Five Eagles numbers that matter
Here are five Eagles numbers that matter:
Five Eagles numbers that matter
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Here are five Eagles numbers that matter:
28 - The number of times the Eagles asked Jason Peters to block a Giants defender by himself in pass protection in the teams' first meeting last season. Michael Vick and Mike Kafka dropped back to pass 35 times, and only on seven occasions did Peters get help from a running back, tight end or fellow lineman. Many times, Peters went head-to-head with Jason Pierre-Paul, arguably the most talented defensive lineman the Eagles had to deal with. Pierre-Paul notched a pair of sacks, but one came after Vick escaped the pocket and tried to make something happen. The other occurred when Pierre-Paul beat Jason Kelce. For the most part, Peters held his own.
The point here today though has more to do with new Eagles tackle Demetress Bell. Andy Reid, Marty Mornhinweg and Howard Mudd had the luxury last year of sticking Peters on the left side, and for the most part, allowing him to block elite pass rushers one-on-one. Will they trust Bell to do the same? It'll be crucial to constantly assess what Bell is capable of and put him in positions to succeed. Don't be surprised if the Eagles use a running back or tight end, especially early in the season, to help Bell out.
59.57 - The percentage of times opposing offenses scored touchdowns on the Eagles in the red zone last year. That ranked 29th in the NFL and was actually an improvement from 2010 when they allowed teams to score 78.26 percent of the time, by far the worst mark in the league. But clearly, there's a lot of room for improvement.
I took a look at the 26 red-zone touchdowns the Eagles allowed. Here's a quick breakdown:
| Position | No. of RZ Scores |
| Wide Receivers | 11 |
| Running Backs (runs) | 7 |
| Tight Ends | 4 |
| Running Backs (catches) | 2 |
| Quarterbacks (runs) | 2 |
I thought tight ends did more damage in the red zone, but that really wasn't the case. They only scored four times inside the 20. And all those touchdowns came in the first half of the season.
In terms of coverage, wide receivers torched the Eagles' secondary. In the final eight games, the Eagles gave up eight passing touchdowns in the red zone, and all caught by wide receivers.
One more thing for new secondary coach Todd Bowles to focus on.
15.7 - The percentage of snaps played by fullback Owen Schmitt last year, according to Pro Football Focus. That number dropped quite a bit from 2010 (33 percent). Schmitt's gone, and it appears the Birds are content to go with either Stanley Havili, a seventh-round pick from 2011, or one of the undrafted free agents.
The Eagles don't use the fullback much, and they might use one even less next season, depending on how comfortable they are with Havili.
Here's a chart showing how they used Schmitt last season, though:
| Role | Pct. of Snaps |
| Receiver | 42% |
| Run Blocker | 41% |
| Pass Blocker | 14% |
| Runner |
2% |
Most of Schmitt's snaps came as a receiver or lead blocker. He had just three catches for 32 yards and four carries for 6 yards.
Unless Havili surprises, my guess is you're not going to see the Eagles use the fullback much. In a future post, I'll take a look at LeSean McCoy's numbers with and without Schmitt as his lead blocker.
2 - The number of red-zone catches made by DeSean Jackson last season. In the past, critics of Jackson have ripped him for his lack of production inside the opponents' 20. And to be fair, that's completely legit. Jackson's biggest strength is his speed and acceleration on vertical routes. But that's taken away when there's less than 20 yards of the field to work with. He doesn't do much as a decoy in that area of the field either, as far as I can tell.
The Eagles finished 14th in the league in red-zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns 51.52 percent of the time. Not horrible, but not great, especially when you consider the talent at the team's skill positions.
One option to switch things up would be to take Jackson off the field in those situations. Maybe play more with two tight ends? Maybe see what one of the younger receivers like Riley Cooper or Marvin McNutt has to offer? It's not a size thing. Jeremy Maclin is 6-0, but is the Birds' best red-zone receiver. It's about being able to get open in tight spaces and catch the ball in traffic. Those are not strengths for Jackson.
13 - The number of special-teams tackles for linebacker Akeem Jordan, according to Football Outsiders. They also track Return Stops, which looks "at each return compared to an average return, with a baseline based both the length of the kick/punt and the yard line where the return man catches the ball." In other words, was the player better than average in terms of where he made the tackle? Twelve of Jordan's 13 tackles counted as Return Stops.
He's a veteran, who's played all over the place, but is not an above-average starter. Jordan, however, could have a leg up on a roster spot because of special teams.
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Havili was an excellent receiver and capable runner at USC. Watch his game film on youtube. I wouldn't be shocked if he developed into a real weapon for the offense rather than just a spot duty fullback. Last season he was coming off shoulder surgery and had no OTAs to learn the offense.— soulman386- With the Fullback, it's not the ability in college, it the play calling that Andy and Marty choose, that prevents exploiting strengths that are obvious to any other observer.— tomvallar
- and here is the very problem with Vick!!!
"Pierre-Paul notched a pair of sacks, but one came after Vick escaped the pocket and tried to make something happen.
— osi is hurt boohoo - Is there a place where we can see how many good and bad plays Vick has had over the last 2 years when he's extended them with his legs? I am really tired of people complaining about "running QBs" and that garbage.
@Osi - Here's a problem with you... "after Vick ESCAPED the pocket" That means that he would have been sacked. Here's the play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaJmEAE8bhA
As you see, he made the first guy miss, and then ALL of the receivers were standing still. Also, if you notice the game clock, from the moment that he broke the first tackle until the sack, only 4 seconds lapsed. That's enough time to see if you can pass the ball, then see if you can run... then he got hit— macd41144 - That is probably the biggest complaint I had with the offence last year. If I was coach, I would have been benching the receivers breaking off routes and becoming spectators after running 2 second routes. Vick does hold onto the ball too long, but maybe it is becuase he is trying to find a receiver still moving. — chris_r
- "Demetress"?? Quite possibly the worst name ever given to a male.— jabs69
- None of it matters. Andy Reid is still the coach.— Short Circuit 3
- wow, they improved from 31st to 29th. Lets give Andy 5 more years. Because no other coach could possibly go 29th in red zone defense. Even the great Rich Kotite could not achieve that. Thanks Andy.— CharlieGarner25
- Haha MacD. Well supported comment. Not only did you back up your statement but you also proved that stats are misleading. In that same clip it's Peters who almost got Vick killed playing matador to Piere Paul and then giving up on the play to give him the sack. Peters was overrated as well and good for 3 false starts a half.
— HighDrama - Admit it hindsight...you have a crush on Andy.— tpizza
- Charlie give Castillo a little bit of credit. McDermott was so bad in the red zone the D broke 25 year old records. Castillo was on pace to do the same, and turned it around toward the end of the year. Let's see how it turns out this year now that they actually have LBs on the team.— TongueWagger
- macd, good comment regarding the receivers. How many times have we seen them just standing around and giving up on a "busted" play. They should be working back to the ball and shadowing the qb to the sideline!
— Eagle_1960 - Not really TongueWagger, McDermott had to use sub-par draft choices from Andy like Macho Harris, Quinten Demps, and Dimitri Patterson. Castillo had THREE PRO BOWL CORNERBACKS to work with and still finished 29th. that is TERRIBLE. HORRIBLE. PATHETIC.— CharlieGarner25
- get rid of the FB and add another talented TE and use him as FB. Should have size, speed, and blocking that FB's need being a TE and sort of a wasted position if only FB playing 15% or less snaps— connorjr
- i got a number...1...one horrible d-coordinator that will kill the season again.— psualum
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