Can the Eagles’ Special Teams Carry the Team?
Nov 23, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles kicker Cody Parkey (1) watches his 50-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the Titans, 43-24. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia Eagles’ special teams unit is just that, very special. Whether it is blocking punts and field goals or returning kickoffs and punts for touchdowns, the unit has been the best in the NFL this season. But with starting quarterback Nick Foles out for a few more weeks and the secondary struggling mightily, can the Eagles’ special teams carry the team into the playoffs?https://insidetheiggles.com/wp-admin/post-new.php#wpseo_linkdex
This season, the special teams unit has kept the Eagles in multiple games. Against the 49ers, the unit scored two touchdowns, the defense scored one touchdown, and the offense put up a whopping 0 points. That’s right, head coach Chip Kelly’s offense was outscored by the team’s defense and the special teams unit that day. On a day where the Eagles lost by 5 points, the special teams can largely be thanked for keeping it that close.
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Eagles running back Darren Sproles, who has been a great returner throughout his career, leads the league in punt return average and has scored two touchdowns this season on punt returns. He averages almost 15 yards per return. Guess who else manages to average above 14 yards per punt return. No one. Only seven players have taken a punt back for a touchdown this season, and Sproles is the only player in the NFL who has accomplished that feat twice this season.
The Eagles have also gotten great contributions on kickoff returns. Only five players have returned a kickoff for more than 100 yards this season. The Eagles have two of those five, with Eagles running back Chris Polk and receiver Josh Huff returning kickoffs for 102 and 107 yards, respectively. They are also two of the six players this season who have scored a touchdown off of a kickoff.
Rookie kicker Cody Parkey may be the best rookie on the team not named Jordan Matthews. In his first season, Parkey is fifth in field goal percentage and third in field goals made. He leads the team in scoring and is 4-4 on field goals over 50 yards. This kid is ridiculous.
Now back to the question at hand: can the special teams unit carry this team into the playoffs and beyond? Well, they’re the best special teams unit in the NFL. There’s no competition. But, in short, no, I don’t think so.
Having a good special teams unit is helpful for swinging momentum in games and occasionally putting the offense or defense in a good situation. But they’re just not on the field enough to actually carry a team. We saw that in the game against the Packers. On a day when the offense and defense were off and played a stinker, the special teams did ok, blocking a punt and an extra point. However, what really matters is that for every special teams play, the offense or defense is out there for at least three plays.
So despite the historically great special teams unit our beloved Eagles field every game day, we are still going to have to rely on our offense and the arm of backup quarterback Mark Sanchez to carry this team into the playoffs.