Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Birds have best butterfingers in league
PHILADELPHIA >> It took a lot of work but the Eagles vaulted to the top of the NFL in a key offensive category: Dropped passes.
The Eagles have eight drops on the season, per Stats LLC., besting the seven put out by the Dolphins, who have traded most of their top talent.
The breakdown is two drops by Mack Hollins, and one drop apiece for Nelson Agholor, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Dallas Goedert, Darren Sproles and Jordan Howard.
The Eagles dropped six passes in their 27-24 loss to the Lions last week.
“It’s focusing on catching the football, first and foremost,” tight end Zach Ertz said. “Don’t try and run before you have the ball. I think that’s a big thing. Ball security is obviously a point of emphasis. But you can’t go out there and kind of paralyze yourself and overthink it, either. We’ve just got to go out there and play like ourselves. Don’t play too tight and just go out and execute, because we’ve got talent on offense. We’ve just got to play for four quarters.
“We’ve got a lot of talent. I think everyone’s got a lot of confidence in the guys that are going to be playing Thursday night. It’s going to be a big game for us.”
The Eagles’ opponent Thursday night, the Green Bay Packers, have just two drops.
••• The Eagles’ pass rush looked worse than it was last week because they didn’t get a sack for the first time in 11 games.
Truth be told, the Eagles got some interior pressure in the second half from Vinny Curry who had two quarterback hits on Matt Stafford after moving inside from end.
Still, the pass rush numbers are indefensible considering how the focus of coordinator Jim Schwartz’s defense is pressuring quarterbacks.
There are 22 players in the NFL who have more sacks than the Eagles, those from safety Andrew Sendejo and Tim Jernigan, the latter sidelined indefinitely with a back injury.
The list includes Preston Smith (4.5) and Za’Darius Smith (3) of the Packers. They’re the only teammates with at least three sacks this season.
The Eagles have intercepted three passes this season, Ronald Darby, Sydney Jones and linebacker Nate Gerry doing the honors. All were in the Game 2 loss to Matt Ryan and the Falcons.
The Eagles are 21-6 forcing one or more turnovers since start of 2017 season, which ranks among the top five in the league.
Though the Eagles (1-2) held an opponent under 300 passing yards for the first time this season last week, they were gashed in the ground game.
Additionally, Darby (hamstring) will be sidelined Thursday when the Eagles try to coax Aaron Rodgers into a turnover.
“What do I know about them?” Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox said of the Packers. “Aaron Rodgers has been there forever. And you really don’t know when he’s going to release it. He’s got a no-look. Sometimes he’s just throwing it in an awkward way and you’re not seeing the ball come out of his hand. And that can confuse you. He’s known to extend the plays and make the play — he’s a great quarterback.”
Schwartz insisted he’s confident with the players he has now. He has no choice, really. The turnovers are going to have to be a team thing.
“We also know that when teams choose to try to really take care of our pass rush, other things need to step up,” Schwartz said. “However we do it, whether it’s getting a sack, whether it’s getting an incomplete pass or tackle short of the sticks, it’s a bottom-line business — get off the field on third down. And we can do a little bit better with that and I think our pass rush will help us do that.”
The Eagles aren’t awful on third down, opponents converting 38 percent of those downs. But their Packers counterparts are clicking at a 35 percent rate, and that can only help put them in position to make plays.
Rodgers is a huge Thursdaynight test for the Eagles, including members of the secondary who have heard the rumors about the front office’s interest in cornerback Jalen Ramsey of the Jaguars.
“I don’t have anything to do with that,” Maddox said. “I only can talk about my guys. I’m comfortable with whoever’s in. This a big test for us as a team. We’ve got to get out of the slump. We need a win coming off the loss last week. The whole team does, not just the back end of the defense.”
••• NOTES >> Darby (hamstring), Jernigan (back) and wide receiver DeSean Jackson (abdomen) are listed as out on the injury report. Running back Corey Clement (shoulder) is questionable. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (calf) and tight end Dallas Goedert (calf) are back in the lineup, as is linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill makes his season debut in his comeback from a sprained MCL . ... The Eagles are 20-3 (.870) when rushing for more than 100 yards since the start of the 2017 season, 14-1 (.933) rushing for 120 or more yards.