In Roob’s Eagles Observations: An unintended consequence of a run-heavy offense

In Roob’s Eagles Observations: An unintended consequence of a run-heavy offense originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

An unintended consequence of running the ball nearly 40 times a game, Saquon Barkley’s impact in the passing game, and a look at Eagles winning streaks throughout history.

We’ve got a fresh helping of Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Observations and don’t tell anybody, but it’s more like Roob’s 16 Random Eagles Observations because I cheat with the numbering system.

1. Running the ball the way the Eagles have been does a lot of positive things. Controls the clock. Moves the sticks. Wears down the defense. It’s been a terrific formula during this six-game winning streak. There is an unintended consequence, though, and it’s one the Eagles’ offensive coaches need to keep an eye on. The Eagles’ 364 rushing attempts are the most by any NFL team through 10 games in 16 years. But when you’re running the ball 36 ½ times per game, that means you’re not throwing it very much. The Eagles have thrown only 266 passes, by far the fewest in the league. And get this: They’re the first NFL team in 50 years – since the 1974 Bills – with more than 350 rushing attempts and fewer than 275 pass attempts 10 games in a season. All of which is great. Unless you’re a receiver. A.J. Brown has 48 targets in seven games or 6.9 per game. Compare that to Malik Nabers (11.8 targets per game), CeeDee Lamb (10.6), Garrett Wilson (9.8 per game) and Ja’Marr Chase (9.1 per game). Brown is one of the NFL’s best, but he ranks 29^th among wide receivers in targets per game (minimum 50 targets). DeVonta Smith has 56 targets in nine games, or 6.2 per game. That ranks 40^th in targets per game. For the sake of comparison, Brown was at 8.5 targets per game in 2022 and 9.3 last year. Smith averaged 7.5 the last two years. So the challenge for Kellen Moore and the other offensive coaches is to operate the offense the most effective way – which is running a TON – while trying to keep all the skill guys happy. “The beauty of what we have on offense, we have a lot of really talented players, and they all deserve opportunities in these games,” Moore said on Tuesday. “In the pass game, where you have a lot of rushing attempts and not as many pass opportunities, naturally those guys are not going to get as many touches as they deserve and have earned. I think (with) those guys, you’re constantly in conversation about those opportunities eventually presenting themselves. Again, not every game are we going to be able to rush 40, 45 attempts. We’d love to, but there will be different games and different styles. And that’s the beauty of the NFL, that every week is a different challenge. And there’s going to come a time when we’re going to have to sling it around and make some plays in some critical situations, and those guys will be ready.” The challenge is keeping them happy until that happens. And I don’t know if that’s possible.

2A. Throwing the ball down the field while still completing a high percentage of passes is a rarity, and Jalen Hurts is among only 10 quarterbacks in NFL history to average 11.8 yards per completion for his career while also completing 64 percent of his passes. Among the others with that rare double are Ben Roethlisberger, Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, Steve Young and Kurt Warner. Hurts this year is at 69.2 percent accuracy and 12.1 yards per completion. Only 11 QBs have been at 69.2 percent and 12.1 in the same season, but Hurts and Jared Goff are both on pace to reach those plateaus this year.

2B. Hurts has the 23^rd-most pass attempts in the NFL this year but shares the NFL lead with 10 completions of at least 40 yards. Joe Burrow also has 10.

3. Saquon Barkley is slowly starting to become more of a factor in the passing game, and that’s a trend that has to continue because he is such a weapon when you can get him the ball in space with a head of speed. Cover him with a linebacker and he’ll run away from him. Cover him with a safety and he’ll trample him. Barkley is on pace for a career-low 39 catches, but the last three weeks he has 6-for-104 and it looks like he and Jalen Hurts are finally developing some chemistry in the passing game. Barkley is averaging 9.1 yards per catch, 7^th-highest of 33 backs with at least 20 catches. Barkley averaged 55 catches and over 400 receiving yards in five full seasons with the Giants, and while he probably won’t reach those numbers this year, the more the Eagles can involve him in the passing game down the stretch the better. Especially if DeVonta Smith is out. The Eagles have had some elite pass-catching backs over the years – Keith Byars, Ricky Watters, Duce Staley, Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles. No reason Barkley can’t be that same sort of dual threat.

4A. The Eagles’ current six-game winning streak is the 16^th winning streak in franchise history of at least six games (single-season streaks only). More than half of those streaks have come since 2002, Andy Reid’s fourth season. From 1933 through 2001 – a span of 69 years – the Eagles had only seven winning streaks of at least six games: Eight-game streaks in 1948 and 1949, a six-game streak in 1953, nine straight in 1960, eight in a row in 1980 and then six-game streaks in 1981 and 1991. But in the 23 years since, they’ve had eight: A six-game streak in 2002, nine in a row in 2003, six straight in 2004 and 2009, then nine in a row in 2017, eight in a row in 2022 and six-game streaks last year and this year.

4B. So three of the 16-longest winning streaks in franchise history have come with Nick Sirianni as the head coach.

4C. And the only times the Eagles have had winning streaks of at least six straight games in three straight years are 2002, 2003 and 2004 under Reid and 2022, 2023 and 2024 under Sirianni. The 1953 and 1991 streaks are the only ones that didn’t come in a playoff season.

5A. JALEN HURTS STAT OF THE WEEK: Jalen Hurts is the first quarterback in 74 years with nine rushing touchdowns in a five-game span. In 1950, Johnny Lujack of the Bears had nine rushing TDs from Week 3 through Week 7. He also had two TD passes and 11 interceptions and a 38.1 passer rating during the same span. The only other Eagles with nine rushing TDs in a five-game span are Steve Van Buren in 1945 and Ricky Watters in 1995.

5B. One more: Hurts’ 111.9 passer rating after halftime is 4^th-highest in the NFL, behind former college teammate Tua Tagovailoa (124.4), Lamar Jackson (117.8) and Jared Goff (115.6). Hurts has only thrown 30 incomplete passes in the second half this year (out of 106 attempts). He also leads the NFL with nine 2^nd-half rushing touchdowns. Nobody else has more than six.

6A. Britain Covey had some interesting thoughts the other day about the difference between this year’s team and last year’s: “I think coach Sirianni has done a really good job navigating this season. You guys know how it is with Philly and the environment and it can be challenging. I think this team is really equipped to handle difficulties and adversity more so than last year. I feel like coach Sirianni has done a really good job with his messaging. And I mean, this whole week’s message was, ‘Yeah, we’re 6-0, but it doesn’t matter, don’t be complacent.’ And everyone’s kind of buying into that, which is a good feeling. You know, you trust the trajectory.” Why is this group better equipped to handle adversity? “Because of what happened last year. You kind of point out the things that went wrong, where you kind of panic. But I trust our leadership, I trust Jalen and I think more than anything we have such a good focus right now on focusing on what’s actually important and not letting outside noise maybe affect us. And it’s easier said than done, but I don’t know, I just feel really confident in our trajectory right now. And honestly, that loss to the Bucs, as bad as it was, might have been the best thing for us to happen early on in the season.”

By the way, if it were my call? I’d have Covey handle punt returns instead of Cooper DeJean once he’s activated. DeJean is terrific at it, but he’s so valuable on defense there’s no reason to put him out there risking an injury returning punts. Covey is really good, too, and there shouldn’t be a dropoff if he’s in there.

7. We’ve talked about the importance of Howie Roseman signing Zack Baun and Josh Sweat to contract extensions, but Isaiah Rodgers is another one Howie needs to get locked up. Rodgers is playing on a one-year contract worth minimum wage for 4^th-year players – about $1.06 million for 2024. When Darius Slay has been hurt and Rodgers has had to play – and that’s 139 snaps in six games since the bye week – he’s been very good. Even more impressive considering he wasn’t even allowed in the building last year because of his suspension. Of 116 cornerbacks who’ve been targeted at least 10 times this year, Rodgers’ defensive passer rating of 55.7 is 7^th-best. According to Stathead analytics, he’s been targeted 15 times and allowed just seven completions for 53 yards. That 46.7 percent completion percentage against Rodgers is also 7^th-best. And he’s allowing 3.5 yards per target, which is 2^nd-best among those 116 corners (behind only the Titans’ Darrell Baker). I don’t think Slay has been bad when he’s played, but he’s not the Slay of old, he turns 34 on New Year’s Day, he has two interceptions in his last 36 games, and I’m not sure how many more years he has. If the Eagles decide to move on from Slay after the season, it’ll be important to have Rodgers under contract. If neither Slay or Rodgers is here, I think Kelee Ringo would be a fine starter as well. But Rodgers would be my No. 1 choice for that spot. I really like what I’ve seen from him.

8A. The Eagles allowed 38 passing touchdowns last year. They’ve allowed nine this year.

8B. Last time the Eagles allowed fewer passing touchdowns after 10 games was 1938, when they allowed seven.

8C. This is only the second time in the last 30 years the Eagles have allowed two or fewer passing touchdowns in a six-game span. They also did it in 2000.

9. Saquon Barkley has four performances in 10 games with the Eagles with 140 rushing yards and a 5.5 average or higher. He had three in 76 games with the Giants.

10. The Eagles and Rams are two of five teams that haven’t gotten an interception from a cornerback this year. The Giants, Titans and Bears are the others. The Eagles have gone 13 straight games without an INT from a corner since Kelee Ringo picked off Tyrod Taylor in the Eagles’ win over the Giants last Christmas Day.

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