by Hollywood Sports
Sunday, Dec 31, 2023When the Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Seattle to play the Seahawks on Monday Night Football on December 18th, their 10-3 record at the time was belied by some historic numbers of underachievement.
Since 2000, there had been 107 teams to win at least 10 games after the first 14 weeks of the season — and the Eagles ranked 104th of those 107 teams with just a +21 net point differential. Philly’s defense was simply getting pounded. They had allowed 156 rushing Yards-Per-Game in their last four contests. Their weak secondary was giving up 260 passing YPG. Opponents are converting on 48.1% of their third-down opportunities — and the Eagles' sack rate of 6.3% on opponent third-down pass plays was last in the league. They were also allowing their opponents to score touchdowns on 70% of their trips inside the Red Zone.
Despite being road favorites in the field goal range, Philadelphia got upset in that game by a 20-17 score. We were on the Seahawks in that game with our 25* NFL Monday Night Football Game of the Year. As I concluded in handicapping the Eagles’ Super Bowl showdown with Kansas City, I considered their stout defensive numbers last season to be largely a product of their soft schedule. I wrote this after my deep dive on them for my preseason prep:
“How good was the Eagles defense actually last season? They ranked second in total defense last season by allowing only 301.5 total Yards-Per-Game — but I considered that unit overrated going into the Super Bowl which was one of the reasons we were Kansas City and the Over in that game. The Eagles benefited from a soft schedule and some fortunate breaks regarding injuries to opposing quarterbacks. They beat a 49ers team lacking a quarterback that could throw a forward pass in the second half of the NFC Championship Game. They caught Dallas without Dak Prescott for a game. They beat the New York Giants with Daniel Jones three times. The best quarterback that they may have beaten all season was Trevor Lawrence — or maybe Jared Goff — and both those games against Jacksonville and Detroit were in the first half of the season before both those teams made big second-half improvements. Now this Philly defense lost five starters in the offseason.”
In hindsight, the loss of those five starters has played a role in the decline in their defensive numbers. The loss of defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon should not be underestimated as well. And certainly playing the potent San Francisco offense in their out-of-divisional schedule along with quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, Tua Tagovailoa, and Kirk Cousins was an upgrade in terms of offensive competition.
Since that loss to the Seahawks, the Eagles held off the New York Giants by a 33-25 score before getting upset at home to Arizona in Gannon’s return to Lincoln Financial Field as the Cardinals head coach. The loss to Arizona has risked them winning the NFC East and hosting a playoff game in the wild-card round. They seem to have taken a step back.
But bettors should be careful in simply thinking the Eagles are overrated now. Perhaps they were overrated last season — but their playoff experience does leave them more battle-tested now. From that perspective, their eight victories decided by one-scoring possession may be the by-product of a veteran and confident team knowing their best performances need to take place in the postseason. Successful handicapping requires assessing numbers rather than teams — but Philadelphia may offer some intriguing opportunities in early 2024.
Best of luck — Frank.
Since 2000, there had been 107 teams to win at least 10 games after the first 14 weeks of the season — and the Eagles ranked 104th of those 107 teams with just a +21 net point differential. Philly’s defense was simply getting pounded. They had allowed 156 rushing Yards-Per-Game in their last four contests. Their weak secondary was giving up 260 passing YPG. Opponents are converting on 48.1% of their third-down opportunities — and the Eagles' sack rate of 6.3% on opponent third-down pass plays was last in the league. They were also allowing their opponents to score touchdowns on 70% of their trips inside the Red Zone.
Despite being road favorites in the field goal range, Philadelphia got upset in that game by a 20-17 score. We were on the Seahawks in that game with our 25* NFL Monday Night Football Game of the Year. As I concluded in handicapping the Eagles’ Super Bowl showdown with Kansas City, I considered their stout defensive numbers last season to be largely a product of their soft schedule. I wrote this after my deep dive on them for my preseason prep:
“How good was the Eagles defense actually last season? They ranked second in total defense last season by allowing only 301.5 total Yards-Per-Game — but I considered that unit overrated going into the Super Bowl which was one of the reasons we were Kansas City and the Over in that game. The Eagles benefited from a soft schedule and some fortunate breaks regarding injuries to opposing quarterbacks. They beat a 49ers team lacking a quarterback that could throw a forward pass in the second half of the NFC Championship Game. They caught Dallas without Dak Prescott for a game. They beat the New York Giants with Daniel Jones three times. The best quarterback that they may have beaten all season was Trevor Lawrence — or maybe Jared Goff — and both those games against Jacksonville and Detroit were in the first half of the season before both those teams made big second-half improvements. Now this Philly defense lost five starters in the offseason.”
In hindsight, the loss of those five starters has played a role in the decline in their defensive numbers. The loss of defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon should not be underestimated as well. And certainly playing the potent San Francisco offense in their out-of-divisional schedule along with quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, Tua Tagovailoa, and Kirk Cousins was an upgrade in terms of offensive competition.
Since that loss to the Seahawks, the Eagles held off the New York Giants by a 33-25 score before getting upset at home to Arizona in Gannon’s return to Lincoln Financial Field as the Cardinals head coach. The loss to Arizona has risked them winning the NFC East and hosting a playoff game in the wild-card round. They seem to have taken a step back.
But bettors should be careful in simply thinking the Eagles are overrated now. Perhaps they were overrated last season — but their playoff experience does leave them more battle-tested now. From that perspective, their eight victories decided by one-scoring possession may be the by-product of a veteran and confident team knowing their best performances need to take place in the postseason. Successful handicapping requires assessing numbers rather than teams — but Philadelphia may offer some intriguing opportunities in early 2024.
Best of luck — Frank.
