Story by
In Roob's Eagles Stats: A big pile of misery broken up by tiny encouraging blips
- Story by
- In Roob's Eagles Stats: A big pile of misery broken up by tiny encouraging blips
In Roob's Eagles Stats: A big pile of misery broken up by tiny encouraging blips originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Thank God for Makai Lemon and Eli Stowers. Because without those two rookies, I wouldn't have much of a "Positive Section" in this week's Roob's Eagles Stats.
Advertisement
Even with them there aren't a whole lot of encouraging numbers surrounding this football team.
The ever-dwindling positive section.
So with that in mind, here's this week's Roob's Eagles Stats. When you lose six in a row, the stats aren't pretty.
1.With Makai Lemon catching six passes for 57 yards and Eli Stowers three for 53 yards, this was only the second time in the last 36 years the Eagles have had two rookies over 50 receiving yards in the same game. The last time it happened was in 2021, when DeVonta Smith had 122 yards and Kenny Gainwell 58 in a loss to the Chiefs at the Linc. Before that in 1990 Fred Barnett had 55 yards and Calvin Williams 72 in a win over the Patriots at the Vet. Two rookie replacement players did it in a 1987 strike replacement game against the Cowboys, including Haverford High's Mike Siano, but last time it happened in a real road game was in 1973 with Charlie Young (112) and Don Zimmerman (51) in a loss to the 49ers at Candlestick Park.
Advertisement
2.Lemon now has 31 catches, 3rd-most among NFL rookies and only two fewer than rookie leader K.C. Concepcion of the Browns, who has 33. Germie Bernard of the Steelers has 32. Lemon is on pace for 65 catches, which would be 3rd-most in Eagles history by a rookie, behind Keith Jackson (81 in 1988) and Jordan Matthews (67 in 2014). With seven catches against Dallas and six against Washington, Lemon tied the franchise record of consecutive games by a rookie with six or more receptions. Seven others have done it, most recently Jeremy Maclin in 2009 and DeVonta Smith in 2021.
3.With his fourth sack on Sunday night, Jalen Carter now has 11 ½ in his career and moved into a tie for 7th-most career sacks by an Eagles interior lineman. He's just 1 ½ behind Javon Hargrave for sixth. The top five are Andy Harmon and Fletcher Cox (20 ½), Jerome Brown (19), Darwin Walker (17) and Kenny Clarke (16 ½). With his fourth sack Nolan Smith surpassed his total of 3.0 from all of last year and is now just 2 ½ sacks shy of his career high of 6 ½ in 2024, not including four more from the postseason.
OK, thus begins the reality section. Brace yourself. This is bad. Really bad.
4. The Eagles have had fewer than 350 yards of offense in all eight games so far this year, with a high of 341 at Tennessee. This is the first time in more than half a century they've opened a season with eight games under 350 net yards. Last time it happened was the first 11 games of the 1971 season, when their yardage high was 315 yards in a 37-14 loss to the Bengals in the season opener at Riverfront Stadium. Going back to last year, the Eagles have gone 10 straight games with fewer than 350 yards, their longest streak since an 11-gamer over the last nine games of 1977 and the first games of 1978. This is not good.
Advertisement
5.The Eagles have been outscored by 65 points through eight games, the most points they've been outscored by in their first eight games since 1998, when they were outscored by 117 points. You have to go back to 1972 to find the last time before 1998 they were outscored by this many points eight games into a season. The only NFL team outscored by a larger margin this year is the 0-8 Chargers, who have been outscored by 76 points. The Eagles have been outscored by 11 points by the 3-4 Panthers and by 17 points by the 2-4-1 Commanders and 3-5 Cowboys.
6.This is the first time since 1970 the Eagles have lost three games in a season by 11 or more points to teams with losing records. It's only the third season in franchise history they've lost two games by 17 or more points to teams with losing records. It also happened in 1972 and 2015. The only other time they lost back-to-back games by at least 17 points to losing teams came in 2015, when they lost 45-17 to the Bucs, who finished 6-10, and 45-14 to a Lions team that finished 7-9. Chip Kelly was fired four weeks later.
7.The Eagles led 10-0 Sunday before losing 27-10. Last time the Eagles led a game by 10 points in the first quarter and lost by at least 17 points was in 2011, when they took a 10-0 lead on the Patriots at the Linc on a LeSean McCoy touchdown and Alex Henery field goal before getting outscored 38-10 the rest of the game and losing 38-20, Tom Brady over Vince Young. This was the first game in franchise history where the Eagles led by 10 points in the first quarter and didn't score again.
8.With a 25-14 loss to the Panthers, 38-21 to the Cowboys and 27-10 to the Commanders, this is only the third time in the last 50 years the Eagles have lost three straight games by 11 or more points, allowing at least 25 points in all three. It also happened in 2012 and 2016. Last time the Eagles were outscored by 71 points in a six-game span was 2012.
Advertisement
9.Rasul Douglas's interception near the end of the game was the 23rd of his 10-year career with the Eagles, Panthers, Packers, Cards, Bills, Dolphins and Commanders. Douglas is one of only three Eagles drafted in the last 30 years with at least 23 career interceptions. The others are Sheldon Brown (26) and Jordan Poyer (25). Douglas, the Eagles' 3rd-round pick in 2017, is the first cornerback drafted by the Eagles to record an interception against the Eagles since Mark McMillian of the Chiefs picked off Rodney Peete in a 24-21 Chiefs win at the Vet in 1998.
10.The Eagles netted just 268 yards Sunday night, their fifth game during the six-game losing streak with fewer than 270 yards. They're averaging 244 yards per game during these last six games, their worst six-game span in 27 years, since they averaged 241 during a six-game span in 1999, Andy Reid's first season as head coach. This is the first time they've had five games under 270 yards in a six-game span since early in the 2003 season. No other NFL team has had five games under 270 yards this year. Their overall average of 265 yards per game is their worst through eight games since 1999, when they were averaging 254 through their eighth game.
