Archive: November, 2012
Bob Vetrone Jr.
(We post a baseball trivia question every Saturday, just for fun, as well as a detailed answer, stats, charts and commentary on the previous week's question. Pass along your questions, thoughts and ideas to boopstats@phillynews.com.)
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION
Bob Vetrone Jr.
(Special thanks to my friend, neighbor and BoopStats fan Joe Cleary for his suggestion on this one. If you have a stat idea for us to pursue, email me at BoopStats@phillynews.com.)
Since the Cowboys played their traditional Thanksgiving Day game and the Eagles appeared on Monday Night Football, for the sixth time in the last nine games, the Eagles will be facing an opponent that has had more rest than they have. And in only one of those situations was the difference a single day. The other five were each at least four days, and four of those was a full week.
Only twice this season will they have faced a team with less rest than the Birds, and those two differences will have been a combined four days.
Bob Vetrone Jr.
When Andy Reid arrived from Green Bay in January 1999, he came with the reputation as a quarterback guru, having helped steer soon-to-be Hall of Famer Brett Favre in his career.
But in 13-plus seasons, the Eagles’ passing numbers are just marginally better than the average NFL team in that span. In fact, it is the numbers of the Eagles’ passing defense that stand out more against the league averages.
Here are how the Eagles cumulative passing numbers since 1999 (and their opponents) compare to the averages of the other 30 NFL teams (Houston Texans not included, since they didn't come into existence until 2002):
| Eagles | Opps. | NFL Avg. | |
| Completions | 4428 | 4307 | 4321 |
| Attempts | 7580 | 7386 | 7231 |
| Pct. | 58.42% | 58.31% | 59.76% |
| Yards | 48,810 | 44,446 | 46,571 |
| Yards/Att. | 6.44 | 6.02 | 6.44 |
| Touchdowns | 330 | 278 | 296 |
| TD Pct. | 4.35% | 3.76% | 4.09% |
| Interceptions | 203 | 238 | 225 |
| Int. Pct. | 2.68% | 3.22% | 3.11% |
| Passer Rating | 80.95 | 74.87 | 79.40 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
When last we left the La Salle Explorers Sunday afternoon, they had snapped a 10-game losing streak to Villanova. That is the first step toward ending another streak ... 22 consecutive seasons since its last outright City Series title.
And one of those would go a long way toward the ultimate prize for La Salle, returning to the NCAA Tournament after a two-decade long absence.
Since the Big 5 was created for the 1955-56 season, there have been 31 outright City Series champions. (The eight half round-robin seasons in the 1990s don't count in our book.) Of those 31 teams, 24 made the NCAA Tournament. That includes the last eight and 18 of the 20 since 1970.
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Jason Babin's fall from the ranks of the elite sack-masters to just another pass-rusher is not unprecedented in the league. It's not even unprecedented in Philadelphia.
Since sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982, a player has registered 18 or more of them in a season 21 times. That includes Babin and two other players who did so last season (bold in the list below).
Other than the following season being one shortened because of a work stoppage (w) or a player being injured (i), the biggest one-year sack dropoffs of those belong to Tim Harris (who went from 19.5 in 1989 to just seven in 1990) and the Eagles’ Clyde Simmons (19 in 1992, five in 1993).
Bob Vetrone Jr.
With its 65-54 dismantling of Binghamton Wednesday, Penn now needs one win to become the 10th program to notch 1,700 victories all-time.
Those in front of the Quakers represent college basketball royalty and the school immediately behind them is ranked No. 1 in this week's Associated Press poll.
Here's the list:
| Rk. | School | Wins |
| 1. | Kentucky | 2,094 |
| 2. | Kansas | 2,075 |
| 3. | North Carolina | 2,070 |
| 4. | Duke | 1,978 |
| 5. | Syracuse | 1,848 |
| 6. | Temple | 1,794 |
| 7. | St. John's | 1,741 |
| 8. | UCLA | 1,733 |
| 9. | Notre Dame | 1,723 |
| 10. | Penn | 1,699 |
| 11. | Indiana | 1,697 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
After the Eagles manhandled the Jets in Game 14 last season, defense end Jason Babin had it all going on. He was coming off three games in which he had registered eight sacks, giving him 18 on the season in 14 games.
In the 13 games since then (two in 2011, 11 this season), his sacks, tackles and quarterback hurries were all way, way done.
Here are Babin's numbers through that Jets game and since:
| First 14 GP | Last 13 GP | |
| No. of Plays | 625 | 541 |
| Tackles |
61 |
34 |
| Tackle Pct. | 9.76% | 6.28% |
| Primary | 36 | 25 |
| Assists | 25 | 9 |
| Tackles For Loss | 3 | 1 |
| Sacks |
18 |
5.5 |
| Sack Pct. | 2.88% | 1.02% |
| QB Hurries |
45 |
33 |
| Fumbles Forced | 3 | 2 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
There were more than enough numbers to kick around from Panthers 30, Eagles 22, not the least of which was that it was just the second game in Eagles history that ended with a 30-22 score.
►There have been two Monday Night Football games that ended with a score of 30-22, and the Eagles have been involved both times. They beat the Bears by that score on Sept. 12, 1994 at Veterans Stadium.
►Tuesday is Day No. 5,070 of the Andy Reid era.
