A strange statistical quirk lies beneath the Philadelphia Eagles' 2-0 start. It may have made you tear your hair out. It's one you've no doubt screamed at your television over, even if you didn't know why. You were probably mumbling about Jalen Hurts and company spending too much time playing behind the chains. How's this for interesting? Through two games, believe it or not, the Eagles are the only team in the NFL that hasn't converted a first down on first down. That doesn't mean the offense has been bad, but it does help explain why Philadelphia has sometimes made things harder on itself than necessary.
Sean Mannion spoke with media members on Wednesday, and as you might imagine, he was asked about it. He didn't dismiss the statistic. Instead,
the Eagles' offensive coordinator explained why the answer isn't simply to throw the ball deeper or chase an explosive play on every early down.
"Yeah, there’s multiple factors. Obviously you want to be as explosive as possible, but you’re going against the defense too. And sometimes they’re doing things that try to negate those explosive plays. I thought a good example of it was, I think it was the second or third series in the game. We called a shot play and Jalen did a great job checking it down and [now it’s] second and two. So everyone seeks to be an explosive offense. We’re certainly no exception, but ultimately you just need crisp execution and how the defense is playing, you may change where you need to go with the football, what the run game might look like. So there’s multiple variables there. And again, I think the biggest takeaway for me that was positive from our week two game was our ability to stay on schedule. Maybe it wasn’t the explosive gain, but it was the positive gain that allowed for us to stay manageable on third down and marry the run and pass throughout the game."
That philosophy could matter especially on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears. Philadelphia doesn't need every first-down play to become a chunk gain. Sometimes getting four or five yards, staying out of obvious passing situations, and keeping multiple options open is more valuable. Sean Mannion believes the Eagles are close to putting everything together. The encouraging part is that he doesn't view the early-down issue as a fundamental flaw.
He sees an offense that is making progress. He believes several small corrections can change the picture. Fingers are crossed. One of the NFL's most loyal fan bases thinks he is right.
"Yeah, I think there’s always going to be things to clean up each week. We’re attacking that as a staff, doing everything we can to put our players in the best position possible to succeed. I think when you look at week one, we weren’t able to stay on schedule. We kind of put ourselves behind the chains. It impacted our ability to marry the run and pass and do some of those things. We were better in that regard week two against Tennessee. We were much better at staying on schedule. I think we’re really close on a few of our things on first and second down, just some fundamental things to clean up, some corrections to make."
That sense of being close extends to the quarterback, too. Mannion said he recognized early in the spring that Jalen Hurts could handle the new offense because of the work he was putting into his footwork and progressions. Now the Eagles need that growth to continue translating into cleaner early-down execution.
Philadelphia doesn't need to become an explosive offense on every first down suddenly. It needs to avoid putting itself in obvious passing situations, stay ahead of the chains, and give Hurts the full menu of options as the offense develops. That should make the third-down success even more dangerous because the Eagles won't constantly be trying to rescue possessions.
Maybe that's the real significance of this unusual first-down statistic. It isn't necessarily a sign that something is fundamentally wrong with Philadelphia's offense. It may simply be one of the clearest indicators of where the next step needs to come from. Mannion believes the Eagles are close. Monday night against the Chicago Bears will provide another opportunity to find out just how close.
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Sean Mannion addresses Eagles' odd first-down drought after two games
