Eagles at Commanders stats preview

You know the drill by now; it’s another Philadelphia Eagles stats preview. As always, I’m working with my podcast partner Shane Haff who podcasts for BGN and has some great designs that will make this article easier to follow. All stats are from Sports Info Solution, FTN Fantasy, and ESPN.

Eagles Tendencies

As we get through the season, we don’t see many huge changes here. The Eagles' success rate from 11 personnel has gone up to 5th in the league which is a good sign. The gap run scheme hasn’t been a huge part of the offense without designed QB runs which means this is a heavy zone running team as it stands.

No surprises here, but the defense remains a lightbox two-high defense. The Eagles blitz rate continues to get lower and lower but no one is complaining because the Eagles’ pass rush remains dominant!

Washington Tendencies

I expected the Washington offense to look better than it is. This is an 11 personnel offense that uses a good amount of motion and RPOs, with some designed rollouts too. It’s a zone running game but they won’t force it against stacked boxes.

This defense doesn’t really have an identity. It does a little bit of everything, and it does most things well! The Eagles will probably see a variety of coverages as well as some single-high and split-safety looks. There’s nothing that’s predictable about this defense.

Matchups

The Eagles are clearly a better team than Washington, but I said that earlier on in the season and that was a close game! This Washington offense has received quite a lot of plaudits in the national media, and Sam Howell has had some nice moments, but the stats show a pretty poor offense overall. If Washington can’t run the ball in this game, it could be a tough game for their offense.

As they do most weeks, the Eagles have a huge advantage in the trenches. It’s pretty incredible that Sam Howell is on pace to break every record in terms of taking sacks, but their offensive line actually looks OK! I know stats don’t tell the full picture, but it’s pretty clear that Howell holds the ball for too long.

Sam Howell was great against the Eagles on late downs in week 4, but the offense has struggled since then. The Eagles’ offense ranks extremely highly on late downs, which is no surprise when you consider they have an unstoppable play on 4th and 1!

The Eagles were useless in the redzone on their 1st drive this past week, but after that, they got a lot better. Ranking 19th isn’t exactly good, but it’s getting better each week. Washington isn’t a great team, but it’s a really good team in the redzone so the Eagles need to make sure they are aware of this. Otherwise, it could be one of those games where the Eagles have a lot more yards, but the scoreline is too close for comfort.

I’m looking forward to this one! The Eagles got the victory in week 4 but it wasn’t comfortable at all. Washington has some talented players, but I’m hoping they come out and prove to Washington that they are the better team. With the 49ers playing the Bengals Sunday night, it would be great if the Eagles could put some pressure on them with a convincing victory.