Eagles stats: Missed tackles, Jalen Hurts’ quick decision-making, Jordan Davis’ snap count
The speed with which passes were leaving the hands of Hurts was right around the NFL average this week.
The Eagles shook off the first-game jitters in time to escape Detroit with a season-opening win.
It wasn’t always pretty, especially for the defense. Even though it’s early yet, the advanced statistics can help paint the picture about the good, bad, and ugly of the season-opening win Sunday against the Lions.
Here are five numbers that tell the story:
15
Nick Sirianni’s approach to training camp turned out to be a double-edged sword. The decision not to run any live periods for the first- and second-team units all summer was certainly part of the reason the Eagles started the season as healthy as they did. It’s also part of the reason for the 15 missed tackles that Pro Football Focus charted from the Eagles defense against Detroit.
The transition from “thud” to live contact seemingly led to some poor tackling, particularly from the Eagles secondary. Avonte Maddox and C.J. Gardner-Johnson each missed three tackles, according to PFF. Maddox’s most notable whiff came in the third quarter when Lions quarterback Jared Goff scrambled to convert a third-and-7 in the red zone. Maddox squared up Goff in space, but the not-so-speedy quarterback juked him out to keep the drive alive with a 10-yard gain. The Lions scored three plays later.
Kyzir White, T.J. Edwards, and James Bradberry were also each credited with two missed tackles apiece.
2.75
Jalen Hurts got rid of the ball in 2.75 seconds on average Sunday, which is an encouraging sign for a coaching staff that wanted to see him make quicker decisions this season.
Hurts averaged 3.12 seconds to throw last season, according to Next Gen Stats, which was the longest time in the NFL. Some of that can be tied to Hurts’ tendency to extend plays with his legs, but it was also indicative of Hurts sometimes getting to throws a touch late. His time to throw Sunday was around the NFL average, ranking most closely to Matt Ryan, Derek Carr, and Dak Prescott.
» READ MORE: Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is dynamic in perhaps his most mature outing to beat the Lions
Hurts will need to continue the trend to prove it wasn’t just a blip, especially against defenses that challenge him to push the ball down the field with regularity, but it’s a step in the right direction.
32%
It doesn’t take advanced metrics to know that Jordan Davis was a difference-maker in an otherwise porous run defense on Sunday, but the numbers do back it up.
Davis led the team in PFF’s run-stop percentage at 14.3%, which tracks how often a defensive player tackles a running back for fewer yards than expected. Davis was credited with two tackles and got into the backfield or held his ground against double teams on multiple occasions as well.
» READ MORE: What we learned from Eagles-Lions: Jordan Davis needs to play more; pass rush lacks teeth
Davis played only 32% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps, though. Part of that can be explained by his role mostly being a nose tackle in an odd front, which the Eagles didn’t use often in the first quarter and eventually switched to after the Lions’ running game was rolling. Davis spent some time as a three-technique in an even front, but he’s limited to those two alignments, unlike smaller defensive tackles like Milton Williams and Marlon Tuipulotu, who can play from a handful of alignments. Both Williams and Tuipulotu logged more snaps than Davis as a result, but it’s important to note that Davis is the most talented out of that bunch.
72.83%
A.J. Brown carried the Eagles offense against the Lions.
» READ MORE: ‘Oh my God’: A.J. Brown’s historic Eagles debut meets the hype vs. Lions
More specifically, Brown accounted for 72.83% of the team’s completed air yards. It is the biggest share of deep receptions by any receiver in the NFL going into Monday night according to NGS. Brown’s historic performance in his debut with the Eagles edged out Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson for the biggest share of completed air yards by just over 2%.
32
Miles Sanders showed impressive balance and vision on a pivotal 24-yard run late in the fourth quarter, and the numbers reflected as much.
» READ MORE: Miles Sanders has ‘more in the tank.’ Will the Eagles hit the gas?
According to NGS, Sanders had 32 rushing yards over expectation, which ranked fifth in the league going into Monday night. The metric measures how many yards a ballcarrier gains over what his blocking opened up for him.