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Philadelphia Eagles talk: Where’s Philly’s red zone offense?

By Geoffrey Knox

NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 30: Zach Ertz #86 of the Philadelphia Eagles is tackled by Jayon Brown #55 of the Tennessee Titans during the first quarter at Nissan Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 30: Zach Ertz #86 of the Philadelphia Eagles is tackled by Jayon Brown #55 of the Tennessee Titans during the first quarter at Nissan Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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With a quarter of the 2018 NFL regular season in the books, the Philadelphia Eagles’ red zone offense, one of last season’s strengths, has been a glaring weakness to this point of the season.

Well, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson may not be worried about his team’s 2-2 start, but the rest of the Eagles universe sure is. With a .500 record through four games, the concern of many isn’t necessarily the record, it’s the fact that this team doesn’t seem to be good at the things that they excelled at during their championship run.

Case in point, what’s going on with the offensive line, Philly’s ability to sustain drives and their efficiency in the red zone?

Let’s look at some numbers.

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On Sunday in Nashville, the Eagles racked up 432 net yards of offense versus the Tennessee Titans‘ 397. Philly had more first downs, 25 as opposed to Tennessee’s 22, but the Titans won in time of possession (35:30 versus 34:25).

Philly also gave up three first downs by penalty. The ‘Birds’ were flagged eight times were 77 yards while the Titans gave up 30 yards on 4 penalties. The Eagles also fumbled three times and lost one, but here’s one of the biggest factors that decided the game in Week 4.

The Eagles only converted 25 percent of their red zone attempts into touchdowns, going one of four on Sunday. Tennessee reached the red zone on four different occasions and punched the ball in three times.

For the season, Philly’s converted a little over 57 percent of their red zone trips into touchdowns, as opposed to 65 percent in 2017. The Eagles are struggling to find ways to score, and that’s concerning when Zach Ertz is still in the lineup.

Then again, when Nelson Agholor is struggling with drops and when Philly’s got a talented rookie in Dallas Goedert, who isn’t getting the ball enough, it’s hard to ask Ertz to do everything.

That brings us to the Eagles’ offensive line and their struggles with protection and diagnosing blitzes.

If Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is going to drop back 50 times like he did on Sunday, the Eagles’ coaching staff will need to find ways to help their franchise quarterback get the ball out faster.

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Wentz saw blitzes on 34 percent of his dropbacks. He was sacked four times (three of those occurred when the Titans brought extra pressure). One way or another the offensive line needs to keep that from happening.

We do remember this guy had a multi-ligament knee injury last season, don’t we?

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