Domo: Numbers tell the story of the Eagles' season

EVERY SEASON can be broken down into numbers. Good ones and bad ones. Here's a look at some of the more pertinent statistics - both good and bad - that shaped the Eagles' 7-9 finish:

* Touchdown trouble: Getting to the end zone was a seasonlong struggle. The Eagles scored only 32 offensive touchdowns, which was the eighth fewest in the NFL. They didn't have more than two offensive TDs in any of their last 13 games.

* Chunk plays: The Eagles didn't have enough of them on offense and gave up too many of them on defense. The offense had only 12 plays that gained 30 or more yards the entire season. Only Houston, with 11, had fewer.

They had no quick-strike ability. Carson Wentz has one of the strongest arms in the league, but they didn't have anyone who could get behind a defense.

Wentz completed only 21 of 67 passes of 20 yards or more. Seven of his 14 interceptions came on deep throws. Twenty-one of the Eagles' 31 touchdown drives were 60-plus yards. All but six of them needed eight or more plays to get to the end zone.

The defense gave up 33 plays of 30-plus yards, which was the third most, behind the Raiders (35) and 49ers (34). They gave up 14 runs of 20-plus yards, which also was the third most in the league, behind the Niners (22) and Dolphins (17).

* Red zone, as in dead zone: The fact that Caleb Sturgis attempted the second-most field goals in the league this season (41) tells you all you need to know about the Eagles' red-zone ineptness.

They finished 24th in red-zone offense. Their 55 trips inside the 20 were the 10th most in the league. But they converted only 27 of them (49.1 percent) into touchdowns.

Wentz threw only one red-zone interception all season, but completed only 49.4 percent of his pass attempts inside the 20. He had only five red-zone TD passes in the last nine games.

* Road trouble: The Eagles were 1-7 on the road. Beat the bad-awful Bears in their first out-of-town trip in Week 2 and never won away from the Linc again.

The Eagles were outscored on the road in the first quarter, 68-12, and in the first half, 135-77. They averaged only 4.69 yards per play on the road, compared with 5.32 at home.

Wentz had a plus-4 touchdown-to-interception differential at home and minus-2 on the road. He averaged more than a yard less per attempt on the road than at home.

* The outside receivers: Few teams got less production from their outside receivers than the Eagles. Nelson Agholor, Dorial Green-Beckham and Bryce Treggs were targeted a combined 155 times and caught only 75 passes. They averaged only 11.1 yards per catch and had four touchdowns. They combined for 43 passing first downs. Tight end Zach Ertz has 42 by himself. The Eagles have only 11 pass plays of 30-plus yards. Agholor, DGB and Treggs have been on the receiving end of only three of them.

* The turnover battle: The Eagles finished tied for seventh in turnover differential (plus-6). Even with Carson Wentz's 14 interceptions, they had only 20 giveaways, which were the second fewest by the Eagles since the league went to a 16-game season in 1978. Their six lost fumbles were the fifth fewest in the league, although one of them - by running back Ryan Mathews - probably cost them a win in Detroit in Week 5.

* Red-zone defense: Despite giving up far too many big plays, and despite on-again-off-again problems with their pass rush and their coverage and their run defense and getting off the field on third down, the Eagles still managed to finish 12th in points allowed (20.7 per game), mainly because of their bend-but-don't-break stubbornness in the red zone.

The Eagles finished third in red-zone defense (45.1 percent), allowing only 23 touchdowns in 51 challenges inside the 20. They gave up only 10 rushing touchdowns, fifth fewest in the league. They had a 72.0 opponent passer rating in the red zone to go with a 43.1 opponent completion percentage.

* Very special teams: Dave Fipp's units again ranked among the league's best. The Eagles finished second in both punt- and kick-return average, and their coverage units were outstanding.

Caleb Sturgis kicked off 87 times. The only two times an opponent started a drive beyond the 35 following a kickoff all season was on an onside kick and a squib kick. The Eagles finished first in the league in opponent average drive start following a kickoff (22.7). Donnie Jones had only 25 punts returned. Only two of those returns were longer than 12 yards.

* Covering the TE and RBs: You may recall this was a significant problem last season, and is a main reason you didn't see Mychal Kendricks on the field in the Eagles' nickel package this season.

This year, though, the Eagles did an impressive job of neutralizing opposing tight ends and running backs in the passing game. The Eagles gave up only six TD passes to tight ends and running backs. They didn't give up one to a running back in the final 12 games and gave up only two to tight ends in the last nine games.

Tight ends caught only 43 passes for 406 yards (9.4 per catch) and four touchdowns. Running backs had 78 receptions for only 500 yards (6.4 per catch) and two TDs.

* Multiple tight ends: The Eagles used multiple-tight end sets on 41.4 percent of their offensive plays. They used three-tight end sets 129 times and were effective both running and throwing out of it because of the versatility of their three tight ends - Zach Ertz, Trey Burton and Brent Celek.

Burton, who had only three catches in his first two seasons in Philly, finished with 37 this year. Ertz and Burton combined for 115 catches for 1,143 yards and five TDs. Ertz finished strong. In the last five games, he was targeted 54 times and had 40 catches for 443 yards and 24 first downs.

@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog