The Philadelphia Eagles are undefeated despite missing a key ingredient in a winning formula.
Philadelphia has not forced a turnover through two games, yet it enters Week 3 with a 2-0 record. According to Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Eagles are only the fifth team in NFL history to win their first two games without recording a takeaway in either contest.
The other teams were the 1984 San Francisco 49ers, 1998 Denver Broncos, 2016 New York Giants and 2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. San Francisco and Denver went on to win the Super Bowl. That does not make Philadelphia’s turnover drought irrelevant. It illustrates how well the Eagles have been able to compensate for it. Via Frank's research, only three teams have not produced a takeaway
this season. Washington and Houston are the others, and both are 0-2. Over the past 30 years, 58 teams failed to force a turnover through Week 2. Only four opened 2-0, while 38 lost both games.
This is the fourth time in Eagles history that the defense has gone without a takeaway in the opening two games, joining the 1996, 1998 and 2021 teams. Even more concerning, Philadelphia has also recorded only three sacks, with Jonathan Greenard yet to play a snap. Since sacks became official in 1982, the Eagles and 2016 Giants are the only teams to start 2-0 with no takeaways and three or fewer sacks.
Vic Fangio’s defense has done enough to support two victories. More game-changing plays would make Philadelphia much harder to beat as the schedule gets tougher.
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Eagles keep winning despite the defense’s unusual turnover drought
