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The beginning of every season gives some humorous statistical anomalies. I particularly enjoyed this one:
Jalen Mills is currently on pace to be targeted 240 times this season. Also to give up 160 catches and 1,728 yards. That would be bad.
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) September 13, 2017
“That would be bad.” Thank’s,,, PFF. If you prorate that over 16 games, Mills would set the NFL record with 16 interceptions. Left that one out.
Prorating one game to a full season can be silly. No one expects Matthew Stafford or Alex Smith to throw 64 touchdowns, or Andy Dalton to throw 64 interceptions, though that seems slightly more plausible. Nor do we expect Kareem Hunt to demolish the single season rushing record with 2,368 yards, or Adam Thielen to catch 144 passes. Players have great games, bad games and quirky games. That’s part of the fun of sports.
That got me thinking, what are some of the quirkiest games in Eagles history? Isolating a single game by a defender from years past is basically impossible because there are fewer individual defensive statistics, most individual defensive weren’t officially recorded for decades (sacks didn’t become an official stat until 1982, so we’ll never truly know if Norm “Wild Man” Willey had the 17 sacks in one game that he claims), and individual defensive statistics are all positive: for example tackles get recorded, broken tackles do not. But we can easily find weird offensive games, both good and bad.
Receiving
19 players have had 21 games in which they caught just one pass for negative yardage while gaining no yardage as a runner.
| Date | Opp | Result | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reggie Singletary | 12/13/1987 | MIA | L 10-28 | 1 | -11 | -11 | ||
| Bob Gaona | 10/13/1957 | @ | CLE | L 7-24 | 1 | -9 | -9 | |
| Kenjon Barner | 12/26/2015 | WAS | L 24-38 | 3 | 1 | -7 | -7 | |
| Dick Bielski | 10/13/1957 | @ | CLE | L 7-24 | 1 | -5 | -5 | |
| Earl Gros | 10/9/1966 | @ | DAL | L 7-56 | 1 | -5 | -5 | |
| Frank LeMaster | 12/5/1976 | DAL | L 7-26 | 1 | -4 | -4 | ||
| Jim Parmer | 11/20/1955 | @ | NYG | L 7-31 | 1 | -4 | -4 | |
| Chad Hall | 12/24/2011 | @ | DAL | W 20-7 | 1 | 1 | -3 | -3 |
| Wally Henry | 11/30/1981 | @ | MIA | L 10-13 | 1 | -3 | -3 | |
| Art Malone | 9/12/1976 | @ | DAL | L 7-27 | 1 | -3 | -3 | |
| Cecil Martin | 12/19/1999 | NWE | W 24-9 | 3 | 1 | -3 | -3 | |
| Herman Hunter | 11/17/1985 | @ | STL | W 24-14 | 1 | -2 | -2 | |
| Cecil Martin | 11/21/1999 | IND | L 17-44 | 2 | 2 | -2 | -1 | |
| Jerrold McRae | 12/2/1979 | DET | W 44-7 | 1 | -2 | -2 | ||
| Richard Osborne | 10/1/1978 | @ | BAL | W 17-14 | 1 | -2 | -2 | |
| Josh Parry | 1/2/2005 | CIN | L 10-38 | 2 | 2 | -2 | -1 | |
| Tom Sullivan | 11/19/1972 | DAL | L 7-28 | 1 | -2 | -2 | ||
| Jason Avant | 11/11/2012 | DAL | L 23-38 | 2 | 1 | -1 | -1 | |
| Clay Harbor | 11/18/2012 | @ | WAS | L 6-31 | 6 | 1 | -1 | -1 |
| Cecil Martin | 12/9/2001 | SDG | W 24-14 | 4 | 1 | -1 | -1 | |
| Owen Schmitt | 10/17/2010 | ATL | W 31-17 | 1 | 1 | -1 | -1 | |
| Charlie Smith | 10/7/1979 | WAS | W 28-17 | 1 | -1 | -1 |
Cecil Martin ingloriously shows up thrice. Clay Harbour had six passes throw his way that day, he caught just one of them and would have been better off dropping it.
22 players caught one pass in a game for at least 40 yards, didn’t catch another and didn’t score.
| Date | Opp | Result | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freddie Mitchell | 11/15/2004 | @ | DAL | W 49-21 | 5 | 1 | 60 | 60 | 0 |
| Matt Schobel | 9/24/2006 | @ | SFO | W 38-24 | 1 | 1 | 60 | 60 | 0 |
| Jim Kelly | 10/8/1967 | @ | ATL | W 38-7 | 1 | 59 | 59 | 0 | |
| Jason Dunn | 9/22/1996 | @ | ATL | W 33-18 | 3 | 1 | 58 | 58 | 0 |
| Dick Bielski | 11/29/1959 | @ | PIT | L 0-31 | 1 | 57 | 57 | 0 | |
| Jason Dunn | 9/1/1996 | @ | WAS | W 17-14 | 3 | 1 | 54 | 54 | 0 |
| Bibbles Bawel | 10/4/1952 | NYG | L 7-31 | 1 | 52 | 52 | 0 | ||
| Tommy McDonald | 10/16/1960 | DET | W 28-10 | 1 | 51 | 51 | 0 | ||
| Irving Fryar | 9/9/1996 | @ | GNB | L 13-39 | 4 | 1 | 50 | 50 | 0 |
| Richard Osborne | 11/26/1978 | @ | STL | W 14-10 | 1 | 48 | 48 | 0 | |
| Todd Pinkston | 11/23/2003 | NOR | W 33-20 | 2 | 1 | 48 | 48 | 0 | |
| Mike Quick | 11/20/1983 | NYG | L 0-23 | 1 | 47 | 47 | 0 | ||
| Hal Giancanelli | 11/8/1953 | NYG | W 30-7 | 1 | 45 | 45 | 0 | ||
| Todd Pinkston | 12/3/2000 | TEN | L 13-15 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 45 | 0 | |
| Frank Budd | 11/25/1962 | DAL | W 28-14 | 1 | 44 | 44 | 0 | ||
| Melvin Hoover | 10/28/1984 | STL | L 14-34 | 1 | 44 | 44 | 0 | ||
| Josh Huff | 12/14/2014 | DAL | L 27-38 | 2 | 1 | 44 | 44 | 0 | |
| Kenny Jackson | 9/30/1990 | IND | L 23-24 | 1 | 43 | 43 | 0 | ||
| Brent Celek | 11/17/2013 | WAS | W 24-16 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 42 | 0 | |
| Jim Whalen | 11/28/1971 | WAS | L 13-20 | 1 | 41 | 41 | 0 | ||
| Gregg Garrity | 11/29/1987 | @ | NWE | W 34-31 | 1 | 40 | 40 | 0 | |
| Bobby Walston | 10/12/1952 | PIT | W 26-21 | 1 | 40 | 40 | 0 |
Freddie Mitchell’s is the Donovan McNabb 14 second scramble. If you include players who also gained yardage as a runner, in 1994 Herschel Walker caught a pass for 93 yards and didn’t score. Ouch.
Rushing
Six players have had just one carry in a game, but ran for at least 40 yards.
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TD | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herman Hunter | 11/24/1985 | @ | DAL | L 17-34 | 74 | 1 |
| DeSean Jackson | 10/26/2009 | @ | WAS | W 27-17 | 67 | 1 |
| Jerry Norton | 11/10/1957 | DET | L 16-27 | 61 | 0 | |
| James Thrash | 9/8/2003 | TAM | L 0-17 | 47 | 0 | |
| Frank Reagan | 11/12/1950 | @ | WAS | W 33-0 | 40 | 0 |
| Jerry Williams | 10/10/1953 | @ | CLE | L 13-37 | 40 | 0 |
Jerry Norton ran for 61 yards and didn’t find the end zone. That’s embarrassing.
13 players had at least 10 rushing attempts and gained less than 10 total yards rushing.
| Date | Opp | Result | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Van Buren | 12/3/1950 | @ | CLE | L 7-13 | 10 | -2 | -0.2 | 0 |
| Keith Byars | 10/26/1986 | SDG | W 23-7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Billy Ray Barnes | 9/24/1961 | WAS | W 14-7 | 12 | 2 | 0.17 | 0 | |
| Lee Bouggess | 11/8/1970 | MIA | W 24-17 | 12 | 2 | 0.17 | 0 | |
| DeMarco Murray | 9/20/2015 | DAL | L 10-20 | 13 | 2 | 0.15 | 0 | |
| Billy Ray Barnes | 12/4/1960 | @ | STL | W 20-6 | 10 | 4 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Bryce Brown | 12/9/2012 | @ | TAM | W 23-21 | 12 | 6 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Duce Staley | 9/26/1999 | @ | BUF | L 0-26 | 10 | 6 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Frank Ziegler | 10/17/1953 | PIT | W 23-7 | 11 | 6 | 0.55 | 1 | |
| Billy Ray Barnes | 11/13/1960 | WAS | W 19-13 | 13 | 8 | 0.62 | 0 | |
| Randall Cunningham | 11/19/1989 | MIN | W 10-9 | 10 | 8 | 0.8 | 0 | |
| Herman Hunter | 10/13/1985 | STL | W 30-7 | 10 | 8 | 0.8 | 0 | |
| Jim Parmer | 12/12/1954 | NYG | W 29-14 | 13 | 8 | 0.62 | 0 |
Steve Van Buren with an incredible -2 yards on 10 attempts proves that anyone can have a really, really, really bad game. Keith Byars and Frank Zeigler at least scored a touchdown.
Passing
There have been 55 games where a passer threw the ball at least 10 times (which means they got meaningful playing time) with a passer rating of less than 20. However nearly half of those were pre-merger, when throwing more interceptions than passes in a season didn’t get you benched. Post merger, 16 players over 29 games reached this dismal threshold.
| Date | Opp | Result | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | Y/A | AY/A | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Arrington | 10/25/1970 | @ | GNB | L 17-30 | 3 | 10 | 30 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.6 | -11.9 |
| Pat Ryan | 9/30/1991 | @ | WAS | L 0-23 | 4 | 14 | 28.57 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.71 | -7.93 |
| Donovan McNabb | 11/18/2007 | MIA | W 17-7 | 3 | 11 | 27.27 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0.4 | 3.09 | -5.09 | |
| Mike Boryla | 12/7/1975 | CIN | L 0-31 | 6 | 18 | 33.33 | 53 | 0 | 3 | 2.8 | 2.94 | -4.56 | |
| Norm Snead | 10/18/1970 | STL | L 20-35 | 2 | 10 | 20 | 37 | 0 | 1 | 2.9 | 3.7 | -0.8 | |
| Norm Snead | 12/6/1970 | @ | BAL | L 10-29 | 8 | 21 | 38.1 | 60 | 0 | 3 | 6.7 | 2.86 | -3.57 |
| Rick Arrington | 11/7/1971 | @ | WAS | T 7-7 | 4 | 12 | 33.33 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 7.6 | 2.42 | -1.33 |
| Ken O'Brien | 11/21/1993 | NYG | L 3-7 | 4 | 12 | 33.33 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 7.6 | 3 | -0.75 | |
| Ron Jaworski | 12/13/1981 | @ | DAL | L 10-21 | 11 | 32 | 34.38 | 140 | 0 | 4 | 9.4 | 4.38 | -1.25 |
| Rodney Peete | 11/2/1997 | @ | ARI | L 21-31 | 3 | 13 | 23.08 | 54 | 0 | 1 | 12.3 | 4.15 | 0.69 |
| Brad Goebel | 10/6/1991 | @ | TAM | L 13-14 | 9 | 20 | 45 | 62 | 0 | 2 | 12.9 | 3.1 | -1.4 |
| Pete Liske | 9/26/1971 | DAL | L 7-42 | 11 | 29 | 37.93 | 132 | 0 | 6 | 13.1 | 4.55 | -4.76 | |
| Donovan McNabb | 11/23/2008 | @ | BAL | L 7-36 | 8 | 18 | 44.44 | 59 | 0 | 2 | 13.2 | 3.28 | -1.72 |
| Ron Jaworski | 9/25/1977 | @ | RAM | L 0-20 | 13 | 29 | 44.83 | 99 | 0 | 3 | 14.1 | 3.41 | -1.24 |
| John Reaves | 10/15/1972 | RAM | L 3-34 | 6 | 15 | 40 | 67 | 0 | 2 | 14.4 | 4.47 | -1.53 | |
| Rick Arrington | 10/24/1971 | NYG | W 23-7 | 5 | 13 | 38.46 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 14.6 | 2.54 | -0.92 | |
| Koy Detmer | 1/1/2006 | WAS | L 20-31 | 5 | 11 | 45.45 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 14.6 | 2.45 | -1.64 | |
| Pete Liske | 10/29/1972 | @ | NOR | L 3-21 | 5 | 14 | 35.71 | 42 | 0 | 1 | 14.6 | 3 | -0.21 |
| Roman Gabriel | 11/3/1974 | @ | PIT | L 0-27 | 5 | 17 | 29.41 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 15.1 | 1.71 | -0.94 |
| Kevin Kolb | 11/23/2008 | @ | BAL | L 7-36 | 10 | 23 | 43.48 | 73 | 0 | 2 | 15.3 | 3.17 | -0.74 |
| Doug Pederson | 10/3/1999 | @ | NYG | L 15-16 | 6 | 15 | 40 | 75 | 0 | 2 | 16.7 | 5 | -1 |
| Rick Arrington | 12/10/1972 | CHI | L 12-21 | 5 | 13 | 38.46 | 46 | 0 | 1 | 16.8 | 3.54 | 0.08 | |
| Koy Detmer | 1/6/2002 | @ | TAM | W 17-13 | 5 | 14 | 35.71 | 51 | 0 | 1 | 17.3 | 3.64 | 0.43 |
| John Reaves | 11/18/1973 | @ | DAL | L 10-31 | 5 | 19 | 26.32 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 17.7 | 0.89 | -1.47 |
| Roman Gabriel | 11/3/1975 | RAM | L 3-42 | 10 | 25 | 40 | 100 | 0 | 2 | 18.7 | 4 | 0.4 | |
| Ron Jaworski | 12/17/1978 | NYG | W 20-3 | 4 | 13 | 30.77 | 72 | 0 | 1 | 18.8 | 5.54 | 2.08 | |
| Rodney Peete | 9/9/1996 | @ | GNB | L 13-39 | 10 | 25 | 40 | 142 | 0 | 3 | 19.5 | 5.68 | 0.28 |
| John Reaves | 11/3/1974 | @ | PIT | L 0-27 | 4 | 14 | 28.57 | 75 | 0 | 1 | 19.6 | 5.36 | 2.14 |
Hey there’s Doug Pederson. Three of these, Rodney Peete in 1996, Roman Gabriel in 1974, and Pat Ryan, came on Monday Night Football, everyone watched how bad they were.
So yeah, one game doesn’t mean a thing. Just don’t do it again Jalen. Except for that interception part, keep that up.