For being tied with the best record in football, the Philadelphia Eagles certainly are under plenty of criticism these days. Consecutive blowout losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys have changed the narrative on how good the Eagles actually are, even if Philadelphia hangs on to win the NFC East (they’ll get at least the No. 2 seed if they win out).
This is still a football team that has won 24 of their last 30 regular season games and are 27-5 in their last 32 games with Jalen Hurts as the starting quarterback. The Eagles didn’t just suddenly become a bad football team, even if there are significant areas of concern as the league enters the home stretch of the season.
Even though the Eagles are 10-3 and still alive in the race for home-field advantage in the NFC, what are the issues that have kept them from playing at the level of the 49ers and Cowboys? Can any of these issues be corrected in the final four games? Here’s a look.
They can’t run the football
The Eagles are not a good running football team, which is very awkward considering they were the No. 1 running team in the NFL in the two seasons prior. Since Week 4, the Eagles are 27th in the NFL in yards per carry (3.8) and 31st in yards after contact per rush (2.32).
Philadelphia runs more shotgun than any team in the NFL and averages just 4.2 yards per carry out of shotgun, good for 26th in the NFL. When teams line up eight in the box, the Eagles average 1.5 yards per carry (29th in NFL). The explosive rushes (12+ yards) are at 6.1% (25th in NFL). Their tackles avoided per rush is at 12.7% (30th in NFL). All these numbers are since Week 4 of the season, when the rushing issues started.
The idea the Eagles are a good running team is a farce, certainly not based on the current season.
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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/whats-wrong-with-the-10-3-eagles-five-reasons-why-philadelphia-was-blown-out-by-top-nfc-teams/
Author : Jeff Kerr
Publish date : 2023-12-13 01:11:33
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