Eagles vs. 49ers: everything you need to know about a game that could put the Eagles in first place in the NFC East
4 years ago
NFC East #NFCEast
No one is giving the Eagles much of a chance to win Sunday night. Their quarterback is in the throes of the worst slump of his career.
Their defense still doesn’t have a takeaway and has yet to hold an opponent under 23 points.
They’ve got an injury list that takes longer to read than War and Peace.
And yet, if things break right, they could be in first place in the NFC East when the clock strikes midnight. Go figure.
And speaking of figures, we’ve got all you need to get ready for Sunday Night Football:
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The Eagles are 16th in rushing (117.7 yards per game) and 14th in rush average (4.5). In the last two games, however, they have averaged 148.0 yards per game on the ground and 4.8 yards per carry.
The Eagles’ 23 rushing first downs in Weeks 2-3 were the second-most in the league. Miles Sanders had 13 of those 23. Carson Wentz had 7, and has 8 overall, which is the fourth-most among NFL quarterbacks, behind only COVID-positive Cam Newton (15), Kyler Murray (10) and Lamar Jackson (9).
Wentz had a career-high 65 rushing yards vs. Cincinnati. His 9 carries and 6 rushing first downs also were career-highs.
The Eagles have run the ball 62 times in the last two games. Sanders has 38 of those carries, and Wentz has 11. The Eagles’ No. 2 and 3 running backs, Boston Scott and Corey Clement, have a combined 10 rushing attempts for 32 yards in the last two games.
Sanders, who is averaging 5.0 yards per carry, has four runs of 10 yards or more, including three against the Bengals. Just 11 of his 38 runs have gained 2 yards or less.
The Eagles are averaging 5.0 yards per carry with 11-personnel (1RB, 1TE, 3WR), and 4.2 with 12-personnel (1RB, 2TE, 2WR).
Just four of the Eagles’ 79 rushing attempts have resulted in negative yardage. That’s tied for the fewest negative run plays in the league.
The Eagles are averaging 5.6 yards per carry out of shotgun, and just 3.2 from under center in the first 3 games.
Wentz already has thrown six interceptions, which is tied for the league lead with the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins. Through three games, Wentz is averaging a pick every 22 pass attempts. Last year, he averaged an interception every 86.7 attempts. In 2018, he averaged one every 57.3. In 2017, one every 62.9. Wentz’s career-high for interceptions in a season is 14 during his rookie year of 2016. He averaged an interception every 43.3 passes that season.
Wentz ended last season with a streak of 173 straight passes without an interception. He threw just one pick in the Eagles’ last five games in 2019, and that one was an end-of-the-game Hail Mary in a loss to Miami. In the first three games, Wentz has not thrown more than 26 passes without an interception.
Wentz is last in the NFL in passing with a 63.9 rating. Next worst is the Giants’ Daniel Jones at 69.2. Wentz had 101.9 and 102.2 passer ratings in 2017 and 2018, respectively, before dropping off to 93.1 last year.
He is last in the league in yards per attempt (5.6) and 28th in completion percentage (59.8). There are 10 quarterbacks in the league with a completion percentage above 70.0, and 22 above 65.0.
Wentz’s passer rating in 12-personnel is 48.1. Four of his six interceptions have come in 12-personnel. Last year, his 12-personnel passer rating was 85.0, including 13 touchdown passes and just two interceptions in 314 attempts.
Just 19 of Wentz’s 83 “aimed” passes (doesn’t include throwaways or batted passes) in the last two games have traveled longer than 8 yards in the air. In the Eagles’ Week 1 loss to Washington, Wentz attempted seven passes that traveled 20 yards or longer in the air (two completions). In the last two games, he’s attempted six (two completions).
Slot receiver Greg Ward, who had 28 receptions in six games last year after being promoted from the practice squad, has 14 this season. A team-high seven of them have been third-down catches, including six for first downs. He’s on pace for 37 third-down receptions, which was the total the Rams’ Cooper Kupp had last season when he led the NFL in that category.
Tight end Zach Ertz, who has a team-high 15 catches, has lined up in the slot 66 times in the first three games. Ward is second with 63 slot snaps.
Eleven of Ertz’s 15 catches have come on throws of 0-10 yards. Three have been on 11-19-yard throws, and one on a 20-plus yard throw.
Ertz is averaging just 8.7 yards per catch and 1.9 yards after the catch. Dallas Goedert was averaging 5.2 YAC before he got hurt last week.
The Eagles are 23rd in points allowed (29.0). They have yet to give up fewer than 23 points in a game. Last year, they gave up 105 points in their first four games, held the Jets to six in Week 5, then gave up 38 to Minnesota and 37 to Dallas. So, yes, they’ve played worse under Jim Schwartz.
The Eagles have just one takeaway in three games, and that was by their punt coverage unit. In their last 12 games dating back to last season, the Eagles defense has just three interceptions.
The Eagles are eighth in run defense (106.3 yards allowed per game) and fourth in opponent rush average (3.4). Got torched for 191 rushing yards in their Week 2 loss to the Rams but did a good job against the run in their loss to Washington and tie with Cincinnati. They held Washington and the Bengals to 2.4 yards per carry. Thirty-six of 54 opponent run attempts in those two games gained two yards or less.
Despite giving up a costly third-and-15 in the fourth quarter against the Bengals, the Eagles have played very well on third down. They’re fifth in third-down defense (34.9%). They’ve allowed opponents to convert just 4-of-21 third downs of seven yards or more (19.0%). That’s better than last year when they held opponents to a 25.9 success rate on third-and-7-plus.
The Eagles sacked Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow eight times last week. That was their most sacks since Week 5 of last season when they had 10 against the Jets.
Brandon Graham has three sacks, including two against the Bengals. Graham, who is in his 11th season, never has had 10 or more sacks in a season. His career-high was 9½ in 2017, which doesn’t include the biggest sack of his career – the one on Tom Brady late in the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ Super Bowl win.
Graham played 58-of-72 snaps (81%) last week against the Bengals. That was the most by any of the team’s defensive linemen. He finished with a team-high seven quarterback pressures, including two hits on top of the two sacks.
Fletcher Cox, who played with an abdominal injury, played 55 snaps. He had a sack, two hits and a hurry.
The Eagles are 26th in opponent passer rating (108.2). They have a minus-6 touchdowns allowed-to-interceptions differential.
Jim Schwartz sent extra rushers on 14-of-52 pass plays (26.9%) against the Bengals. Rookie Joe Burrow completed 10-of-12 passes for 96 and a touchdown when they blitzed. In the first three games, the Eagles have blitzed on 26-of-114 pass plays (22.8%). Opposing quarterbacks have completed 18-of-23 passes for 186 yards and two TDs (three sacks) when Schwartz has sent extra rushers.
The Eagles used 12-personnel (1RB, 2TE, 2WR) on 92-of-136 plays (67.6%) in their first two games. But after Dallas Goedert got hurt Sunday on the eighth play of the game, the Eagles went mostly to 11-personnel (1RB, 1TE, 3WR). They used 12-personnel on just 24-of-78 plays (30.8%) after Goedert got hurt.
The Eagles are 31st in average drive start by their opponents (34.9 yard-line). In the first three games, their opponents have started at their own 40 or better on 14-of-39 drives.
Despite several injuries at cornerback, the 49ers have allowed just two touchdown passes in their first three games.
Last year, opponents averaged just 22.1 rushing attempts against the Eagles, the third-lowest number in the league. Through three games this year, opponents have averaged 31 rush attempts per game, the league’s eighth most. That doesn’t figure to drop at all this week against a run-first 49ers team that is averaging 30 rushing attempts per game.
