Five Eagles numbers that matter
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Five Eagles numbers that matter
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Here are this week's five Eagles numbers that matter:
10.2 - Michael Vick's average yards per carry on "improvised" runs when he got past the line of scrimmage last season. In other words, these were called pass plays where Vick left the pocket and ran. By my count, Vick carried 53 times for 538 yards on designed pass plays. The 10.2 yards per carry number is a huge one. To put it into perspective, Aaron Rodgers led the NFL, averaging 9.2 yards per pass attempt. But there's a catch. Vick was also sacked 23 times for -126 yards. Those were the plays when either he took off and didn't get past the line of scrimmage, or the pressure just got to him in the pocket.
Overall, the offense gained 5.4 yards per play on the 76 occasions in which Vick dropped back but never attempted a pass. That number is lower than his 7.8 yards per attempt average. Vick's decision-making on when to take off and run and when to get rid of the football will be something he'll have to continue to perfect until his career is over, and especially something to keep an eye on in 2012.
6.3 - The percentage of plays in which opposing quarterbacks targeted Nnamdi Asomugha in coverage last season. Asomugha had a disappointing debut season with the Eagles, but if you're looking for a positive, this is it. According to Pro Football Focus, he was in coverage on 571 pass plays, and according to Football Outsiders, he was targeted just 36 times. Here's how those numbers compared to a couple other cornerbacks - Asante Samuel and Darrelle Revis:
| Pass Plays in Coverage |
Total Targets | Target % | |
| Nnamdi Asomugha | 571 | 36 | 6.3% |
| Darrelle Revis | 582 | 81 | 13.9% |
| Asante Samuel | 483 | 61 | 12.6% |
Much of the criticism directed at Asomugha focuses on what happened when quarterbacks threw at him. And the results there were not pretty. Per Football Outsiders, he allowed 9.0 yards per pass attempt, the highest number of any Eagles cornerback last season. But it's important to also note what happened when team's didn't throw at Asomugha - those plays in which he presumably had good coverage.
As you can see above, quarterbacks were far more likely to throw at Revis or Samuel last season. Asomugha needs to do a better job of making plays when the ball is thrown his way, but his coverage skills were still good last season, according to the numbers.
73 - Brent Celek's catch rate (percentage) in the final 10 games last season. Catch rate simply measures catches per targets. It's not a great stat to illustrate how well a receiver (or tight end) is playing, but it can show how well a quarterback and receiver are connecting. In his final 10 games, Celek caught 49 of the 67 passes thrown his way. Had he been able to sustain that rate for an entire season, it would have ranked tied for first with Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Gates among tight ends who were targeted at least 50 times. Overall, Celek finished with a catch rate of 64 percent, up from 53 percent in 2010. He also set a career high, averaging 13.1 yards per catch.
It's probably also worth mentioning that Celek had two offseason surgeries - one for a sports hernia and the other for a torn labrum in his left hip.
All things considered, Celek probably wasn't credited enough for his 2011 performance. At 27 years old, and under contract through 2016, Celek will be an important part of this offense for years to come.
3 - Where the Eagles' defense ranked at covering opposing tight ends last season, according to Football Outsiders. I still frequently hear that this team had trouble covering tight ends last season, and it's simply not true. The Eagles allowed 45 yards per game to tight ends, well below the league average of 53.8.
Part of the reason for that success was putting Asomugha inside on tight ends, like Jason Witten. Another part was that they blitzed less and had more players in coverage. With offseason changes at linebacker and cornerback, we'll see how Juan Castillo chooses to deal with tight ends in 2012, but this was not an issue last season.
5.9 - LeSean McCoy's average yards per carry in the fourth quarter the past two seasons (110 carries for 654 yards). The formula in 2011 was supposed to be this: Get a big lead. Unleash the pass rush. And run the ball effectively late when necessary.
The issues? The Eagles' offense turned the ball over too much. And while the defense did a good job getting to the quarterback, it couldn't make up for other issues, like stopping opponents late in games.
But getting back to McCoy, he became more effective as the game went on. He was outstanding in the fourth quarter and has shown he can be the "closer" the Eagles need when they want to run clock and keep their defense off the field late in games.
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You forgot one big number.
8 - The number of wins the Eagles had last year. And, that's the only one that matters— Unstable1- 8 wins was because Mike Vick was the only quarterback in the NFL who didn't have a full offseason of work.
- 8- The number of new defensive starters with no training camp.
0- The number of starting quality linebacker on the team.
1- Good tackler among the entire secondary.
69- Well, we all know what that means :)— FetchDixon - Yeah Sheil, We need to keep the defense off the field as much as possible. I dont care how much talent we have on defense I dont trust Juan's defensive mind. It seems like everytime we had a lead after halftime the other teams offense blew it wide open. Can you do article on Juan's regression's after halftime or his overall performance?— Zeru
- Best comment goes to -FetchDixon!— aalston21
- To be targeted that few times and give up as many big plays as he did speaks to just how poor a season Nnamdi had. One thing is for sure though, with Asante no longer around on the other side, his targets will undoubtedly double this year and he needs to step up (also not mentioned in that chart is that Revis and Asante were ranked #1 and #2 in opposing QB rating when thrown at). Time to earn that contract
- Opposing qurterbacks hardly ever threw Asomugha's way. It seems obvious that his guy was almost always covered. Isn't that a cornerback's main job? Doesn't sound like his play was as bad as you think. And how do you figure that without Samuel on the other side, everyone will throw at Asomugha more? Are you assuming that anyone replacing Samuel will be a big upgrade? If that's your point, you're probably wrong about that, too. — Section 730
- Because QBs had a ridiculously high rating when throwing his way, and because Asante baits QBs to throw into coverage. No, my point wasn't that anyone replacing Samuel will be an upgrade. My point was that Nnamdi got beat way way too often in this system, and there's no reason to fear him like QBs did in Oakland. Are you really insinuating that because he was targeted with half the frequency as Revis, that he's twice the cover corner Revis is?
- I don't think that interpretation of Asomugha's numbers rings true, to me. Since QB's were so hesitant to throw his direction, it is most likely that they only threw his direction when coverage had broken down. When coverage breaks down you are going to get big plays. Don't know if it would be hard to measure, but to compare the yards against Asante when coverage has "broken down" I suspect the numbers might be similar, or given Samuel's aversion to tackling, even higher. To me, those two numbers together - few passing attempts his direction, high number of yards per throw when they do throw his direction - make sense and don't suggest a terrible season...though, it seems he did get burned quite a few times...— reb
- No one from the LBs back had a good season. Miracle they finished 8-8.— tpizza
0 - the years of experience Castillio had coaching defense.— ej610- Maybe he didn't get thrown at as much because the Eagle spent half the time moving him around so that he was covering an inconsequential player. It's an easy decision not to throw the ball to your slot receiver(3rd best WR on the team). He also was lined up against the TE a bunch as well. Not exactly like saying teams threw at Revis covering their #1 WR less is it?— UncleStosh
- reb, you nailed it. That was what I was going to say. Asomugha should have a good year this year as a true corner, regardless.— Bobby G
- Nnamdi is the Nigerian word for "toast."— coloradoeagle
- It's May, people. Go outside.— andrewfrombrooklyn
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