In Roob's Eagles Stats, unearthing the positive from playoff loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The last thing you guys need right now is a truckload of negative stats a few days after the Eagles went down in flames against the Bucs.
So here’s the deal.
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In our final weekly installment of Roob’s Eagles Stats, we’re going to stick to all positive stats … until the very end. It wasn’t easy finding nine positive stats off a 31-15 wild-card loss, but we did it.
And then if you really are a glutton for punishment, check out the final graph for all the negative stuff!
1. The Eagles’ four sacks Sunday tied the franchise record for most sacks in a playoff game. The Eagles also had four against the Bucs in their 2000 wild-card game at the Linc (Hugh Douglas 2, Mike Caldwell and Hollis Thomas 1) and again against the Falcons in the 2004 NFC Championship Game at the Linc (Derrick Burgess 2, Javon Kearse 1, Thomas 1). It was the first time in Tom Brady’s last 50 games he’s been sacked four times in a game and matched the most sacks Brady has taken in his last 90 games.
2. OK, this is a reach, but I tried really hard to find a positive Jalen Hurts stat, and I wasn’t going to stop until I found one. Here’s what I came up with: With a combined age of 46 years, 105 days, Hurts and Kenny Gainwell are the 4th-youngest tandem in NFL history to connect on a postseason touchdown pass - and the 2nd-youngest since 1950. In 2019, Deshaun Watson (23, 113) and Keke Coutee (21, 356) were a combined 45 years, 14 days. The only other younger combinations came in the same Bills-Colts game at Memorial Stadium in 1948, when George Ratterman (22, 030) caught touchdowns from Bill Gompers (20, 267) and Bill O’Connor (22, 224).
2A. One more Hurts reach: With 258 passing yards, Hurts is the 2nd-youngest quarterback in NFL history to throw for 250 yards and at least one touchdown in a road playoff game. Hurts is 23 years, 162 days old, and Mark Sanchez was 23 years, 74 days when he threw for 257 yards and two TDs in the Jets’ loss to the Colts in the 2009 AFC Championship Game. Hurts also became the youngest Eagle to throw a postseason touchdown pass. He’s about seven months younger than Donovan McNabb was when he threw his first postseason TD – to Na Brown against the Bucs in the 2000 wild-card round. OK. Let's move on.
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3. Boston Scott’s 34-yard touchdown run was the 4th-longest TD run in Eagles postseason history behind two Brian Westbrook runs in 2006 – 62 yards vs. the Saints and 49 yards vs. the Giants – and Wilbert Montgomery’s iconic 42-yarder vs. the Cowboys in the 1980 NFC Championship Game. It was also the 4th-longest TD run in NFL postseason history by a player with just one carry in the game. James Lofton had a 71-yarder for the Packers against Dallas in 1982, Ahmad Merritt of the Bears scored from 47 yards out on a jet sweep against the Eagles in Chicago in 2001 and Tyreek Hill had a 36-yard TD for the Chiefs against the Colts in 2018. Scott’s TD is the longest ever by a running back with just one carry in a postseason game. Scott’s TD run was 4th-longest in Eagles history by a player with only one carry in any game behind Herman Hunter (74 yards vs. Cowboys in 1985), DeSean Jackson (67 yards vs. Washington in 2008) and Terry Hoage (38 yards vs. the Bucs in 1988).
4. Scott now has 14 career rushing touchdowns. His 235 career carries are 12th-fewest in NFL history among players with at least 14 rushing TDs and 3rd-fewest among all running backs in NFL history. Hank Bauer rushed for 17 TDs on 123 career carries for the Chargers from 1977 through 1982 and Bobby Jackson of the Chargers, Oilers and Raiders scored 14 TDs on just 185 career carries from 1962 through 1965. Scott now ranks 19th in Eagles history in rushing touchdowns but 39th in Eagles history in carries.
5. Dallas Goedert’s 92 yards Sunday are 4th-most ever by an Eagles tight end in the postseason. Keith Jackson had 142 yards in the Fog Bowl in Chicago in 1988 and 116 yards in the wild-card loss to Washington in 1990, and Zach Ertz had 93 yards against the Vikings in the 2017 NFC Championship Game. It’s the most receiving yards by any Eagle in a postseason game since Corey Clement’s 100-yard game in Super Bowl LII in 2017. Goedert also became the first tight end (and only the sixth Eagle in franchise history) with consecutive postseason games with at least 70 yards. Goedert had 73 yards against the Seahawks in 2019. Alshon Jeffery and Harold Carmichael each had three straight 70-yard postseason games. Maclin, Jackson, Reggie Brown and Goedert have had two in a row.
6. Kenny Gainwell’s 16-yard TD catch made him the 3rd-youngest Eagle in history to catch a postseason TD pass. Maclin was 21 years, 243 days when he caught a 76-yarder against the Cowboys from Michael Vick in his 142-yard game in 2009 and DeSean Jackson was 22 years, 48 days when he caught that 62-yarder from Donovan McNabb in Arizona in 2008. The previous youngest RB was Clement, who was 23 years, 94 days when he caught that miracle 22-yarder from Nick Foles in the Super Bowl. Gainwell’s five catches are tied for the 4th-most ever by an Eagles rookie in the postseason, behind Maclin vs. Dallas (7), Keith Jackson in the Fog Bowl (7) and DeSean Jackson in the 2008 NFC Championship Game (6). Clement also had five in the Super Bowl.
7. Ryan Kerrigan’s 1 ½ sacks made him only the fourth player in Eagles history with more than one sack in a playoff game. Hugh Douglas had 2.0 against Tampa in the 2000 wild-card game, Derrick Burgess had 2.0 against the Falcons in the 2004 NFC Championship Game and Darwin Walker had 2.0 against the Saints in the 2006 conference semifinals. So Kerrigan has more postseason performances as an Eagle with more than 1.0 sack than Reggie White. He also has more postseason sacks as an Eagle than Clyde Simmons, Seth Joyner, Fletcher Cox and Jerome Brown. Kerrigan and Alex Singleton both had no sacks during the regular season and at least one against the Bucs. Kerrigan, Singleton and Derek Barnett had more sacks Sunday (3.0) than in 48 combined games during the regular season (2.0). Incredibly, Singleton and Kerrigan are the sixth and seventh Eagles to record a postseason sack after a season in which they didn’t have any regular-season sacks. Byron Evans (1992), Hollis Thomas (2004), Keenan Clayton (2010), Rodney McLeod (2017) and Timmy Jernigan (2018) also did it.
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8. Singleton was credited with four tackles for loss Sunday in Tampa. That ties the 3rd-most tackles for loss by an Eagle player since Pro-Football-Reference began tracking them in 1999. Jeremiah Trotter had six in a game in 2001 against the Giants, Trent Cole had five against the Vikings in 2007, and Cole and Brandon Graham had four apiece, Cole in Atlanta in 2011 and B.G. in 2015 against the Giants. The last NFL player credited with four TFL in a playoff game was Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards in a game against the Saints in 2009. Singleton’s four equal the most on record in a playoff game. Singleton is the only player in the last 23 years in a regular-season game or playoff game with 16 tackles, a sack and four tackles for loss.
9. The Eagles on Sunday held the Bucs’ offense to their 2nd-fewest yards per play (4.8), 4th-fewest total yards (349), 2nd-lowest 3rd-down conversion percentage (31 percent) and 5th-lowest rushing average (3.4) this year and also tied for the most sacks this year against the Bucs (four).
10. And here’s the handful of negative stats I warned you about: The Eagles have one INT in their last five postseason games (Cre’Von LeBlanc off Drew Brees) … Tom Brady completed 78.4 percent of his passes Sunday, highest ever in a playoff game against the Eagles. Kurt Warner completed 75 percent in the 2008 NFC Championship Game … The Eagles have scored 16 or fewer points in four straight postseason games (16 vs. Bears, 14 vs. Saints in 2018, 9 vs. Seahawks in 2019, 15 vs. Bucs Sunday). That’s the 7th-longest streak in NFL postseason history … The Eagles had 17 rushing attempts Sunday. In franchise history, when they run the ball 22 or fewer times in a playoff game, they’re 0-16. When they run 23 or more times they’re 23-8 … The Eagles were minus-3 in turnover margin, and they’re now 14-137-3 in franchise history when they’re minus-3 or worse. In NFL postseason history, teams that are minus-3 or worse are 11-166 … The Bucs’ 31-point lead through three quarters is the largest by any team in the postseason since 2014, when the Colts led Brady and the Patriots by 31 points (38-7) in Foxboro … The Eagles allowed two 1st-quarter rushing touchdowns Sunday after allowing just two 1st-quarter rushing TDs in their previous 36 playoff games.
