While many others parse statistics like it’s the key to Jack Ryan saving the world in the latest incarnation of the Amazon series, it might pain some of them to realize that the Eagles coaching staff couldn’t care less about the numbers they find so important.
In fact, the only two categories that matter to Nick Sirianni, Shane Steichen, and Jonathan Gannon other than the actual scoreboard are turnovers and explosive plays, the categories their research has shown reliably foreshadow a positive outcome on that scoreboard.
For only the second time this season, the Eagles retreated to a losing locker room on Christmas Eve after a disappointing 40-34 loss to Dallas. It was also the second time Philadelphia felt it was better to give than receive and turned the football over four times.
It was certainly no coincidence that the other setback in a 13-2 run came on Nov. 14 against Washington, the only other time the Eagles turned it over like they were Tua Tagovailoa on Christmas Day.
Every time Jonathan Gannon says sacks “are not a winning stat,” something he again emphasized in the lead-up to the Cowboys hiccup, another angel loses its wings in this pass-rush-obsessed city. Presumably many of the same fans will conveniently fail to notice that the Eagles had six sacks at AT&T Stadium to Dallas’ whitewash when chasing Gardner Minshew.
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The focus this week will predictably be the failures in zone coverage against Dak Prescott and the results there were certainly less than optimal with the Cowboys signal-caller finishing a perfect 24-for-24 for 300 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles’ played Keystone Kops on the back end when it came to communication with Darius Slay’s worst game of the season and the latest Avonte Maddox injury contributing.
The Eagles also had some solid numbers of their own with a backup quarterback, amassing 442 yards of total offense with 355 of those coming via the air with Minshew and two 100-yard receivers in DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown.
Another five-plus sack affair put Josh Sweat in the double-digit club with 11, joining Hasson Reddick (14) and Javon Hargrave (10), with Brandon Graham one away at nine. If BG gets one more over the final two games, the Eagles will be the first team in NFL history with four players in double figures.
The explosive play battle, by the way, was deadlocked 10-10 by the NFL’s definition.
And all of that is white noise, however.
The Eagles lost the game because Quez Watkins didn’t fight for the football on two occasions, Boston Scott was sloppy at the mesh point, and Miles Sanders lost a fumble for the second consecutive week after going 13 games with a clean sheet.
At the front of the auditorium at the NovaCare Complex where Sirianni hosts team meetings hang two Fathead-like posters.
To the left is a ball security reminder showing Dallas Goedert using his body and the boundary to protect the football, Sanders utilizing a textbook “Eagle Claw” with his elbow locked and his wrist above it, and Smith clasping hands as he’s being tackled to protect the ball. To the right is the turnover banner which is headlined by Fletcher Cox using the outside air reach finish to strip the ball carrier, Maddox using a “peanut punch” as the headliners.
The Eagles essentially went wire to wire leading the NFL in turnover ratio, entering North Texas at plus-12. The Cowboys, a good team themselves came in generating a league-high 26 turnovers and were No. 2 at Plus-9.
When Philadelphia left that did a 180 with the Cowboys at plus-12 and Philadelphia at plus-9.
Nothing else mattered, not the zone troubles or the backup quarterback. Not the Eagles' in-game injuries or their ability to keep Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence from finishing.
If the Eagles simply took care of the football they are NFC East champions with the assurance that the Road to Super Bowl LVII runs through Lincoln Financial Field.
Now they have to wait a week as the fan base paces while watching the sky for that other shoe to drop.
So here’s the belated Christmas gift for the stat obsessed with their heads up: when the Eagles don’t turn it over four times or more they are undefeated.
Happy Holidays.
John McMullen is a contributor to PhillyVoice.com and covers the Eagles and the NFL for Sports Illustrated and JAKIB Sports. He’s also the co-host of “Birds 365,” a daily streaming show covering the Eagles and the NFL, and the host of “Extending the Play” on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com. Follow John on Twitter here.