Eagles need to get more sack time

AFTER FOUR games last season, the Eagles' defense had just seven sacks. Then, they picked up four in a 34-28, Week 5 win over the Rams and notched eight more the next week in a 27-0 shutout of the Giants, and they were off to the races.

They finished the season with 49 sacks, which ended up being the second most in the league to Buffalo's 54.

That's worth keeping in mind because the 1-3 Eagles head into Sunday's critical game against Drew Brees and the 1-3 New Orleans Saints with just six sacks. Just five teams in the league have fewer.

The fact that they are getting ready to face a quarterback who can slice and dice a defense if it isn't able to get pressure on him, has a lot of Eagles fans reaching for the nearest acid reflux medicine this week.

But defensive coordinator Bill Davis isn't as concerned about the state of his pass rush as many of you are.

"There is more pressure than there are sacks," Davis said this week. "When you face teams like we just did where the ball is out lightning quick, (people) always say, 'Well, the rush isn't getting there.'

"But how long is he holding (the ball)? On the ones where he's holding it longer, if we're not pressuring, then we are in trouble. But guys are getting themselves (there). We're running stunts better than we've ever run stunts.

"(When) we get to the quarterback, we just have to get him down. There were two or three (near-misses) Sunday. We missed one in the end zone that we should've had. On the one holding call, Fletcher Cox had (Kirk Cousins) right in the backfield and he escaped.

"So I don't think it's a pressure problem. The sack numbers aren't where you like them. But we've got to get the pressure on the quarterback and get him down and affect his throws. That has to increase. But we actually aren't horrible right there."

So far, the Eagles haven't blitzed a lot. They've sent extra rushers just 25.8 percent of the time in the first four games. Last year, their blitz percentage was 33.7.

They probably won't be blitzing a lot Sunday against Brees. He has a 103.0 passer rating against the blitz over the last nine seasons. The last time the Eagles faced him two years ago in the playoffs, they blitzed him just four times. Intercepted him twice and sacked him twice and held him to just one TD pass, but still lost, 26-24.

Asked yesterday whether he thought Brees was unblitzable, Chip Kelly said, "Unfortunately, the answer may be yes. I mean, he's one of the all-time great quarterbacks to play in this league, and I think he's so in tune to what they're doing and he's so sharp in what they do. And you listen to his work ethic and how much he studies and how much he works at the game and it makes it very, very difficult (to blitz him)."

If the Eagles do blitz, linebacker Connor Barwin said it must be up the middle, not off the edge.

"If you're going to blitz him, you've got to blitz up the middle to get in his vision," Barwin said. "You don't blitz on the edge or on the side because that's what he likes. He can step right up (in the pocket) and get the ball out."

Linebacker Brandon Graham had the Eagles' only sack Sunday against the Redskins and was the guy who had the near-miss of Cousins in the end zone. He is confident that the sacks will start to come.

"We're not really worried about the sacks," he said. "Last year, we weren't worried and they just happened. We're taking the same approach this year. When the opportunities present themselves, we just have to capitalize."

A breakdown of the Eagles' pass-rush through the first four games:

Cmp.

Rushers Plays Pct. YPA TD/I Sks.

3. . . 15 73.3 8.13 1/0 0

4. . . 117 69.0 7.05 2/3 4

5. . . 38 55.5 4.28 0/2 2

6. . . 7 57.1 9.71 2/0 0

7. . . 1 100.0 4.00 1/0 0

Two-tight end formations appear to be going the way of the dodo bird in Chip Kelly's offense.

In the first four games, the Eagles have used "12" personnel (1 running back, 2 tight ends, 2 wide receivers) just 20 times in 241 offensive plays (8.3%), which is considerably less than last season, when they used "12" 30.5 percent of the time.

The preferred personnel grouping in Kelly's offense always has been "11" (1 back, 1 tight end, 3 wide receivers). He likes to spread defenses out with three wide receivers, force them to bring in a fifth defensive back and then run the ball against the lighter five-DB package.

Two years ago, when he won the NFL rushing title, 71.9 percent of LeSean McCoy's 1,607 rushing yards came out of "11" personnel. Last year, 68.5 percent of his 1,319 yards did.

"Ever since I got here, we've been an '11' personnel operation," tight end Zach Ertz said. "That's not going to change. Brent (Celek) and I are going to be rotating."

Last year, Celek played 72.3 percent of the Eagles' offensive snaps and Ertz just 52.1, mainly because Ertz' blocking still was a work in progress. In the first four games this season, that has changed. Ertz has played 63.1 percent of the snaps and Celek just 46.1 percent.

But the extra snaps haven't translated into better pass-catching numbers yet for Ertz. He has half as many receiving yards as he had after four games last season (220 to 104). Ertz, who had 42 receptions for first downs, including a team-high 21 on third down, has just three first-down catches and no third-down receptions for first downs.

"I've been blocking a lot," he said. "I've been blocking my butt off. I've been doing very well in the running game. I want to catch the ball. I want a lot of catches. I want a lot of yards. But that's not what my role in the offense is right now.

"I talked to Chip. He wants me to help the tackles out on third down. That's what I'm going to do if that's what they need me to do."

The Eagles have used "11" personnel 88.8 percent of the time in the first four games, up from 66.4 percent last year. Defenses have countered with run-friendly nickel packages. But with the exception of Ryan Mathews, the Eagles haven't been able to run the ball against the lighter packages.

DeMarco Murray is averaging just 1.3 yards per carry out of "11" personnel and Darren Sproles 3.9. Mathews is averaging 4.5, but that number is a bit skewed. It's built mainly on his 108-yard performance against the Jets in Week 3 when Murray was out with a hamstring injury. That was the only game the Eagles really have been able to run the ball.

Asked why he hasn't used two-tight sets more in the first four games, Kelly said, "I think how people defend (our) personnel (packages has been the primary reason)."

When the Eagles do go to a two-tight end set, defenses usually will stay in their base defense, which obviously is harder to run against.

"Then you have to decide what you want to face," Kelly said. "If they say, 'We're going to do that (against it),' maybe that doesn't match up with what we want to get accomplished. That's really always how we base our decisions in terms of what personnel groupings we're going to deploy."

FROM THE LIP

* "For me, at the end of the day, I want to catch passes. I'm not out here just (bleeping) around just to sit around to just block (bleeping) people all day. It's not what I want to do." — Falcons WR Roddy White, who has just two catches for 8 yards in the last three games

* "He does a lot of great stuff in the community. Fantastic guy. (But) you cannot allow players to walk into your office and circumvent the coach that is coaching those players. Haven't they learned anything from Daniel Snyder?" — CBS analyst Boomer Esiason, on Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who fired head coach Joe Philbin this week

* "I don't think the kid will have his way against us. I don't think that is going to happen." — Bills coach Rex Ryan, on Titans rookie QB Marcus Mariota

BY THE NUMBERS

* Since the current 12-team playoff format was put in place in 1990, 25 teams have made the playoffs after 1-3 or 0-4 starts, including the Eagles three times (1990, 1995 and 2013).

* Bengals QB Andy Dalton has had a passer rating of 115 or better in each of his first four starts this season. The only other QB to do that since the league implemented its current passer rating system in 1973 was John Hadl (with the Rams in 1973).

* Falcons RB Devonta Freeman leads the league with seven rushing TDs. He's the first player to rush for seven or more TDs in the first four games since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005 (he had eight).

* There have been 200 touchdown passes thrown in the first four weeks. That's the second most through four weeks in history. There were 205 in '13.

* Drew Brees had a lot of nice things to say about his buddy Darren Sproles this week. Brees and Sproles played together in both San Diego (in 2005) and New Orleans (2011-13). Sproles caught 232 passes from Brees in the three seasons they were together in New Orleans. "He's one of my favorite people, one of my favorite teammates that I've ever had," Brees said. "We've been training together for a while now in San Diego every offseason. I'd say we push each other, but it's really me trying to keep up with him all the time. His work ethic is second to none. His focus, his intensity, he's the epitome of what you would want in a teammate."

* The Eagles have had just two kickoff returns in the first four games, and one of those was an end-of-the-half bouncer that was fielded at the 13-yard line. Seventeen of the 19 kickoffs to them have been touchbacks. The league-wide touchback percentage on kickoffs through four weeks is 66.0. That's the highest four-week percentage since the league moved kickoffs up to the 35-yard line in 2013. It was 62.5% last year and 62.8% in '13. The year before they moved kickoffs up, the four-week touchback percentage was just 51.8. The touchback percentage will drop as the weather conditions change in the northeast and midwest. The full-season touchback percentage last year was 52.1. The year before it was 50.6. So, take heart, Josh Huff. You will get some kick return opportunities eventually.

* The Eagles' odds of winning the Super Bowl dropped from 25-1 to 35-1 after Sunday's loss to the Redskins, according to Las Vegas oddsmaker Bovada. The Cowboys also are at 35-1. The Packers and Patriots are the favorites at 7-2.

* One of the more impressive plays by Fletcher Cox in last week's loss to the Redskins came early in the fourth quarter when he knocked down — and I mean knocked down — the Redskins' Pro Bowl left tackle, Trent Williams, with his right arm and foiled a cutback run by Chris Thompson. Cox and Beau Allen dropped Thompson for a 1-yard loss. I asked Cox if Williams said anything to him after he got up off the ground. "I don't think anybody could say anything after that play," he said. "It was a real good decision by me to take a shot. And it worked. He was on the ground."

* As both Chip Kelly and Sam Bradford correctly mentioned earlier this week, a big part of the reason the Eagles' offense has been doing so poorly on third down (31st, 25.6 conversion rate) is because it is underperforming on first and second down. The Eagles currently are 23rd in first-down-play average (4.89) and 15th on second down (5.29). Two years ago, in Kelly's first season in Philadelphia, when his offense was operating on all cylinders, the Eagles averaged a league-best 6.83 yards on first down and 6.43 on second down (4th). Last year, they slipped to 11th on first down (5.65) and 18th on second down (5.25).

* Eagles receivers have 17 drops in the first four games. They were tied with Houston for league lead in that dubious category. The 10 teams with the most drops:

Eagles: 17

Texans: 17

Giants: 14

Raiders: 13

Jaguars: 11

Rams: 11

Dolphins: 10

Cardinals: 10

Saints: 10

Panthers: 10

* It's easy to blame Kelly's sputtering tempo offense for the fact that his defense is last in the league in defensive snaps per game (73.5) and opponent time of possession (37:12). While there clearly is some cause-and-effect there, the defense also must shoulder a big part of the blame for the time it's spending on the field. Seventeen of the Eagles' 51 opponent possessions, or 33.3 percent, have lasted seven plays or longer. Last week, the Redskins had four drives of 10 plays or more, including their game-winning 15-play, 90-yard march. The defense is tied for 20th in opponent first downs per game (21.5).

* The Eagles have averaged just 3.27 yards per play on their first two possessions and have scored a total of three points. Their opponents have averaged 5.08 yards on their first two possessions and have scored nine points. The Eagles have scored just three points in the first quarter in their first four games, and only 27 in the first half. Their first-quarter total is the second lowest in the league. Only the 49ers, who have yet to score in the first quarter, are worse. The only teams with fewer first-half points than the Eagles are Houston (19), the Niners (20), St. Louis (23) and Indianapolis (24). Miami also has scored just 27 first-half points.

* Eagles running backs are averaging just 3.0 yards per carry on first down, 2.9 on second down and 4.2 on third down. A down-by-down breakdown:

Murray — 1st: 18-28. 2nd: 9-7. 3rd: 1-12

Mathews — 1st: 17-95. 2nd: 13-39. 3rd: 3-(-2)

Sproles — 1st: 8-8. 2nd: 8-40. 3rd: 5-32

* Eagles receivers have just six third-down receptions that have resulted in first downs. Darren Sproles has two. Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Ryan Mathews and Brent Celek each have one. Zach Ertz, who had a team-high 21 third-down catches for first downs last year, still doesn't have any.