On the surface, it is not surprising the Eagles enter Chicago this Sunday for their playoff game against the Bears as six-point underdogs.
The Eagles are on the road. They are lowest seed in the playoffs. They won just nine games, compared to the 12 games the Bears won.
The way the Eagles have been playing recently, however, should make the idea of an upset far from surprising.
After flopping at the start of the season, and falling to 4-6 after 10 games, the Eagles have rebounded to be playing their best football of the season entering the playoffs. No matter how you look at it — on either side of the ball — the numbers show the Eagles have been one of the hottest teams in the league for the better part of the last six weeks.
The easy answer to the Eagles' strong end to the season is the injury to quarterback Carson Wentz that put Nick Foles onto the field. Although Foles certainly deserves plenty of credit for the turnaround, the Eagles' strong play began before Foles went in. It actually began after their 48-7 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Take a look at the splits between the Eagles at the start of the season and the last six weeks:
Weeks 1-11:
Record: 4-6
Offensive PPG: 20.5
Defensive PPG: 23.1
Defensive turnovers: 0.7 per game (7 total)
Sacks allowed: 3.4 per game (34 total times, Foles five times, Wentz 29 times)
Weeks 12-17:
Record: 5-1
Offensive PPG: 27
Defensive PPG: 19.5
Defensive turnovers: 1.6 per game (10 total)
Sacks allowed: 1 per game (Six total sacks, Foles four times, Wentz two times)
On offense, since Week 12, the 27 points the Eagles are averaging per game is third in the NFL. The 2.49 points they are averaging per drive is tied for 2nd. Although it is not a direct comparison, the 27 points-per-game is good for sixth in the NFL right now in the entire league.
One of the key to the offense's turnaround has been the amount of sacks they are giving up. Sacks are drive killers. They set an offense back at the beginning of a drive or they kill one that was on the way to ending in points. Sacks kill drives 84% of the time. Both the offensive line and Foles deserve credit for giving up roughly 2.5 fewer sacks per game, especially when you consider they have faced two of the top pass rushes in the NFL in both the Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans.
Although the defense was not the issue earlier on in the season, they have certainly done their part in helping to fuel the turnaround. A major difference has been turnovers. The defense has forced 10 turnovers in the last six games.
To put in perspective the job the defense has done forcing turnovers recently, the Eagles have forced eight turnovers in the last four games— which is actually two more than the Bears have forced in the same time frame.
Simply put, the Eagles have been one of the best teams in the NFL over the last six weeks -- and are going to be one of the toughest outs in the playoffs.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
