Eagles-Broncos important pregame stats to know | Paul Domowitch

Stats? You want stats? We’ve got all the stats you’ll need to get geeked up for today’s Eagles-Broncos game.

THIS IS WHY THEY TRADED FOR AJAYI

The Eagles are fifth in rushing, averaging 129.3 yards per game on the ground. But that’s primarily because of those 407 yards they put up against the Giants and Chargers in Weeks 3 and 4. In their last four games, they’re averaging just 115.5 rushing yards per game and 3.74 yards per carry, which is only the 18th best rushing average in the league over that period. And that includes Carson Wentz’s rushing yards. The Eagles’ running backs are averaging just 3.5 yards per carry the last four games.
LeGarrette Blount is averaging just 2.7 yards per carry over the last two games, 2.2 yards per carry on first down (36 yards on 16 carries).
Wentz has 15 rushing first downs. The only quarterback in the league with more is Cam Newton, who has 22.
The Eagles have just four rushing touchdowns, two by Blount. That’s tied for the eighth fewest in the league. Last year, with the Patriots, Blount had an NFL-best 18 rushing TDs.
RIDING SHOTGUN

Three hundred fifty-four of the Eagles’ 532 offensive plays, or 66.5 percent, have been out of shotgun.
Two hundred forty of their 286 pass plays, or 83.9 percent, have been out of shotgun.
The Eagles are averaging 4.4 yards per carry out of shotgun, 4.0 from under center.
Seventy-four of LeGarrette Blount’s 100 rushing attempts have been from under center.
The Eagles have run all but 18 of their offensive plays out of three personnel groupings: 11 (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WRs), 12 (1 RB, 2 TEs, 2 WRs) and 13 (1 RB, 3 TEs, 1WR). The percentage they’ve used those personnel groupings is pretty similar to last year. They’ve been in 11 personnel 60.7 percent of the time (56.3 last year), 12 personnel 25.2 percent (29.4 last year), and 13 personnel 10.7 percent (10.6 last year).
WHAT’S THE SCORE?

The Eagles have outscored opponents in the first quarter, 47-9, and in the third quarter, 58-30.
On their first two possessions this season, the Eagles have scored 40 points and averaged 4.8 yards per play. Their opponents have scored just nine points and averaged 3.4 yards per play on their first two possessions.
The Eagles have 23 touchdown drives. Six have been three plays or fewer, four have been 4-6 plays, nine have been 7-9 plays, and four have been 10 plays or more.
Last week, just three of the 49ers’ possessions were longer than five plays.
The Eagles held the Niners to 123 net yards and 3.1 yards per play on their first 10 possessions last week.
CARSON CITY

Carson Wentz is seventh in the league in overall passer rating (101.6), but first in third-down rating (118.8). Eight of his league-high 19 touchdown passes have come on third down, which is five more than he had all of last season.
Wentz has thrown just three interceptions in the last six games. He has six multiple-TD-pass games. He had five his rookie season. Last year, he averaged a TD pass every 37.9 attempts. This year, one every 13.8.
Wentz is 14 for 41 on throws of 20 yards or more. He has five touchdown passes and three interceptions on 20-plus-yard throws. Seven of his TD passes have come on throws of 0-10 yards, six on throws of 11-19 yards. He has one touchdown pass on a throw behind the line of scrimmage.
Wentz has a 105.5 passer rating on first down. That’s the ninth best in the league. He’s completed 65.0 percent of his first-down passes and has five TDs and no interceptions. The bad news: 13 of his 22 sacks have come on first down. That’s the most in the league on first down.
Second down has been Wentz’s poorest down. He has an 82.2 rating. His 53.4 second-down completion percentage is the third lowest among quarterbacks with at least 50 attempts, ahead of only Blake Bortles (53.2) and DeShone Kizer (53.3).
The Eagles are averaging 8.68 yards to go on second down. That’s the fifth-worst mark in the league, ahead of only the Bills (8.83), Niners (8.77), Lions (8.76), and Cardinals (8.74).
THIRD DOWN UPDATE

The Eagles slipped to second place in third-down efficiency after converting just four of 14 third-down opportunities last week against the Niners. The Eagles have a 47.8 third-down conversion rate, the Rams 49.0.
Wentz had 30 passing first downs on third down in the Eagles’ first five games. He has just nine in the last three. In the last three games, he has completed just 12 of 24 third-down passes for 135 yards, two TDs, one interception, and two sacks.
Forty-nine of the Eagles’ 113 third-down situations, or 43.4 percent, have been 8 yards or more. That’s the 12th most in the league. But they’ve converted 17 of those 49 situations (34.7 percent). That’s the third-best third-and-8-plus conversion rate in the league, behind only Washington (35.5) and Cincinnati (35.9). Wentz has the league’s fifth-best passer rating on third-and-8-plus (102.7).
SEEING RED

The Eagles, who were 24th in the league in red-zone production last season, currently are second, having converted 17 of 25 (68.0 percent) trips inside the 20 into touchdowns. The only team with a better TD percentage in the red zone: the Packers (73.9).
Wentz has a 116.7 red-zone passer rating. The only quarterback with a better red-zone mark is, surprisingly, the Giants’ Eli Manning (130.2), even though the Giants are 15th in red-zone production.
Wentz is one of just two quarterbacks with at least 15 red-zone pass attempts who hasn’t thrown an interception or been sacked in the red zone. The Titans’ Marcus Mariota is the other.
Tight end Zach Ertz leads the league in red-zone TD catches with six. He had a total of eight in his previous four years in the league. Wentz has thrown red-zone TD passes to six different receivers. Three of those six — Ertz, Nelson Agholor (2), and Alshon Jeffery (2) have multiple red-zone TD catches.
The Eagles defense is 15th in the red zone. Opponents have a 90.4 passer rating against them inside the 20.
WHAT’S THE CATCH?

Zach Ertz already has 29 receiving first downs. He had a total of 42 last year. He has 12 third-down receptions. He had a total of 16 last year.
Torrey Smith has just three catches for 6 yards in the last three games. He has just four third-down receptions all season.
Alshon Jeffery has been targeted 62 times and has 28 catches. His 45.2 percent catch rate is the lowest of his career. In the last three games, he’s been targeted by Wentz 24 times and has just eight catches. But he does have three TD catches and 10 third-down receptions.
Rookie Mack Hollins has been targeted nine times this season and has eight receptions. He’s averaging 20.5 yards per catch.
THE DEFENSE

The Eagles have 14 takeaways in the first eight games. That’s the fifth-most in the league.
The defense has held opponents to 4.50 yards per play on first down. That’s the sixth-best mark in the league.
The Eagles have intercepted eight passes. A league-high six of them have come on third down, including all three of Jalen Mills’ picks.
Opponents have a 47.1 passer rating against the Eagles on third down. The Eagles have given up just one TD pass on third down and have held opponents to a 54.2 third-down completion percentage.
The Eagles are second in run defense, holding opponents to 70.4 yards per game on the ground. But opponents are averaging a league-low 18.4 rushing attempts per game against them.
The Eagles have given up just 16 runs of 10-plus yards. That’s the seventh-fewest in the league. Thirty-seven of their opponents’ 147 rushing attempts, or 25.2 percent, have resulted in negative yards.
The Eagles have blitzed on 80 of 347 pass plays (23.0 percent). Opponents have a 93.4 passer rating when the Eagles have rushed four, and a 53.4 rating when they have sent five or more rushers. The Eagles have blitzed 19 times on first down, 30 times on second down, 27 times on third down, and four times on fourth down.
Just five of the defense’s 22 sacks have come on third down. Eight have been on first down and nine on second down.