In Roob's Eagles Observations: Why DeSean Jackson is a legit Hall of Fame candidate
In Roob's Eagles Observations: Why DeSean Jackson is a legit Hall of Fame candidate originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Why DeSean Jackson is a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate, a fascinating Jalen Hurts stat and the fascinating Jason Kelce-Shane MacGowan connection.
It’s 49ers Week and Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Observations is in the house!
1. You might not immediately consider DeSean Jackson a legit Hall of Fame candidate. But I present you with one fact that truly puts his remarkable career into perspective: Jackson is one of only three players in NFL history to surpass 11,000 receiving yards while averaging over 17 yards per catch. The others are Hall of Famers Don Maynard and James Lofton, the one-time Eagle. We’re talking about one of the all-time greatest high-volume big-play receivers in NFL history. Jackson did one thing better than anybody who ever played the game, and that immediately makes him a Hall of Fame candidate. Nobody in the history of football had more 60-yard touchdowns. And to put 26 TDs of at least 60 yards in perspective, only 21 other players in history have had HALF that many. And 11 of those are in the Hall of Fame. When you’re ahead of Jerry on any list, you’re an all-timer. And Jackson did all this at 175 pounds. Nobody else in NFL history his size — 5-10, 175 pounds — had 11,000 receiving yards. Jackson’s critics will point out that he was never a 1st-team All-Pro and only made three Pro Bowls in 15 seasons. He was never on a Super Bowl team (although he gave the Eagles the lead in the fourth quarter of the 2008 NFC Championship Game with that 62-yard TD catch from Donovan McNabb). He never led the league in catches or yards, although he’s the only player in NFL history to lead the league in yards per catch four times – including in 2018 at 31 years old. And while several Philly beat writers had good relationships with Jackson, he wasn’t super media friendly, and unfortunately that matters when sports writers are voting. They hold grudges and they’re more likely to support guys who gave them interviews. That’s why T.O. didn’t get in until his third year. It’s wrong. But that’s the reality. But if you just break down the numbers, Jackson is in a class by himself. He’s the greatest deep-ball receiver in history. And when you’re the best at one thing in the history of football, you’re squarely in the Hall of Fame conversation.
2. The Eagles are 5-0 this year when they’ve been outgained by at least 98 yards. The entire rest of the league combined is 10-62 when they’ve been outgained by at least 98 yards. The Eagles are already the first team in NFL history to win five games in a season when they’ve been outgained by at least 98 yards (Patriots, second Washington game, Cowboys, Chiefs and Bills). They’re the only team in history that’s won four straight games when being outgained by 98 yards.
3. Jalen Carter’s 85 snaps against the Bills – 76 on defense and nine on special teams – are the most any Eagles defensive tackle has played since the NFL began tracking snap counts in 2012. It’s also the most snaps by any rookie interior lineman since Chris Jones played 95 (90 on defense, five on special teams) in the Patriots’ win over the Broncos in 2013. It was the most snaps by any Eagles defensive rookie since the last day of the 2016 season, when Doug Pederson played mainly backups against the Cowboys and Ed Reynolds of all people played 100 (83 and 17) and Eric Rowe 96 (86 and 10). What’s truly impressive about Carter's performance is that he left the game briefly in the middle of the second quarter when he hurt his left hand and played much of the game banged up. The other crazy thing is that as part of what’s really been a five-man rotation with Jordan Davis, Fletcher Cox, Milton Williams and Marlon Tuipulotu, Carter averaged 34.6 combined defensive and special teams snaps in his first nine NFL games. He more than doubled that Sunday. His previous career high was 55 total snaps against Dallas. He beat that by 30. A remarkable performance in a remarkable season.
4. Out of 64 starting offensive tackles last week, Jack Driscoll’s Pro Football Focus pass blocking grade of 79.0 was 14th-highest.
5. The Eagles haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher this year, although they’ll get quite a challenge Sunday from Christian McCaffrey, who’s averaging 85 rushing yards per game. And they’ll have to face him without Zach Cunningham and possibly without Fletcher Cox. Isiah Pacheco (89) and Josh Allen (81) are the only players who’ve rushed for even 60 yards against the Eagles. The last back to surpass 100 yards against the Eagles was Houston’s Dameon Pierce, who had 139 yards in Week 9 last year in the Eagles’ 29-17 win at NRG Stadium. So including postseason, the Eagles have gone 23 straight games without allowing a 100-yard rusher. That’s their longest streak since a 27-game streak over the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The last opposing back to rush for 100 yards at the Linc is Clyde Edwards-Helaire of the Chiefs, who had 102 yards in the Chiefs’ win early in 2021. The last year the Eagles didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher was 1991, when the most yards by an opposing back was Earnest Byner’s 95 in Washington’s 23-0 win in Week 5 at RFK.
6. With the Eagles-Seahawks game flexed to a Monday night, the Eagles will now have the maximum-allowable six prime-time games this year for just the third time. They also played six in 2010 (going 5-1) and 2015 (2-4). They’ve played at least four prime-time game every year since 2007 and 22 of the last 23 seasons. After the Seattle game, the Eagles will have played 104 prime-time games since 2001. Only the Cowboys – with 107 – will have played more.
7. The last Eagles 1st-round draft pick to record an interception while playing for the Eagles was defensive tackle Mike Patterson, who picked off Eli Manning in the Eagles’ 36-31 loss to the Giants on Nov. 9, 2008.
8. When two worlds collide: Shane MacGowan, the brilliant singer-songwriter from the legendary Irish band the Pogues, died Thursday, and his final tweet — his final public statement — was in response to Travis and Jason Kelce’s recent top-of-the-charts remake of the Pogues classic Fairytale of New York, co-written by MacGowan and Pogues co-founder Jem Finer. The Kelce brothers localized the lyrics and changed the title to “Fairytale of Philadelphia” for the second Philly Special charity album, “A Philly Special Christmas Special.” On Nov. 16, MacGowan tweeted out: “Tell them I’m knocked out." MacGowan's final tweet. Legends tweeting about legends. Jason Kelce said at his locker Thursday he was blown away that MacGowan tweeted his support of their version: “That’s just unbelievable. He was an incredible songwriter and an unbelievable singer. He didn’t have a conventionally great voice, but he was really an amazing singer. That tweet meant so much to me."
9. Remember how Britain Covey used to get clobbered at the end of his punt returns? Last year, how many times did we see Covey just absolutely flattened? Not just tackled but obliterated. He always popped right back up – tough kid – but you did worry about the toll those hits were taking. One interesting thing about Covey’s remarkable improvement this year into one of the NFL’s top punt returners is that you never see him taking those vicious hits anymore. Special teams coach Michael Clay said it’s all part of Covey’s development and ability to see the field better. “He's done a really good job preserving himself, like toward the sideline: ‘All right, I know I can't get any more, let me save a hit off myself right here. I understand, if I see two, split two, they can't hit me full frontal. They hit me on the side, it's not as impactful.’ And that's just getting used to the speed in the NFL. Second year you're going to get better at anything you do the more time you have into it. But I think Covey has done an unbelievable job regardless of avoiding those big hits.”
10. JALEN HURTS STAT OF THE WEEK: Last year, Hurts had 35 total touchdowns – 22 passing, 13 rushing – to tie Randall Cunningham’s franchise record for TDs in a season. Cunningham had 35 in 1990 – 30 passing, five rushing. Hurts already has 29 total TDs this year – 18 passing, 11 rushing. That puts him on pace for 27 passing and 17 rushing for 44 total. Only seven QBs have ever had 44 combined TDs in a season: Aaron Rodgers three times, Peyton Manning, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady and Drew Brees twice each and Josh Allen and Cam Newton once.
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