Eagles starting faster on offense is a positive trend

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Best wishes to our Eagles Evergreen GateKeeper (G.K. Brizer) as he goes under the knife for a non-emergency surgery. What he has observed so far (about a third of the way through the 2018 season if you anticipate an appearance in the playoffs) is an Eagles team which is still redefining itself amid a bunch of medical issues of its own.

The Eagles will need to put together a convincing run over the middle segment of the season to create significant advantage in win percentage over their NFC East rivals. At the moment they are all bunched up, with the exception of the New York Giants, who are sort of fading away:

REDSKINS    3-2
COWBOYS    3-3
EAGLES        3-3
GIANTS        1-5

The divisional stalemate could linger into early November. The Eagles’ next two games are against non-divisional opponents (Carolina and Jacksonville).

Looking around the rest of the conference, the NFC North is also bunched up nicely, with the Bears, Packers, Vikings and Lions all still within a game of each other in the standings. In the NFC South, the Saints are off to a hot 4-1 start, followed closely by Carolina at 3-2.  Tampa Bay and Atlanta are lingering with 2 wins apiece. In the NFC West, the L.A. Rams are so far the clear class of the league with a 6-0 record. Seattle is already 3 games behind them at 3-3.

The Birds are going to have to keep a trend going on offense: start fast and avoid playing from behind. As middle linebacker Jordan Hicks says, “The ability to go up and play with a lead is really good for our defense and the ability to attack the pass rush. It sets the tone.”

That’s the formula which as simple as it sounds is the key to establishing leadership in the NFC East going forward. When you can achieve that formula consistently despite all the personnel fluctuations we’re seeing due to injuries, you’re going to win your fair share of games. Save the dramatic miracle comebacks for the playoffs—right now, keep stacking on that offensive consistency. Give your defense a lead to work with.

Some individual passing and rushing stats through 6 games:

Passing

Player ATT COMP YDS COMP% YDS/ATT TD TD% INT INT% LONG SCK SCK/LOST RATE
158 108 1192 68.35 7.54 8 5.06 1 0.63 58 13 96 104.72
82 54 451 65.85 5.5 1 1.22 1 1.22 50 5 26 78.86
1 1 15 100 15 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 118.75

Rushing

Player ATT YDS YDS/ATT LNG TD
45 184 4.09 20 3
43 201 4.67 15 1
38 155 4.08 21 2
12 58 4.83 11 0
7 29 4.14 16 0
5 10 2 5 0
4 7 1.75 4 0
2 18 9 16 0
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