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Compare last year's defense to this year's, look for continuity in attack, think about Wendell Smallwood's cap and much more in this week's edition of Random 10's Roob Eagles sightings!
1. Really interesting and revealing to compare the defense of the Eagles in 2017 after five games with this year's defense after five games. We will take a look:
The Eagles were 4-1 at this stage of last year and 2-3 now, but the defensive numbers are almost identical. The defense can play better, especially on the road, but in almost all categories, the numbers are consistent with last year's performance after five games.
What is the purpose of this? Just that perception that the defense stinks is not quite accurate. They had very bad times, mainly the first half against Tampa and the second half and overtime against the Titans, but they also showed signs of very good defense, limiting the Falcons to 12 points and 16-16. and the Vikings at age 16 and do it despite being middle or back pack in take-away meals and bags.
The defense is No. 7 in points allowed, No. 4 in the third, No. 6 in the red zone, No. 2 against the race and No. 5 in the first authorized tests. My impression is that it will be one of the best defenses of the league from here the middle of the season.
2 I do not think you can underestimate how the lack of continuity affected the offense. Nelson Agholor and Zach Ertz are the only skill players to have played on the offensive so far, and they are the only guys on the team with more than 12 shots. It was really chaotic, with back injuries and seemingly injured receivers each week, being released and re-signed, promoted from the training team, coming back from injury, joining the team. team, etc., then a quarter shift in the middle of it all. You hope that as things stabilize and that Alshon Jeffery settles and that Dallas Goedert continues to work and that Corey Clement becomes healthy again, the offensive will become more balanced, more coherent and more productive. . But it's hard to let off steam when you lose a guy every time you pick it up.
3 I am intrigued by what I see of Smallwood. He has always been productive enough, but he will never be able to stay healthy. Sometimes the biggest thing athletes learn is not how to improve, but how to stay healthy. In August, Smallwood told me that he had spent the off season learning to take better care of himself and that it was worth it. (see the story). He knew he would have no chance of being on the player list if he continued to hurt himself, and the kid was healthy throughout the pre-season and regular season. And productive. In the last three games, he averaged 6.8 yards in 18 carries and 10.4 yards in nine catches. He had 214 yards in just three assists in three games. Smallwood is only 24 years old. He has talent. I understand that he needs to improve on the blitz, and I'm sure of that. I do not know what its ceiling is, but based on what I've seen in recent weeks, I'm curious to know.
4 Ertz averages 8.2 shots per game. He has averaged 6.4 catches per game the rest of the year to break Jason Witten's record in a season of 110 taken by a tight end.
5 I think people blame Carson Wentz for the last two losses. Considering he did not have a pre-season, he did not have a training camp, he did not play football for nearly 10 months, he suffered a very serious injury he played at an extraordinary level. Yeah, you'd like to see better ball security, of course. But you would also like to see him get help from O-line. Among all the members of this team, how can you distinguish Wentz? In his three starts, he completed 67% of his passes, averaging 305 yards and five interceptions and one interception. Factor in drops, poor protection and not enough games running and it's hard to find a fault in Wentz's performance. He is getting better each week and he will continue to get better, and if you do not see it, I just can not help you.
6 The Eagles were 4-4 in 2015 after winning in Dallas and Sam Bradford's 41-yard overtime loss to Jordan Matthews. Since then, the teams coached by Chip Kelly are between 4 and 24 years old. That's 2-5 in his last seven games with the Eagles, 2-14 in his first year with the 49ers and 0-5 this year at UCLA.
7. That 's crazy: Kirk Cousins has had five straight games at Linc with a passer – by score of at least 100 and a completion percentage of at least 60%. No Eagles quarterback has ever done that at Linc.
8 The Eagles scored seven points in the first quarter this year. After five games last year, they had scored 41 points in the first quarter.
9 More Shelton Gibson, please? I do not understand why he did not play anymore. After an impressive training camp and pre-season? With a team corps that was not exactly consistent or productive? We barely see Gibson, then he plays nine clichés on Sunday, he is shot once and rolls in a 48-yard catch. For some reason, Nelson Agholor is not the same Nelson Agholor as last year. In the Viking game, Agholor made 52 strikes and was 45 yards. Gibson has played nine times and has 48 yards. Maybe Gibson can help a crime that we all agree is in need of a punch, a downstream threat. I can not hurt to try.
ten. Ertz played two games with 10 passes for 100 yards or more in the space of eight days. Jeremy Maclin and John Spagnola are the only other Eagles to have played two such games in their career.
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