Eagles are 4th in yards per play differential

I was playing around with some numbers yesterday for my hierarchy post, and stumbled upon a fact that I thought was probably worthy of its own quick post.

The Eagles gain 6.2 yards per play this season, which is 2nd in the NFL behind only the Broncos. They allow 5.5 yards per play, which is tied for 18th in the NFL. The differential between yards per play gained and yards per play allowed is +0.7, which is 4th in the NFL. Here's the complete list:

Some notes:

• If you'll notice, the only three teams ahead of the Eagles are the Seahawks, Broncos, and Saints, who have a combined record of 32-7 (.821).

• The Cowboys have a yards per play differential of -0.7, which is tied for 2nd worst in the NFL, behind only the Jaguars. The reigning Super Bowl champion Ravens are also very bad in this metric, at -0.6.

• The top 7 teams on this list have a combined record of 66-25 (.725), while the bottom 7 have a combined record of 33-58 (.363). For the most part, if you're good in this metric, there's a good chance you're a good team, and vice versa. However, with any statistical metric, there are oddities. The Browns are 8th and the Texans are 10th. Of course, the Browns have a turnover differential of -7 and the Texans are -14. The oddity on the lower side of the above chart is the Chiefs, who have a 10-3 record, but are 8th worst in yards per play differential, at -0.4. The Chiefs lead the NFL in turnover differential, at +15. The moral of the story here... Turnovers are kind of a big deal.