Typically, the games that generate the most interesting statistics are the highest scoring games. The more points, the more stats.
But when it comes to the Eagles and Chiefs, when the Eagles are recovering from a double-digit deficit, when Patrick Mahomes is uncharacteristically ineffective, there’s certainly no shortage of stats.
So here’s our Week 11 edition of Roob’s Eagles Stats, with a look at turnover margin, first quarter points, Jalen Hurts rushing touchdowns and the rarity of beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead after trailing by double digits at halftime are.
1. The Chiefs’ longest pass on Monday night went for 17 yards. It was the first time in 190 games that Andy Reid coached the Chiefs that they didn’t have a pass play of at least 18 yards. The last time they didn’t have an 18-yard reception was on the final day of the 2012 season in a 38-3 loss to the Broncos in Denver – the Chiefs’ last game Reid didn’t coach. Their longest reception of the day was a 16-yarder from Brady Quinn to tight end Tony Moeaki. The Chiefs’ longest catch of the game by a wide receiver was just six yards – to Devon Wylie. Their wide receivers coach was Nick Sirianni.
2. Patrick Mahomes threw 43 passes for just 177 yards on Monday night. Those 4.1 yards per pass attempt are by far the lowest of his career. His previous low was 4.5 yards in a win over the Packers in 2021 (37 attempts, 166 yards). That 4.1 rating is the lowest by a Chiefs QB in 12 years, as Matt Cassel threw 28 times for 93 yards and 3.3 yards per attempt in a 17-10 loss to the Broncos in 2011. In Eagles history, only two other opposing quarterbacks have thrown 40 or more passes for 180 or fewer yards: Matt Robinson of the Broncos in the opening game of 1980 (41 attempts, 178 yards) and Jay Cutler of the Bears in 2009 (43 attempts, 171 yards).
3. Jalen Hurts’ two rushing touchdowns against the Chiefs gave him 10 career games with multiple rushing touchdowns, tying Cam Newton for the most ever by a quarterback. Hurts now has 35 career rushing TDs, tied with Randall Cunningham and Steve Grogan for 11th all-time by a quarterback. He now ranks fifth in Eagles history, behind Steve Van Buren (69), Wilbert Montgomery (45), LeSean McCoy (44) and Brian Westbrook (37). Hurts and Van Buren are the only Eagles with three seasons of nine or more rushing TDs. Hurts’ 32 TDs since Opening Day 2021 are the most in the NFL, three more than Austin Ekeler.
4. The Eagles gained 98 yards in Washington, 114 yards against the Cowboys and again by 98 yards against the Chiefs on Monday night, winning all three games. They are the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive games in the same season despite having a gain of at least 98 yards in all three games. The Saints lost three games in a row, but they were the last two games of 1990 and the opener of 1991. Including the opening game in New England, where the Eagles won despite a 131-yard margin, the Eagles are the first team to do so since the Colts 2015, which won four games in a season in which they gained at least 98 yards. This is the second-highest total in NFL history. The 1984 Broncos won five such games. The last team to go 4-0 or better in games in which they had a margin of 98 or more yards in a season was the 2000 Ravens. So far this year, teams other than the Eagles are 12-69 when gaining at least 98 yards. So the Eagles have 20 percent of the league-wide wins by teams giving up 98 more yards than they gain. The Eagles hadn’t even won two games in a row in the same season when they had a 98-yard margin since 1988. Overall, the Eagles are 3-0 in their last three games despite gaining 310 yards. Their biggest previous difference in yardage came in three straight wins in 1974, when they defeated the Cowboys, Colts and Chargers despite winning by 215 yards.
5. The Eagles have scored points in the first quarter in all 10 games this year. This marks the first time in franchise history that they have scored points in the first quarter of their first ten games and the first time that they have scored first quarter points in ten consecutive games at any point in a season. They scored twice in the first quarter in 11 consecutive games over two seasons – in the 1943 and 1944 seasons and again in last year’s regular season finale and in this year’s 10 games. The interesting thing is that the Eagles actually scored fewer points in the first quarter – 63 – than in any other quarter. They scored 68 in the second game, 72 in the third and 67 in the fourth game (and three in overtime).
6. This was the first game since sacks became an official statistic in 1982 that the Eagles won despite allowing five sacks and producing fewer than 240 yards of total offense. In fact, teams that have allowed five sacks and gained fewer than 240 yards are 11-for-158 league-wide since 2013.
7. The last time the Eagles won a road game after trailing by double digits at halftime was in Week 2 of the 2014 season against the Colts in Indianapolis. They trailed 17-6 at halftime and won 30-27 on a field goal by Cody Parkey against his former team in his second career game with 0:00 left. Nick Foles threw for 331 yards and Darren Sproles had a career-high 152 receiving yards in that game. Before Monday night, the Chiefs were 62-6 under Andy Reid and led by double digits at halftime. The Chiefs had also won 18 straight games when they scored the first goal. The Eagles are 11-2 in their last 13 games in which they have not scored the first goal.
8th. With their ninth win of the season, the Eagles set a winning record that year, and Nick Sirianni became the second coach in franchise history to set a winning record in each of his first three seasons. The first? That would be Jim Trimble, whose teams were 7-5 in 1952, 7-4-1 in 1953 and 7-4-1 in 1954. After the Eagles went 4-7-1 in 1955, Trimble was fired.
9. With their plus-one on Monday night, the Eagles have now won 22 straight games in which they had a turnover margin of plus-one or better. Their last loss was against the Chiefs in 2021, when they lost 42:30 despite being plus one. Over the same period, they are 11-11 when they are at zero or worse. After six straight games in which they were plus-zero or worse – the Rams until the second Washington game – the Eagles had a positive turnover margin in consecutive games for the first time since the first two weeks of the season. In 2017, the Eagles are 46-3 when they were plus-one or better. This is their longest winning streak with a positive turnover margin since they won 41 straight from 1944 to 1951.
10. D’Andre Swift is on pace with 1,173 rushing yards and 56 receptions. The only Eagles running backs to have 1,100 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards in a season are Ricky Watters in 1995 and 1996, Brian Westbrook in 2006 and 2007, and LeSean McCoy in 2013.