Four games in, what do we know about the Eagles’ offense?
It’s been at full strength for only one game, the opener against the Redskins. The Eagles have been without DeSean Jackson for three games, without Alshon Jeffery and Dallas Goedert essentially for two games.
They’ve struggled to score early points, continuing a trend from 2018. They’ve been up and down running the ball. They’ve been plagued at times by turnovers and dropped passes. They had some early inconsistency on the offensive line.
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Yet despite all of that, there’s a lot to be encouraged about.
Carson Wentz is off to a fine start with nine touchdowns and two interceptions despite playing shorthanded most of the season and up-and-down protection.
The Eagles have shown of late they can run the ball, with two backs who are growing more and more comfortable.
And the offensive line enjoyed its finest game of the year Thursday night in Green Bay, keeping Wentz clean and paving the way for 176 rushing yards in an upset win over the Packers.
NFL
Going into this year the expectation was really high,” Goedert said. “We were supposed to have a high-powered offense, and I don’t think we’ve been anywhere nearly as good as we can be, but I think we’re still doing a really good job and that just shows how effective we can be when we’re clicking on all cylinders.
Although there seems to be a sense out there that the Eagles’ offense has struggled, the numbers say otherwise.
Let’s take a look:
Points per game
The Eagles are averaging 27.5 offensive points per game, fifth most in the NFL, behind only the Ravens (33.8), Chiefs (32.0), 49ers (32.0) and Buccaneers (30.8) and tied with the Rams.
Third downs
With Dallas going 4 for 11 on third down in New Orleans Sunday night, the Eagles moved ahead of the Cowboys into the No. 1 spot in the NFL in third-down conversions at 56.1 percent. That’s the highest on record for the Eagles four games into a season (available stats go back to only 1991) and seventh highest by any NFL team after seven games during that 29-year span.
Touchdowns
The Eagles have scored 14 offensive touchdowns, and only the Ravens (17) and Chiefs (15) have scored more.
Points per drive
The Eagles are averaging 2.4 points per drive, fourth best in the NFL behind only the Ravens (3.1), Chiefs (3.1) and Cowboys (2.7).
Red zone scoring
The Eagles are seventh best in the NFL in the red zone, scoring touchdowns on 11 of 16 red zone drives (69 percent).
Three-and-outs
The Eagles have gone three-and-out on only five of 45 drives (11.1 percent), which is the fourth-lowest percentage in the NFL, behind only the Chiefs (4.8 percent), 49ers (5.6 percent) and Rams (10.6 percent).
Drive efficiency
The Eagles have scored an offensive touchdown on 14 of 45 drives (31 percent), fourth best in the league behind the Ravens (39 percent), Chiefs (36 percent) and Cowboys (35 percent). It’s also the Eagles’ highest figure after four games going back to at least 1983.
Second half scoring
The Eagles continue to start slowly, which isn’t ideal. But they are the second-highest-scoring second-half team in football with 16.5 points per game after halftime, fifth highest in franchise history after four games. Only the Rams (19.5) average more second-half points than the Eagles.
Time of possession
The Eagles are averaging 31:50 time of possession, seventh highest in the league.
Great balance
The Eagles have six players with at least 125 yards from scrimmage. No NFL team has more.
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