In Roob's Eagles Stats: A historic achievement for DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown
In Roob's Eagles Stats: A historic achievement for DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
We've got DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown on the brink of a historic feat, we've got an unprecedented achievement by Kelee Ringo and we've got an Eagles accomplishment they hadn't done vs. the Giants in 70 years.
The Eagles finally won a game and that means Roob's Eagles Stats isn't just about turnovers, penalties and blown leads.
1. Last year, DeVonta Smith had 95 catches for 1,196 yards and seven touchdowns and A.J. Brown had 88 catches for 1,496 yards and 11 TDs, and with two games left this year Smith has 78-for-1,036 and Brown has 101-for-1,394, and both have seven TDs. If Smith has two catches for 64 yards in the Eagles’ last two games, the Eagles will become the first team in NFL history with two wide receivers having consecutive seasons with at least 80 catches, 1,100 yards and seven touchdowns. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce both reached those milestones in 2020 and 2021, but no team has ever had two WRs reach those benchmarks in back-to-back years. In fact, only the Broncos and Packers have ever had multiple seasons in their entire season with two WRs hitting those plateaus – Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith in 2000, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker in 2013 and Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders in 2014 for the Broncos and Donald Driver and Javon Walker in 2004 and Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson in 2014 for the Packers. Until last year, only four Eagles in franchise history had 80 catches, 1,100 yards and seven TDs in a season – Irving Fryar in 1996, DeSean Jackson in 2013, Jeremy Maclin in 2014 and Zach Ertz in 2018. Now four will reach those benchmarks in two seasons.
2. Kelee Ringo became the youngest defensive player in Eagles history to start a game last week in Seattle. In the Giants game Monday, he became the youngest Eagle ever with an interception. Ringo, at 21 years, 181 days on Monday, was 18 days younger than rookie 25th-round pick Jim Parmer, who picked off Steelers quarterback Ray Evans in a 34-7 Eagles win at Forbes Field in 1948.
3. Kenny Gainwell has had 291, 245 and 297 rushing yards and 253, 169 and 168 receiving yards in his first three seasons. He’s only the fifth running back in NFL history drafted in the fifth round with at least 250 rushing yards and 150 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons. The others are Jim Kiick (1968-70), Mike Thomas (1975-77), Ron Springs (1979-81) and Jacquizz Rodgers (2011-13).
4. The Eagles this year are 7-2 in games decided by seven points or less – and the seven wins are the most one-possession wins in any season in franchise history (we used seven instead of eight because two-point conversions didn’t exist until 1994). The Eagles won six one-possession games nine times, most recently last year. The Eagles and Steelers share the most one-possession wins this year with seven and both have also lost twice. Since opening day 2022, the Eagles are an NFL-best 13-3 in one-possession games.
5. Jalen Hurts’ 32-yard completion to A.J. Brown on a 3rd-and-20 was the Eagles’ longest third-down conversion under Nick Sirianni. The Eagles’ last 3rd-down conversion of 20 or more yards came late in Doug Pederson’s final season, when Hurts threw a 32-yard touchdown to Quez Watkins on a 3rd-and-20 against the Cards in Glendale. The Eagles were 0-for-11 under Sirianni before Monday on 3rd-and-20 or longer, and since 2010 they were 4-for-94 before Hurts' conversion to Brown. The other conversions: A Michael Vick 34-yard run against the Giants on 3rd-and-20 in 2013, a 26-yard Mark Sanchez completion to Jordan Matthews on a 3rd-and-25 vs. Washington in 2014 and a Carson Wentz 55-yard pass to Jalen Reagor vs. Washington on opening day 2020 – Reagor’s first career game (and still his longest career reception).
6. Brown now has 2,890 yards in 32 games since joining the Eagles. That’s the 3rd-most yards in NFL history by a player in his first 32 games with any team. Odell Beckham Jr. had 3,114 in his first 32 games with the Giants from 2014 through 2016, and Justin Jefferson had 2,909 yards in his first 32 games with the Vikings from 2020 through 2022. Brown’s 2,890 yards are 323 more than anybody else in Eagles history has ever had in a 32-game span. From 1983 through 1985, Mike Quick had 2,557.
7. With 12 more rushing yards, D’Andre Swift will become the first Eagles 1,000-yard rusher that the Eagles didn’t draft since Ricky Watters in 1997. The last four – Miles Sanders last year, LeSean McCoy in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014, Brian Westbrook in 2006 and 2007 and Duce Staley in 1998, 1999 and 2000 – were all Eagles draft picks. The only other 1,000-yard rushers in Eagles history not drafted by the Eagles are Earnest Jackson in 1985 – he was a Chargers 8th-round draft pick in 1983 – and Herschel Walker in 1992.
8. One more touchdown either passing or rushing will give Jalen Hurts the Eagles’ record for most combined touchdowns in a season. Randall Cunningham had 35 in 1990 – 30 passing, five rushing – and Hurts tied him last year with 22 passing and 13 rushing. This year he has 20 passing and an NFL-record 15 rushing for 35. The only quarterback with more combined TDs this year is Josh Allen with 40 (27 passing, 13 rushing).
9. The Eagles have recorded first downs on 89 of 176 third downs since Week 3 for 50.56 percent. That’s the Eagles’ highest 3rd-down conversion success over a 13-game span since Stathead began tracking 3rd-down conversions in 1991. The previous high (within one season) was 49.7 percent from Week 2 through Week 9. It’s also the highest this year by any NFL team over a 13-game span. Overall, the Eagles are second in the league at 48.8 percent, trailing only the Bills, who’ve converted 49.2 percent of their third downs this year. That’s by far the highest in franchise history. The current team record for a full season is 45.9 percent last year, and before that 45.7 percent in 2021. So the three-highest 3rd-down conversion percentages in franchise history have been in Nick Sirianni’s three seasons as head coach.
10. Their 465 yards of offense Monday were the Eagles’ most against the Giants in 70 years, since they had 514 in a 30-7 win at Connie Mack Stadium in 1953. Bobby Thomason threw for 437 yards that day – at the time 4th-most in NFL history. Bobby Walston had 176 receiving yards – 5th-most in franchise history at the time, and three TDs. And Pete Pihos had 145 yards and two TDs.
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