Historic Defense: Eagles’ Defense Achieves Feat Never Seen Before in NFL

Eagles held Cowboys and Giants to NFL’s only games this season with under 50 passing yards – PFT
Those are the only two times all season that an NFL offense has finished with fewer than 50 net passing yards.

The combination of the Eagles’ stout defense and the Giants’ and Cowboys’ offensive incompetence led to stats that you just don’t see in the modern NFL. In fact, they were numbers that no one has ever seen in NFL history: Only two teams ever have completed at least 17 passes but netted fewer than 50 passing yards, and those were the Cowboys and Giants against the Eagles this season. The Eagles are playing very good football right now — and are being helped by having two awful teams in their division.

Eagles at Cowboys: 16 winners, 2 losers, 2 IDKs – BGN
It took 56 plays for the Cowboys to produce 146 yards. That’s 2.6 yards per play. For context, the worst offense in the NFL this season is averaging 4.2 yards per play (Cleveland Browns). The Eagles allowed six points on two field goals and both of those Cowboys scores came on short fields. The first was when a KaVontae Turpin kick return allowed Dallas to start at their own 40-yard line. The second was when Jalen Hurts’ fumble allowed Dallas to take over six yards away from the end zone. Fangio’s defense has now prevented three out of the Eagles’ last five opponents from scoring a touchdown. After allowing four touchdowns to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4, the Eagles have allowed just four total touchdowns in five games since. Playing bad quarterbacks/offenses certainly helps. But that’s still an impressive feat regardless of opponent. The level to which the Eagles’ defense has dominated is not merely a given. After some struggles earlier this season, Fangio’s defense has really come together. It’ll be interesting to see how his unit fares against better quarterbacks. At the very least, there should confidence that the defense can handle their end of the bargain and keep games winnable for the offense to do their part.