Eagles vs. Cowboys II: Behind the Numbers 2013

PLAYOFFS BABY! The Eagles did what they had to do, and won the NFC East crown thanks to a 24-22 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Though Kyle Orton was in for Tony Romo, the 'Boys still put up a fight and had a chance until the final drive. It was a close game throughout, but what do the numbers show?

Pretty even stats here, as the final score would indicate. The Eagles actually ran 2 more plays than the Cowboys, but gained about 50 yards less overall, and gained an entire yard less on average. This is unlike most Eagles wins this year, but they did win the turnover battle in this game (only 1 to 3 for Dallas) leading to 10 points. They also performed better on third downs, converting 38% of their chances to only 27 for Dallas. Surprisingly, Dallas gained nearly 100 more yards through the air with Kyle Orton under center, showing they were not afraid to test the Eagles' secondary. LeSean McCoy and the Eagles rushing game answered right back though, outrushing the Cowboys 137-59. And it's not like Dallas shot themselves in the foot with penalties: their only one went for 5 yards and was due to a clock malfunction. In the end, the Eagles were just the better team and they came out on top in the only stat that truly matters. The Philadelphia Eagles will live to play another week, and the Dallas Cowboys will be watching the playoffs from their couches... again.

Eagles vs. Cowboys: Behind the Numbers 2013

I was both surprised and not surprised by the result of the first highly anticipated matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles lost 17-3; that wasn't the surprise. How they lost however, was a shocker to me. The defense played great (exceptional maybe? No, probably not) and the offense, led by Nick "I don't know how to pass" Foles downright STUNK. I can already tell you that the numbers will agree with me, so let's dive right in!

As I presumed, very few surprises here. Despite running the same number of plays (75), the Eagles fared much worse than the Dallas Cowboys. They totaled about 100 less yards (even with garbage time), and averaged more than a yard less per gain. They were out passed. They had less first downs (but somehow only 3 less). They converted less 3rd downs. And yet they still out ran the Cowboys, even though LeSean McCoy had his worst game of the year. Speaking of worst games of the year, this match-up was the lowest offensive output from the Birds; in score, net yards, average gain, rushing yards, and third down conversions they all had season lows. Unfortunately the Eagles were unable to overcome a fairly clean game (until Matt Barkley went into desperation mode), as they only recorded 5 penalties vs. 12 for Dallas and managed their only 3 points off of 2 turnovers (1 ended the first half). Just a glance at the offensive numbers, and it's clear why the score was 17-3.

Eagles vs. Chiefs: Behind the Numbers 2013

It was almost a year since Andy Reid won a game at Lincoln Financial Field; too bad this time it was as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs! The Eagles were handed their 8th straight home loss, and their second straight of the 2013 season dropping them to 1-2. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why the Birds lost this game, but let's take a look to see if they numbers confirm or deny. Spoiler alert! They confirm:

Honestly, there aren't too many huge discrepancies here. The Eagles only lost the game by 10, but it felt like much more than that based on how poorly they played. Want proof? Fix your eyes on the final two stats: Turnovers and Points Off Turnovers. While the first two games were played fairly clean (2 turnovers) by the Eagles, they more than made up for that against the Chiefs (and are now even in takeaways/giveaways). Michael Vick looked like he forgot how to make good decisions. Simple things like catching a punt and snapping the ball could not be done. In total, the Eagles turned the ball over to the Chiefs 5 times, who scored (luckily only) 13 points as a result. Philadelphia didn't help their cause early on, as 2 of their turnovers put them in a 10-0 hole before 5 minutes were off the 1st quarter game clock. Hmm, seems like those 10 points really helped out Kansas City, considering THEY WON BY 10 POINTS. Without that help, who knows how this game would have ended. Other stats to take note of: the Eagles are obviously better running more plays on offense, but this was the second game where they lost that battle (77-63); when they do run plays, they have an excellent average gain (6.8) and can clearly run the ball (260 yards vs 147); penalties have been pretty good this year; and third down percent was sub par this game (30%).

Eagles vs. Redskins: Behind the Numbers 2013

Well, one way for the Eagles to sucker me in to doing another season of Behind the Numbers is to start the year with a excellent win over the Washington Redskins (even though they started last year 2-0). If you don't know what Behind the Numbers is already, check out last year's installments by clicking the tag below this post. Without further ado, let's start the first entry of the 2013 season:

Right off the bat, I'll let everyone know that I added a new category this year: Points Off Turnovers. I felt like this was an important stat to keep track of; obviously turnovers are a huge indication of the quality of a team, but if the other team can't capitalize on said turnovers then it doesn't matter as much. Right? Right. Let's analyze! 

The first thing that sticks out is obviously the discrepancy in rushing yards. The Eagles amassed a ridiculous 263 yards on the ground, to just 74 for the Redskins (yes, even with RG3 and Alfred Morris). This is partly due to the Eagles building a 26-7 lead by halftime, but mainly due to the absurd running skills displayed by LeSean McCoy. Did you see those cuts and jukes? Holy crap, he made the Redskins defense look like a high school team, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Moving away from the run game, the Eagles came out on top for offensive plays, net yards, average gain (which matched McCoy's), first downs, third down conversions, and points off turnovers. They even did better than the 'Skins in the "bad" categories: penalties (8 vs 10), penalty yards (75 vs 65), and turnovers (2 vs 3). The only advantage that Washington had? Passing yards, which makes sense given that the Redskins tried to overcome a huge 26 point deficit. I was most impressed with the Birds 3rd down conversions, which at 47% is a huge improvement from last year's average (37%).  More after the jump!

Eagles vs. Buccaneers: Behind the Numbers

Woah, was that a win last week by the Eagles? I had forgotten what that felt like! A beautiful final drive led by Nick Foles allowed the Eagles to come out on top on the last play of the game. Do the numbers support the final score?



Pretty evenly matched teams here, with the Eagles having a slight edge in final score, plays, total yards, average gain, first downs, and 3rd down %. They also fared much better in the penalty department, committing only 2 penalties for 13 yards; the Buccaneers had 8 for 60 yards. Nick Foles definitely had his best offensive game of the year, and that was reflected in the Birds domination over the Bucs in the passing department. On the flip side, the Eagles run game was abysmal against the top ranked rushing defense of the Buccaneers, and I'm sure Bryce Brown had a wake up call. Oh, and of course the Eagles lost the turnover battle!

Eagles vs. Cardinals: Behind the Numbers

Well, there's not much to say about this one. Not much was done right by the Eagles, who handily lost yesterday against the Arizona Cardinals 27-6. So in a way, I guess I was right last week when I predicted a blow out; I just had the wrong team winning! Anyway, on to the numbers.

 

The first thing that stands out here, aside from the score, is how even both the Eagles and Cardinals were in the key categories. Oh, and the turnovers again. Based on the 9 stats in the middle of the graph, the 27-6 score doesn't make much sense. In fact, based on those stats, the Eagles should have won: they gained more net yards, had more rushing yards, and gained more yards per play. Passing yards were only +5 in favor of the Cardinals, first downs were even, the Cardinals fared slightly better on 3rd down conversions. Penalties for the Birds were actually manageable, only committing 5 for 65 yards; this is still something to be improved upon. However all of this is moot once we get to the turnovers. In the previous 2 weeks the Eagles gave the ball up 9 times, but they capitalized on the 6 takeaways by the defense. This week they weren't so lucky, as Kevin Kolb and the Cardinals protected the ball for the whole game which never gave the Eagles a chance to pick up momentum. Turnovers, to me, were the reason the Eagles lost this game; their sloppy play finally caught up to them.