We’ll start out with some mind-blowing Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown stats, but there’s plenty of other fascinating numbers we dug up off the Eagles’ 35-13 win over the Steelers Sunday at the Linc.
Here’s this week’s edition of Roob Stats:
1. With TD passes of 27, 29 and 39 yards to A.J. Brown and 34 yards to Zach Pascal, Jalen Hurts became the third Eagles quarterback and the first in 53 years to throw four touchdown passes of 25 yards or more in a game. Sonny Jurgensen did it in a win over the Cowboys at Franklin Field in 1961 and a loss to the Rams at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in 1962 and Norm Snead did it in a win over the Steelers at Franklin Field in 1969. Jurgensen in 1962 was the last with three in a half.
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2. Brown became the third Eagle and also the first in 53 years with three 25-yard TD catches in a game. Tommy McDonald had three in both those Jurgensen games in 1961 and 1962, and Ben Hawkins had three in the Snead game vs. the Steelers in 1969. Brown is the first Eagle with three 25-yard touchdowns in any season since Alshon Jeffery in 2017. He’s the first player league-wide with three 25-yard TDs in a game since Breshad Perriman of the Bucs had TDs of 34, 25 and 25 yards from Jameis Winston in a win over the Lions in 2019 and the first with three in a half since T.O. with the Cowboys in the second half of a win over Washington in 2007. The last with three in a first half was Drew Bennett of the Titans, who had TDs of 48, 28 and 48 yards from Billy Volek in the first half of a 51-24 loss to the Colts in 2004. Brown is only the seventh Eagle with 150 yards and three touchdowns in a game and the first since Kevin Curtis vs. the Lions in 2007.
3. The Eagles are only the second team in NFL history to commit two or fewer turnovers through seven games. The 2017 Chiefs only committed one – a Kareem Hunt fumble forced by Jordan Richards of the Patriots on opening day. That Chiefs team only had eight takeaways through seven games, which means the Eagles are the only team in history with 16 or more takeaways and two or fewer turnovers seven games into a season. Their plus-14 turnover ratio is highest through seven games since the Bengals were plus-16 in 2005. Only five teams have been higher than plus-14 since 1978.
4. Hurts became only the fifth quarterback in Eagles history to throw four TDs and no interceptions in a game along with at least 285 passing yards and 67 percent completion percentage. Donovan McNabb did it four times and Nick Foles, Michael Vick and Bobby Thomason once apiece. Hurts’ 140.6 passer rating is highest by an Eagles QB since Foles had a 141.4 in the 2017 NFC Championship Game vs. the Vikings and highest in a regular-season game since Foles had a 158.3 in his record-setting seven-TD game in Oakland in 2013. With another interception-free game, Hurts is up to 11th in NFL history in career interception ratio at one INT every 53 attempts. Hurts is only the seventh QB in history with 30 or more TDs and 15 or fewer INTs through his first 26 career games. Among the six others is teammate Gardner Minshew.
5. With nine carries for 78 yards, Miles Sanders now has three career games with at least eight carries and an 8.0 rushing average. The only Eagles running backs with more are Bosh Pritchard, who had four in 1949 and 1950, and Timmy Brown, who had four from 1961 through 1965. Sanders surpassed 3,000 career rushing yards Sunday, and his 5.1 career average is tied for 9th-highest in history by a running back with at least 3,000 yards (and tied for 5th-highest since 1960).
NFL
6. With one interception vs. the Cards, two vs. the Cowboys and one Sunday vs. the Steelers, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is the first Eagle since Asante Samuel in 2010 and the first safety since Wes Hopkins in 1985 with four interceptions in a three-game span. He’s also the first Eagles safety with four INTs through seven games since Dawk in 1999. CJGJ is already the first Eagles safety with four interceptions in an entire season since Nate Allen in 2014. The last with more than four was Greg Jackson, who had six in 1994. The last Eagle with an INT in four straight games was Bill Bradley in 1972.
7. Brown’s 659 yards is the most by an Eagle through seven games since T.O. had 763 yards in his ill-fated 2005 season. He also had 697 yards seven games into the 2004 season. The only other Eagle with at least 650 yards through seven games in the last 50 years is Mike Quick, who had 750 yards seven games into the 1983 season. This is the first time in franchise history the Eagles have had both a receiver with 650 yards and a back with 550 yards after seven games.
8. The Steelers – 1-for-12 on third down and 4-for-4 on fourth down - became only the third NFL team in the last 32 years (as far back as available records go) to convert four or more 4th downs and one or fewer 3rd downs in the same game. The 1998 Bears were 0-for-13 on third down and 4-for-6 on fourth down in a 48-22 loss to the Vikings at the Metrodome and the Patriots last year were 1-for-10 on third down and 4-for-5 on fourth down in a loss to the Bills in Foxboro. The NFL has tracked 3rd- and 4th-down conversion stats since 1991. It was the first time on record a team has converted four 4th downs against the Eagles. They’ve allowed three 4th-down conversions 10 times, most recently in their 37-31 loss in Miami in 2019.
9. Chase Claypool’s TD pass to Derek Watt was only the fifth TD pass by a non-quarterback against the Eagles in the regular season in the last 34 years. WRs Antwaan Randle-El of Washington in 2008, Seattle’s Doug Baldwin in 2016 and the Patriots’ Julian Edelman in 2019 each threw TD passes vs. the Eagles as did Dolphins punter Matt Haack in that same 2019 loss to the Dolphins. The Eagles’ last TD pass by a non-quarterback was Freddie Mitchell’s 25-yarder to Brian Westbrook in a Monday night win in Miami in 2003. Of course, the last in any game was tight end Trey Burton's one-yard TD pass to Nick Foles just before halftime in the Super Bowl.
10. With 14 more points in the second quarter, the Eagles extended their NFL-record to 126 points through seven games – that’s an average of 18 per game in the second quarter. That’s the most points any team has ever scored in any quarter through seven games. The next-most is 109 – also in the second quarter – by the 1948 49ers. The Eagles so far this year have 40 more points than the next-highest-scoring team in the second quarter – the Chargers with 86. The NFL record for 2nd-quarter points in a season is 219, by the 2020 Packers.
11. OK, quick bonus stat: Jalen Hurts is the 4th-youngest quarterback in NFL history to lead a team to a 7-0 start. Hurts was 24 years, 84 days, Sunday when the Eagles won their seventh straight game to open the season. Dan Marino was 23 years, 29 days, when the 1984 Dolphins reached 7-0, Daunte Culpepper was 23 years, 268 days, when the 2000 Vikings got to 7-0 and Jared Goff was 24 years, 7 days, when the 2018 Rams hit 7-0. The 1984 Dolphins were 11-0 before a Week 12 loss in San Diego, the 2000 Vikings lost in Tampa after their 7-0 start, and the 2018 Rams were 8-0 before losing in New Orleans.