 12 seconds against the Rams. That was their second-highest time of possession of the season and third highest in Doug Pederson's two seasons as the Eagles' head coach. They controlled the ball for 39:18 in their 26-24 Week 4 win over the Chargers, and controlled it for 39:20 in Week 1 last season against the Browns.

The Eagles lead the league in time of possession average this season (33:35). Carolina is second at 32:50 and Jacksonville is third at 32:08. The Eagles also led the league in time of possession last season (32:31).

— The Eagles have won the time-of-possession battle in nine of their 13 games. The only ones they didn't were Carolina, the second Washington game, Denver and Dallas.

— The Eagles ran 85 offensive plays in Sunday's win over the Rams. That's the most since Week 10 of the 2015 season when Chip Kelly's no-huddle offense ran 87 plays in a 20-19 loss to the Dolphins. The Eagles ran 80-plays six times in the three seasons Kelly was Eagles' coach. This was the third 80-plus-play game for the Pederson-coached Eagles. They did it twice last season.

High-powered offense

— The Eagles have scored 42 offensive touchdowns in their first 13 games, which are 10 more than they scored all last season. Twenty-four of their 42 TDs have come on drives of 75 yards or more. Last year, they had just 13 touchdown drives of 75 yards or more.

— With 43 points against the Rams, the Eagles have an NFL-high 404. That's 31.1 points per game. The franchise record is 31.3 by the '48 championship team.

— The Eagles have outscored opponents, 92-35, in the first quarter and 250-153 in the first three quarters.

Nick Foles and Carson Wentz

— Nick Foles completed 45.4 percent of throws of 20 yards or more in 2013 (20-for-55) with the Eagles, but just 32.2 percent in his eight 2014 starts (19-for-59). Carson Wentz had a 33.8 completion percentage this season on 20-plus-yard throws (22-for-65).

— In 2013-14, 21 percent of Foles' pass attempts were throws of 20-plus yards, compared to 15.5 percent for Wentz this season. Nearly half of Wentz's attempts this season – 48.4 percent – were throws of 0-9 yards.

— Wentz is sixth in the league in passing (101.9), first in third-down passing (123.7), first in touchdown passes (a franchise-record 33), eighth in interception percentage (1.6), eleventh in yards per attempt (7.49) and 27th in completion percentage (60.2).

Wentz is just the fourth quarterback in Eagles history with a 100-plus passer rating. The other three: Foles in 2013 (119.2), Michael Vick in 2010 (100.2) and Donovan McNabb in '04 (104.7).

Airing it out

— Torrey Smith's 24-yard catch from Carson Wentz in the third quarter Sunday was his first reception on a throw that traveled 20 yards or more in the air since Week 5 against Arizona. In the previous seven games, he had been targeted just three times on 20-plus yard throws and had no receptions. In 13 games, he's been targeted 15 times on 20-plus yard throws. Ten of those throws came in the first five games.

— In his first eight games this season, Alshon Jeffery had a 45.2 catch rate (62 targets, 28 receptions). In his last five, his catch rate is 54.5 (44-24).

— Eagles running backs have just 41 receptions in the first 13 games. Just 19 of those 41 catches have been for first downs. Look for throws to RBs to go up with Foles behind center.

— Nelson Agholor has been targeted 23 times in the last two games and has 15 catches, including nine for first downs.

Personnel file

— The Eagles used "10" personnel (1 RB, 0 TEs, 4 WRs) 16 times in the Rams game. That's 15 more times than they had used it in their first 12 games. Before last Sunday, the only time they had used a four-wide receiver set was against Carolina. They used it so much against the Rams for three reasons: 1) injuries had depleted the Rams' secondary; 2) they wanted to get rookie Mack Hollins on the field more; and 3) tight end Zach Ertz didn't play.

— The Eagles have used "11" personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WRs) 64.1 percent of the time this season (571 od 891 plays). They've run the ball 242 times and thrown it 329 times with 11 personnel.

Stopping the run

— The Rams averaged 6.4 yards per carry against the Eagles last week. That was the highest rush average against the Eagles this season. Actually, it was the highest opponent rush average since Week 11 of the 2015 season when the Tampa Bay Bucs averaged 6.7 yards per carry in a 45-17 Eagles loss.

— The Rams averaged 5.8 yards per carry on first down. In their previous 10 games, the Eagles had allowed just 2.5 yards per carry on first down.

— The Rams ran the ball just 17 times against the Eagles. Opponents are averaging just 19.2 rushing attempts per game against them, which is the fewest in the league. The Eagles' opponent run-play percentage is just 32.4, also the lowest in the league. Just three teams have run the ball at least 25 times against the Eagles – Carolina (25), Dallas (27) and Seattle (25).

— The Eagles have given up 27 runs of 10 yards or more. That's the fourth fewest in the league, behind Minnesota (17), Denver (24) and Tennessee (25).

Third down defense

— The Eagles are third in the league in third-down defense. Opponents have converted just 30.2 percent of their third-down opportunities. Last year, they had a 40.0 opponent conversion rate on third down.

— The Eagles have an impressive 58.8 opponent passer rating on third down. Opponents have completed just 53.4 percent of their 131 third-down pass attempts. Just 38 of those 131 attempts, or 29.0 percent, have resulted in first downs. The Eagles have seven interceptions on third down and have given up just three touchdown passes on third down.

— Opponents have just a 37.5 passer rating on third and fourth down when the Eagles have blitzed, That includes a 36.4 completion percentage and just 4.4 yards per attempt.

— The Eagles have not intercepted a pass in the last two games. It's just the second time this season that's happened in back-to-back games.

— The Eagles haven't had more than two sacks in each of their last three games. The last game with more than two sacks was their 37-9 win over Dallas in Week 11 when they had four.

Ajayi’s role increasing

— Jay Ajayi is averaging 8.9 yards per carry in the second quarter. He has rushed for 124 yards on 14 carries in the second quarter. He's averaging 7.9 yards per carry in the third quarter (12-95). Ajayi is averaging 7.3 yards per carry on first down (23-69).

— Ajayi has played 44.6 percent of the offensive snaps in the last two games (74 of 166), compared to 17.5 percent for LeGarrette Blount (29 of 166). Ajayi has carried the ball on 13 of the Eagles' 23 first-down run plays the last two games, compared to just five for Blount. In the first 11 games, Blount had carried the ball on 81 of 176 first-down run plays (46.0%).

Red zone troubles

— The Eagles have slipped to 24th in red-zone defense after giving up six red-zone touchdowns in six challenges the last two weeks. Seattle was 3-for-3 in the red zone and so were the Rams. In the first 11 games, the Eagles had given up touchdowns on just12 of 25 red-zone challenges (48%).

— Offensively, the Eagles are just 3-for-7 in the red zone the last two weeks after converting 28 of 39 (71.8%) in the first 11 games.

— Wentz didn't throw a red-zone interception in 57 attempts and also wasn't sacked. He was the only quarterback in the league without an interception or sack. In 2013, Foles didn't throw a red-zone interception. He had two in 35 attempts in 2014.

— Eight different Eagles receivers have caught red-zone TD passes. Five had two or more. Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery have combed for 13.   

Get insights on the Eagles delivered straight to your inbox with Early Birds, beat writer Zach Berman's newsletter for Eagles fans. Click here to sign up.