Eagles, Week 1 — What Repeats: All Three Sacks Were on Hurts

Jalen Hurts took three sacks on Sunday, and the charters put all three on him. A sack charted as the quarterback's fault is one the charters lay on the passer rather than the protection — three of his 28 charted dropbacks, 11 percent. Across all of last season it was nine of 486, two percent. Washington sent five or more pass rushers on 13 of 33 Eagles dropbacks, 39 percent, the sixth-highest rate of any defense in the league this week, against 33 percent for this offense a year ago — though a charted blitzer came on only three of the 33, nine percent, against 36 percent last season, and the average rusher count was 4.4 both times. So Washington rushed five or more more often with fewer charted blitzers, and all three sacks were charged to the quarterback, not the line. That is one afternoon and 28 dropbacks, and it is the first thing in the charting that does not agree with the scoreboard.

The second is the throws. 16 of Hurts's 25 were charted catchable — 64 percent, 20-third in the league in Week 1, with the median at 71. Last season his throws were catchable 71 percent of the time, 324 of 456. Four of the 25 were throwaways, against 23 on 456 last year. So nine balls a receiver could not catch, and four throwaways, and the offense scored three passing touchdowns anyway, which is the Recap's story of a passing game that landed the big one and did not do much else. What the charting adds is the other side of the ledger, and it is clean: not one of the 25 was interception-worthy, a ball a defender should have caught, against 10 on 456 last season. His receivers dropped nothing — zero drops on 16 catchable balls. Four throws were contested, a receiver and a defender arriving together, 16 percent against 11 last season. The four play-action throws produced two completions for 59 yards; the other 21 produced 12 completions for 144.

The run game saw lighter boxes than last season. 18 designed runs carried a charted box count, 90 yards on them. Washington showed six or fewer in the box on 11 of the 18, 61 percent, ninth-highest share in the league this week against a median of 47. Last season this offense saw a light box on 46 percent of its designed runs, 192 of 419, and the average box came down from 6.7 defenders to 6.4. The Recap already told you 42 of the 90 came on one carry. In the settled lines, Saquon Barkley ran 15 times for 83.

The scheme moved. Motion on 36 of 72 charted plays — 50 percent, eleventh in the league this week, with the median at 45. Last season this offense used motion on 37 percent of charted plays, 490 of 1312. The run-pass option on seven of 51 pass-and-run snaps, 14 percent, against six percent last season. Play-action went the other way, and quietly: six of 33 dropbacks, 18 percent, tied for 20-first in the league this week, against 22 percent last season. Screens two of 33, six percent against four. No-huddle 16 percent of snaps against 19. More motion, more option, a touch less play-action, a touch less tempo.

On defense, start with what Washington's throws looked like, because it was not a clean afternoon for them either. Jayden Daniels's throws were catchable on 22 of 35, 63 percent; his own figure last season was 71 percent on 189 throws, a small sample, and opponents against this defense were at 65. He threw five away. None of the 35 was interception-worthy, against 17 on 546 for this defense's opponents last season; the Eagles' defense got no interception-worthy ball to catch. Philadelphia sent five or more rushers on nine of 39 Washington dropbacks, 23 percent, tied for twentieth in the league this week, against 19 percent last season, and a charted blitzer came on eight of the 39, 21 percent, against 26; the one sack was not charted as the quarterback's fault. The box counts against the run did not move. The Eagles showed six or fewer on 19 of 29 Washington designed runs, 65 and a half percent, against 68 percent last season; those 29 runs went for 103. The part that is new is how Washington attacked: screens on five of 39 dropbacks, 13 percent, against six percent for this defense's opponents last season, and the run-pass option on 10 of 68 snaps, 15 percent, against five.

The stat lines have settled, so here they are, scored half-PPR. Hurts led the team with 24.7 — 14 of 25 for 203 three touchdowns, no interceptions, seven carries for 46. Dallas Goedert four catches for 77 two scores on five targets, 21.7. Dontayvion Wicks two catches for 73 and a touchdown on four targets, 14.3. Barkley 15 carries for 83 with one catch for −3, 8.5. DeVonta Smith three for 53 on six targets, 6.8. For Washington, Daniels went 18 of 34 for 164 two touchdowns with five carries for 31, 17.7; Antonio Williams caught all four targets for 64 and a score; Stefon Diggs four of nine for 55 and a score; Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran 16 times for 63 and a touchdown; Terry McLaurin two catches for 14 on four targets.

One thing about the comparisons in this episode, because the show's name makes a promise it cannot keep for three more weeks. There has been only one game. Every "last season" above is all of 2025, a roster that is a year older with some of the same people doing different jobs. Through Week 3 that is the only baseline there is, and it tells you what was unusual on Sunday, and nothing about what is true. The version of this show that measures the Eagles against their own recent weeks starts working around Week 4. Until then, the comparison gets named every time.

The thread starts here, and the Recap gave it the frame: an 11-win team whose offense finished sixteenth in expected points per play a year ago and second at turning red-zone trips into touchdowns, with a defense that finished eighth. Three entries go in the notebook. The quarterback's afternoon — 64 percent catchable, three sacks charged to him, zero balls up for grabs, three touchdowns — is one of those weeks where every number is true and none of them agrees, and it came against a defense sending five or more rushers at the sixth-highest rate in the league. The motion rate and the option rate look like a changed offense and could be one opponent. And the defense's box counts did not move and its five-or-more rate rose about four points, against an offense that went at it with screens and options at rates its opponents did not use a year ago.

That's your Eagles — every game, by the numbers. This is Muffed: we do the same deep dive for all 32 teams. Follow the Eagles show wherever you're listening, so next week's recap lands the moment it's out. No theater. Just the football.

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_Data via nflverse. Charting: FTN Data via nflverse._