Sooooo...where was this team through the first 12 games of the season? The Philadelphia Eagles, whom were pre-season NFC East favorites, with some even predicting they'd make the Super Bowl, capped off a four-game winning streak to end the season 8-8 with a 34-10 win over Washington on Sunday.
The Eagles have outscored their past four opponents (Miami, the Jets, Dallas and Washington) by the score of 125-46 (average of 31.3 - 11.5). The Eagles finish the year 8-8 to finish 2nd in the NFC East. Dallas finished with an identical record, but were swept by the Eagles in the season series. The New York Giants, whom the Eagles split their two games with, finished 9-7, one game ahead of Philadelphia.
The sad thing about the Eagles' season is that they had the numbers and the opportunities. They only have themselves to blame due to penalties, turnovers and poor playcalling. Philly led Atlanta by 10 in the 4th quarter before relinquishing the lead. They led the Giants going to the 4th quarter in their first of two meetings only to lose. They were dominating San Francisco before losing the lead in the 4th quarter once again. The Giants game wasn't as bad, as Vick got hurt and the game was very close throughout. Philly looked to be in control against both Atlanta and San Francisco, however, and had no business losing either of those games. If they had come through with just one, they would have taken the NFC East crown, since they held the tie-breaker advantage over New York, going 5-1 in division play. That's right, the Eagles were 5-1 in-division and 3-7 out-of-division. Go figure, right? Also, Philadelphia finished the season ranked 9th in passing offense (256.9 yards per game), 5th in rushing offense (142.3 yards per game), 10th in passing defense (212.3 yards per game) and 16th in rushing defense (112.6 yards per game). The defensive numbers, especially on the rushing end, improved significantly as the season progressed and the offensive numbers held pretty steady.
Quarterback Michael Vick had an up-and-down here, largely due to injuries. He suffered a concussion in the team's 2nd game of the season against Atlanta, a sprained non-throwing hand in the team's 3rd game, this coming against the Giants and broken ribs against Arizona later in the year. After coming back from the broken-ribs injury, however, Vick was sharp. In the team's final three games, he completed 57 of 93 pass attempts (61.3%) for 902 yards (300.7 per, and an average of 9.7 per attempt), 6 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions. His quarterback ratings for the three games were all over 100.0 - 107.0, 107.9 and 104.1. Keep in mind that Vick started 13 games this year, but rankings wise, he was 19th of 34 quarterbacks in completion percentage at 59.8%. He was 17th of 40 quarterbacks in passing yards with 3,303. He ranked 11th of 34 in yards per attempt at 7.81. He was 15th of 40 in touchdown passes with 18. He ranked 25th among 40 quarterbacks in sacks with 23. He was 14th out of 34 in quarterback rating at 84.9. Lastly, he ranked 11th out of 34 in passing yards per game averaging 254 a contest. So, on average, he ranked about 16th out of 37 quarterbacks in passing categories, so in the top 2/5. He also ranked 35th in rushing yards 589 and led the league in yards per rush at 7.8. Considering he was banged up for most of the year, he put up decent numbers overall. As a full-time starter, Vick posted his second best completion percentage (62.6% last year), his best season in terms of passing yards, 2nd best with regard to yards per attempt (8.11 last year), 3rd best season in touchdown passes (20 in 2006 and 21 last year) and 2nd best quarterback rating (100.2 last year). Hopefully he can pick up next year where he left off this one. Elsewhere, stud tailback LeSean McCoy was 4th in the league with 1,309 rushing yards (sat out the last game), 17th in yards per carry (4.8), 1st in touchdown runs with 17 and 5th in rushing yards per game with 87.3. Receiving wise, 11 players caught at least one pass during the course of the season, with 5 catching at least 48 passes: DeSean Jackson (58), Jeremy Maclin (63), Brent Celek (62), Jason Avant (52) and LeSean McCoy (48). Seven receivers were worthy of at least 315 yards, the before-mentioned six along with Riley Cooper. Yardage wise, Jackson led the way with 961, Maclin with 859, Celek with 811 and Avant with 679. While Jackson and Maclin's numbers were perhaps not as grand as they had hoped, Vick built a very solid chemistry with tight end Brent Celek the two had lacked last season. The same can be said of Jason Avant as well. Defensively, it was all about Jason Babin. The newly-acquired defensive lineman was responsible for 18.0 sacks, which ranked him 3rd in all the NFL, 1.5 behind DeMarcus Ware of Dallas and 4.0 behind Jared Allen of Minnesota.
Of course, in the end, this season has to be seen as a disappointment for the Eagles, but there are reasons for optimism going into next season. McCoy was solid all year. Vick improved as he healed and the season progresed. Brent Celek and Jason Avant became nice compliments to DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. The offensive line protected Vick better as the season moved forward and the team was able to utilize the play-action better, largely due to this improved protection. Perhaps most importantly, the defense improved by leaps and bounds from early to late in the season, both in the passing and running games. With the lockout and all, it what may very well have occurred was with so many off-season acquisitions, it took a good deal of time for the team to gel with one another and the coaching staff. Unfortunately, it all didn't come together until the last 1/4 of the season. Bigger and better things can and should be expected for the 2012-2013 season, though.
The Eagles have outscored their past four opponents (Miami, the Jets, Dallas and Washington) by the score of 125-46 (average of 31.3 - 11.5). The Eagles finish the year 8-8 to finish 2nd in the NFC East. Dallas finished with an identical record, but were swept by the Eagles in the season series. The New York Giants, whom the Eagles split their two games with, finished 9-7, one game ahead of Philadelphia.
The sad thing about the Eagles' season is that they had the numbers and the opportunities. They only have themselves to blame due to penalties, turnovers and poor playcalling. Philly led Atlanta by 10 in the 4th quarter before relinquishing the lead. They led the Giants going to the 4th quarter in their first of two meetings only to lose. They were dominating San Francisco before losing the lead in the 4th quarter once again. The Giants game wasn't as bad, as Vick got hurt and the game was very close throughout. Philly looked to be in control against both Atlanta and San Francisco, however, and had no business losing either of those games. If they had come through with just one, they would have taken the NFC East crown, since they held the tie-breaker advantage over New York, going 5-1 in division play. That's right, the Eagles were 5-1 in-division and 3-7 out-of-division. Go figure, right? Also, Philadelphia finished the season ranked 9th in passing offense (256.9 yards per game), 5th in rushing offense (142.3 yards per game), 10th in passing defense (212.3 yards per game) and 16th in rushing defense (112.6 yards per game). The defensive numbers, especially on the rushing end, improved significantly as the season progressed and the offensive numbers held pretty steady.
Quarterback Michael Vick had an up-and-down here, largely due to injuries. He suffered a concussion in the team's 2nd game of the season against Atlanta, a sprained non-throwing hand in the team's 3rd game, this coming against the Giants and broken ribs against Arizona later in the year. After coming back from the broken-ribs injury, however, Vick was sharp. In the team's final three games, he completed 57 of 93 pass attempts (61.3%) for 902 yards (300.7 per, and an average of 9.7 per attempt), 6 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions. His quarterback ratings for the three games were all over 100.0 - 107.0, 107.9 and 104.1. Keep in mind that Vick started 13 games this year, but rankings wise, he was 19th of 34 quarterbacks in completion percentage at 59.8%. He was 17th of 40 quarterbacks in passing yards with 3,303. He ranked 11th of 34 in yards per attempt at 7.81. He was 15th of 40 in touchdown passes with 18. He ranked 25th among 40 quarterbacks in sacks with 23. He was 14th out of 34 in quarterback rating at 84.9. Lastly, he ranked 11th out of 34 in passing yards per game averaging 254 a contest. So, on average, he ranked about 16th out of 37 quarterbacks in passing categories, so in the top 2/5. He also ranked 35th in rushing yards 589 and led the league in yards per rush at 7.8. Considering he was banged up for most of the year, he put up decent numbers overall. As a full-time starter, Vick posted his second best completion percentage (62.6% last year), his best season in terms of passing yards, 2nd best with regard to yards per attempt (8.11 last year), 3rd best season in touchdown passes (20 in 2006 and 21 last year) and 2nd best quarterback rating (100.2 last year). Hopefully he can pick up next year where he left off this one. Elsewhere, stud tailback LeSean McCoy was 4th in the league with 1,309 rushing yards (sat out the last game), 17th in yards per carry (4.8), 1st in touchdown runs with 17 and 5th in rushing yards per game with 87.3. Receiving wise, 11 players caught at least one pass during the course of the season, with 5 catching at least 48 passes: DeSean Jackson (58), Jeremy Maclin (63), Brent Celek (62), Jason Avant (52) and LeSean McCoy (48). Seven receivers were worthy of at least 315 yards, the before-mentioned six along with Riley Cooper. Yardage wise, Jackson led the way with 961, Maclin with 859, Celek with 811 and Avant with 679. While Jackson and Maclin's numbers were perhaps not as grand as they had hoped, Vick built a very solid chemistry with tight end Brent Celek the two had lacked last season. The same can be said of Jason Avant as well. Defensively, it was all about Jason Babin. The newly-acquired defensive lineman was responsible for 18.0 sacks, which ranked him 3rd in all the NFL, 1.5 behind DeMarcus Ware of Dallas and 4.0 behind Jared Allen of Minnesota.
Of course, in the end, this season has to be seen as a disappointment for the Eagles, but there are reasons for optimism going into next season. McCoy was solid all year. Vick improved as he healed and the season progresed. Brent Celek and Jason Avant became nice compliments to DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. The offensive line protected Vick better as the season moved forward and the team was able to utilize the play-action better, largely due to this improved protection. Perhaps most importantly, the defense improved by leaps and bounds from early to late in the season, both in the passing and running games. With the lockout and all, it what may very well have occurred was with so many off-season acquisitions, it took a good deal of time for the team to gel with one another and the coaching staff. Unfortunately, it all didn't come together until the last 1/4 of the season. Bigger and better things can and should be expected for the 2012-2013 season, though.
Comments
Post a Comment