Eagles vs. Falcons: Intriguing stats that may influence Philly's Week 2 strategy

If we aren't discussing analytics and Pro Football Focus grades, we're mentioning our favorite Philadelphia Eagles' Madden NFL ratings. That typically comes before the conversation flips to Fantasy football, DVOA, and NFL Next Gen Stats.

What are we saying? Most football fans love a good conversation about numbers. We just can't help ourselves. Statistics are always a great conversation piece.

Philly racked up the digits during their Week 1 game versus the Green Bay Packers. The most important was the 34-29 final score. With that, Nick Sirianni improved his winning percentage to .673. Unfortunately, however, that won't the Eagles win this next game.

So, let's dig into some numbers, something other than the knowledge of Saquon Barkley's three TDs and Jalen Hurt's pair of interceptions in Week 1. Here are a handful of stats that you're certain to see as being interesting.

Jalen Hurts has thrown 17 interceptions in his last 18 starts

Things started well for Jalen Hurts. That narrative applies to both the early stages of his NFL career and this recent Eagles training camp, but that streak of interception-free practices seems inconsequential now.

After an impressive streak of summer workouts got the NFL world talking, things came crashing down with two picks taken off Jalen's arm in Week 1.

We know we said we wouldn't mention that, but it's worth a conversation.

Jalen threw just 19 picks during the first 45 games of his NFL career. He has thrown 17 during his last 18 games since then.

Is he trying to do too much? Is he confused about what he's seeing? Those are two questions that have been asked. We don't know the answers yet, but we know Jalen and the Eagles' coaches are discussing this.

Jalen has scored ten rushing TDs or more during each of the past three NFL seasons.

It's a 'catch-22' so to speak. How do you maximize Jalen Hurts' ability as a scrambler without running the risk of murdering him and losing him for two or three games (or more)?

Yeah, we love his ability to freelance and create, but every time he takes a shot, you hold your breath and pray he'll get up without needing assistance.

Jalen is going to 'Jalen'. Wow... That might be the worst take we have ever come up with. Still, double-digit rushing TDs are the type of production you don't want to lose. He scored 10, 13, and 15 in the years 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively, but there also has to be an emphasis placed on Jalen to protect himself.

Kirk Cousins' Week 1 stat line: 16/26, 155 yards passing, one TD, two interceptions

Like Jalen, Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions in Week 1. Like Jalen, he came dangerously close to throwing a third, but in Cousins' case, a leaping grab by Ray-Ray McLeod helped to pull him out of the fire.

Kirk isn't throwing the ball downfield. Well, at least he didn't in Week 1. Six yards per completion isn't very impressive. Neither is a 59.0 QB rating and a 28.9 QBR. All of that is good news. So is the knowledge that Kirk is a stationary target for the pass rush. He was sacked twice and hit five additional times in Week 1 during Atlanta's loss.

The Falcons defense shut out the Steelers in the red zone.

Well, you can't blame the Week 1 loss on the Falcons' defense. Despite being put in some tough spots, they responded by keeping Pittsburgh's offense out of the end zone all game long.

They also kept the Black and Gold out of the red zone. The visiting team could only drive deep inside Atlanta's 20-yard line twice. That led to two of Chris Boswell's six field goals.

18 points were the extent of Pittsburgh's scoring despite holding the ball for over 35 minutes. At times, Philly has had a tough time in the red zone during Nick Sirianni's tenure, but hopefully, Saquon Barkley can help counteract that.

We're banking on the fact that he will.

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