A year removed from the onset of a historic collapse, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles dispatched the Ravens in Week 13 to settle any doubts that they are legit contenders. Reuben Frank explains why this 10-2 start feels totally different than last year’s 10-2 start.
In this week's Roob's Eagles Stats, we have comebacks and winning streaks, take a look at just how dominant the defense has been since the bye week and A.J. Brown making the most of his opportunities.
And of course the usual supply of Saquon Barkley facts and figures.
1A. Another fourth quarter, another long touchdown for Saquon Barkley. With a 65-yarder against the Saints, a 39-yarder against Washington, a 72-yarder against the Rams and the 25-yarder Sunday in Baltimore, Barkley became the first player in NFL history with 4th-quarter touchdown runs of at least 25 yards in three straight games as well as the first player in NFL history with four 4th-quarter 25-yard TDs in a season. Barkley has 481 rushing yards and six touchdowns in the fourth quarter this year. Only 16 other running backs have 481 rushing yards and six TDs all year.
1B. Barkley’s 107 rushing yards Sunday gives him eight 100-yard games this year, tying him for the most in a season in Eagles history. Wilbert Montgomery had eight in 1981. He’s also now tied with Miles Sanders for the 7th-most 100-yard games ever by an Eagle.
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1C. Barkley’s 508 yards over the last three games are the most in Eagles history in a three-game span. Barkley also has the 2nd- and 3rd-most from earlier this year. Before this year, Wilbert Montgomery’s 442 yards in 1979 was the most in a three-game span. Barkley also has a 6.8 average and five TDs during this three-game span. The only other backs in NFL history with 500 rushing yards, a 6.8 average and five rushing TDs in any three-game span are Barry Sanders in 1997 and Clinton Portis in 2003.
1D. Barkley’s 1,499 rushing yards are 8th-most in NFL history through 12 games and his 6.1 average is 4th-highest after 12 games (minimum 200 attempts).
2. The Eagles’ defense has now held eight straight opponents to 20 or fewer points. (The Jaguars scored 23 but only 15 off the defense.) Limiting it to single-season streaks, it’s only the fourth time in franchise history the Eagles have done that, the first since an eight-game streak in 2003 and only the third time in the last 50 years. During the eight-game winning streak, the defense has allowed an NFL-low 13.4 points per game. That’s the fewest points the Eagles’ defense has allowed in an eight-game span since the first eight games of 2002, when they allowed 12.4.
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3. The Eagles are now an NFL-best 6-1 this year when they’ve trailed after the first quarter, with the only loss coming in Tampa back in Week 4. They’ve won four straight games when they’ve trailed after the first quarter, including each of the last three weeks. Only three teams in NFL history have won more games in a season after trailing following the first quarter – the 1994 Dolphins, 1997 Lions and 2013 Patriots. The Eagles have already tied the franchise record for most wins in games they’ve trailed after the second quarter. They went 6-4 in 1988. Their only higher winning percentage in such games came in 1949, when they were 3-0. They’re 15-9 in four years under Nick Sirianni when trailing after the first quarter. The Ravens (12-9), Packers (13-11) and Chiefs (11-10) are the only other teams over .500.
4. Jalen Hurts hasn’t been throwing a lot – his 172 pass attempts during the Eagles’ eight-game winning streak are 35th-most among NFL quarterbacks. But he’s averaging 9.1 yards per pass attempt, which is 2nd-highest in the league during that span (behind Lamar Jackson’s 9.3). The only Eagles quarterback with a higher yards-per-attempt over an eight-game span is Nick Foles in 2013. Coming into the season, Foles held the franchise record for yards per pass attempt at 7.42 and Hurts was third at 7.33, also behind Michael Vick’s 7.41. But Hurts has raised his to 7.50, highest in Eagles history. Hurts is one of only 12 quarterbacks in NFL history to average 7 ½ yards per attempt and average an interception every 48 attempts or better.
5. The Eagles’ eight-game winning streak is just one shy of the franchise record of nine, which they set in 1960 and matched in 2003 and 2017. They’ve had four other eight-game winning streaks (1948, 1949, 1980, 2022). Nick Sirianni is only the second Eagles coach whose teams have had multiple winning streaks of at least eight games. Greasy Neale’s teams had eight-game streaks in 1948 and 1949. The Eagles and Chiefs are the only teams with more than one winning streak of at least eight games since 2021, Sirianni’s first season. The Eagles are now 17-11 under Sirianni against teams with a winning record, the 2nd-best record in the league during the last four years. The Chiefs are 18-11. Their five-game road winning streak is the Eagles’ 5th-longest all-time.
6. The Eagles have at least 100 rushing yards in 11 consecutive road games, a streak that dates back last November. That’s the 2nd-longest streak in franchise history and longest in 75 years, since the 1947 through 1949 teams had a 12-game road streak with 100 or more rushing yards. Overall, the Eagles have rushed for 100 or more yards in 13 straight games, the 6th-longest streak in franchise history. The Eagles are the third team since 1960 with 2,400 rushing yards, a 5.2 average and 24 rushing touchdowns in any 13-game span. The 2016 Bills and 2020 Ravens also did that.
7. A.J. isn’t putting up the numbers he did the last two years, but he’s definitely making the most of his opportunities. Brown has turned 62 targets into 793 yards, which is 12.8 yards per target. Among receivers with 50 targets in a season, that’s tied for 6th-highest since the NFL began tracking targets in 1992. Brown leads the NFL by almost a full yard per target, with Jayden Reed and Alec Pierce tied for second at 11.9. The highest yards per target on record by an Eagle for a full season is DeSean Jackson’s 11.1 in 2010.
8. The Eagles were 11-1 after 12 games in 2022 and 10-2 the last two years. They’re one of only nine teams in NFL history to have a 10-2 record or better after 12 games in three straight seasons. The Packers did it four straight years from 1929 through 1932 and the Bears four years in a row from 1985 through 1988. It’s also been done by the 1946 through 1948 Browns, the 1967 through 1969 and 1974 through 1976 Raiders, 2005-2007 Colts, 2015-2017 Patriots and 2018-2020 Saints.
9. The Eagles have run for 140 or more yards in six straight games, the 2nd-longest streak in franchise history. They had an 11-game streak of 140-yard games over the 1943 and 1944 seasons. During these six games, the Eagles have 1,396 rushing yards, a 5.4 average and 18 rushing touchdowns. The last team to put up those numbers in any six-game span was the 1958 Browns with Jim Brown (1,495 yards, 6.3 average, 16 TDs).
10. Jalen Hurts’ rushing touchdown Sunday was his 50th in 59 games since opening day 2021. The most rushing TDs any other quarterback has ever had in a 59-game span is Josh Allen’s 34 over parts of the 2020 through 2024 seasons. Hurts is also now only the 14th player in NFL history with 12 rushing touchdowns in three consecutive seasons. The others are some of the greatest running backs in NFL history: Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Priest Holmes, Corey Dillon, Rudi Johnson, Todd Gurley, Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Shaun Alexander, Adrian Peterson, Emmitt Smith, Derrick Henry and LaDainian Tomlinson.
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