PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles won their first two games of the season despite having terrible production on first down.
According to advanced football metrics website RBSDM, the Eagles ranked 30th in the NFL on first down in two different categories during the first two weeks: EPA/play (-0.208) and success rate (26%).
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Of the Eagles’ 48 offensive plays on first down, only two have resulted in either a first down or touchdown, per Pro Football Reference.
The Eagles have not picked up a single first down on first-and-10.
The Eagles are trying to solve this problem, especially in the running game. They have rushed 30 times on first down for only 89 yards.
“The scheme is new to everybody,” Eagles right guard Tyler Steen said on Saturday. “There’s some things that we see that you might not see during the week, and we just haven’t had enough exposure to it yet. I think that causes us to make mistakes.”
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The Eagles have transitioned to a wide-zone blocking scheme under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. So far, the switch has not gone smoothly for the offensive linemen.
The Eagles are averaging 112.5 rushing yards per game, but that average is inflated by Hurts’ off-script runs.
“It’s not the things that we haven’t seen from the defense,” Steen said about what is causing the problem on early downs. “It’s like just defenses in general. It’s more how we are supposed to react because depending on the player, depending on what scheme you’re running, you might react to a different blitz or a different movement in a different way. And that’s kind of where the problems lie.”
The Eagles had four runs of zero or negative yards on first-and-10 during Sunday’s win over the Titans. Steen and tight end Johnny Mundt both drew 10-yard holding penalties on first-and-10. Hurts also threw multiple incompletions.
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“That’s number one priority,” Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata said about improving on first down. “We’ve got to win first and second down. Again, it’s just a detail thing, understanding the angles of the scheme. We’re a true outside-zone team now. And so, I think we fall back to some bad habits of not throwing your hat across, not getting your arms or your hands down the middle in some of these outside-zone schemes. And so I think they can stack up.
“Then protecting the down. So, no stupid penalties. So we’re not playing behind the sticks. Just got to be smarter, more detailed. We got to finish up on the blocks, and that’s something that we have to find within. There’s no other way to tell you it, but we got to want it more than they do.”
Steen believes adjusting to a new scheme is causing growing pains.
Mailata, however, does not share the same perspective.
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“No, it’s not unnatural,” Mailata said. “I guess I might be speaking for other people, but it’s just for me, it’s just [about] playing smarter. That’s it. There’s no difficulty in it.”
Starting on Monday night against the Chicago Bears, the Eagles must show improvement on first downs, or the offense could move in the wrong direction this season.
“I think it’s a process,” Steen said about trusting the blocking techniques. “We’re definitely working towards that. That’s been stressed about this week. Just trusting it because each play is going to look a little different. It might not feel right, but it might be exactly what we’re looking for.”
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