Eagles stats: Linval Joseph makes an immediate impact; Dallas Goedert’s absence felt at tight end

It took the Eagles just 11 weeks to match their win total of 2021 after a come-from-behind win over the Indianapolis Colts.

It wasn’t a pretty performance, but the team escaped Indy with its ninth win and now has a one-game lead on the rest of the conference and a two-game lead in the division.

Here’s what the stats say about the Eagles through 10 games:

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All roads lead to Christmas Eve?

Even though the Eagles are two games ahead of the Dallas Cowboys, advanced metrics give their rivals a better chance of winning the games that matter most.

FiveThirtyEight gives the Eagles a 13% chance of winning the Super Bowl, which ranks third. The two teams ahead of them? The Kansas City Chiefs (23%) and the Cowboys (16%). That’s right, even though Dallas has a worse record and lost to the Eagles with Cooper Rush under center, the Cowboys’ success with Dak Prescott back in the lineup allowed them to leapfrog the Eagles in most models.

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Football Outsiders’ defense-adjusted value over average supports this notion as well. The Eagles have fallen to fourth in the overall efficiency metric with their recent performances against struggling teams. The Cowboys are second behind only the Buffalo Bills.

The next few weeks will determine what is at stake when the Eagles travel to Dallas for a Christmas Eve showdown in Week 16, but it’s easy to see there being significant implications. The teams have nearly identical remaining strengths of schedule and a handful of division games left to play.

This matchup against the Prescott-led Cowboys could go a long way toward determining playoff seeding, the division crown, or possibly confidence if there is a third meeting in the postseason.

In the first game without Dallas Goedert in the lineup, the Eagles’ tight-end-by-committee approach did not produce very much. Jack Stoll led the Eagles’ tight ends in playing time, logging 81% of the team’s snaps against the Colts. Grant Calcaterra played 28% of the team’s snaps and Tyree Jackson played 13%.

Stoll was the only tight end targeted and finished with just one catch for 7 yards. By comparison, Goedert averaged five catches for 65.1 yards per game this season. It would be unfair to expect Stoll alone to put up those numbers, but the Eagles will need more out of the position.

It’s also important to note that each of the reserve tight ends committed a penalty during the game. Calcaterra had a costly holding penalty on the Eagles’ opening drive. Jackson was flagged for offensive pass interference the next drive and Stoll had a false start penalty on the punting unit.

Goedert was not only productive in the passing game and effective as a blocker in the running game, he gave the Eagles the ability to stay unpredictable in different personnel packages. The Eagles used a handful of three-tight-end sets without much success Sunday; those formations don’t pose as much of a threat in the air without Goedert on the field. With Stoll and Calcaterra, who has improved as a blocker but is still inexperienced, the Eagles also got worse in the running game out of 12 personnel.

Linval Joseph might need some ice packs after his first game in midnight green.

The 34-year-old nose tackle was on the field for 26 plays in his Eagles debut, 40% of the team’s defensive snaps. Joseph signed with the Eagles on Wednesday to help fill the role Jordan Davis vacated at the heart of the defensive line until the rookie out of Georgia recovers from a high ankle sprain.

Against the Colts, Joseph did just that. According to Pro Football Focus, Joseph was the Eagles’ highest-graded defensive player, earning an 87.9 for his performance.

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Joseph’s fellow newcomer Ndamukong Suh played 17 snaps and was credited with two pressures by PFF.

Robert Quinn, the third veteran lineman added at midseason, did not enjoy the same playing time. The 32-year-old played just 10 snaps against the Colts, although it’s worth mentioning that he had two pressures.

Speaking of Joseph’s contributions in the running game, the Eagles allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards for the first time since Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was close; the Colts gained 99 yards.

Colts star Jonathan Taylor ran for 84 yards on 22 carries, but the Eagles defense did a better job getting the Colts off schedule and into obvious passing situations.

A big part of the success can be traced back to Joseph. Even if his stats were modest coming out of the game, the return of a gap-stealing nose tackle at the center of the Eagles defense clearly restored the run defense to a passable level at the very least.

The Eagles offense was disjointed for most of Sunday’s win. The inability to sustain drives and get into a rhythm is apparent in Jalen Hurts’ time to throw.

Hurts got the ball out in 3.14 seconds on average against Indianapolis, which is his slowest time to throw of the season and the first time he has surpassed the three-second mark since last year.

It’s fair to say Hurts seemed a tick late on some throws against the Colts, but he overachieved according to Next Gen Stats. His completion percentage over expected (11.2) ranked fifth among starting quarterbacks going into Monday.