The Eagles have been doing a lot of things well on defense, especially the last two weeks.
They’re up to 7th in points allowed, 9th in yards allowed, 5th in sacks, 6th on third down and 2nd in the red zone.
This young Vic Fangio defense is showing encouraging signs of life. They haven’t allowed a touchdown in their last two games, and they’ve held three of their last four opponents below 250 yards.
All good. Especially after a bit of a sluggish start with a new coordinator and a bunch of new players.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
But the takeaways just haven’t been there. Reid Blankenship’s interceptions in Week 1 against the Packers and Week 3 against the Saints are the Eagles’ only takeaways so far.
They’ve faced 353 offensive plays.
They have two takeaways.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
This is the first time since 1937 the Eagles have forced two or fewer takeaways through Week 6. They’re only the seventh team since 1940 with two or fewer takeaways after six games. The Raiders this year also have two.
Since 1940, only two teams have had a winning record despite starting off a season with two or fewer takeaways the first six games of a season. The 2011 Steelers were also 4-2.
This is the third time in franchise history the Eagles have gone three straight games without a takeaway. They went five straight games in 2012 – one off the 49ers’ record of six games in 2018 – and they also had a three-game streak last October.
The Eagles have just 14 interceptions in their last 33 games. Think about that for a moment. They’ve faced 1,127 passes and picked off 14.
Since Week 14 last year, the Eagles haven’t recovered an opposing team’s fumble. Their opponents have fumbled 11 times and recovered every one, including the Giants three times on Sunday. Last time the Eagles forced an opposing fumble was the second Eagles-Cowboys game last year, when Fletcher Cox strip sacked Dak Prescott and Jalen Carter recovered and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.
During the same span, the Eagles have fumbled 18 times, recovering eight. So of the last 29 fumbles by either team, the Eagles have recovered seven.
They’ve also now gone 33 consecutive games without picking off two passes in a game – the 3rd-longest streak in NFL history.
And they also have just six takeaways in their last 10 home games – their 2nd-fewest in a 10-game span in franchise history.
Fangio said Tuesday he believes the Eagles have the personnel to create turnovers. We just haven’t seen it.
“I do, but at the same time, talk is cheap,” he said. “You know, we haven't done it. So we've got to get off the schneid there and get some takeaways. We really do.”
From 2014 through 2022, six-time Pro Bowl corner Darius Slay had 26 interceptions, but he’s now gone 13 straight games without an INT, and he has just two in his last 32 games.
Promising rookie corner Quinyon Mitchell has had four INTs in his hands but still doesn’t have his first NFL interception.
Safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson shared the NFL lead with six INTs in 2022 but doesn’t have any yet this year.
Reed Blankenship has the Eagles’ last three interceptions going back to the end of last year.
Sacks often turn into strip sacks, but none of the Eagles’ last 23 sacks has resulted in a turnover.
Under Nick Sirianni, the Eagles are 8-9 when they don’t force a turnover. That’s actually really good – 4th-best in the NFL since the start of 2021.
The wins over the Browns and Giants are only the third set of back-to-back wins in franchise history without a takeaway.
But they’re 32-10 when they do get a takeaway and 14-1 when they create more than one.
The Eagles have managed to get by without being much of a takeaway team. Their 63 takeaways are 6th-fewest since 2021, but they have the 4th-best record in the NFL since then.
But just imagine how much easier the Eagles would make things on themselves with an interception here or a forced fumble there.
They flip the field. They change momentum. They get the crowd going when they happen at the Linc.
They’re great when they happen. They just haven't happened nearly enough around here lately.
Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube
