Julio Jones was the Last Eagle to Score in the First Quarter
Coggin mentioned in our Slack channel that Ian Eagle and Charles Davis shared a great note on Sunday’s broadcast. Julio Jones was the last Eagle to score a first quarter touchdown. Is that true? It is indeed true:
- vs. Bengals 2024: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Giants 2024: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Browns 2024: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Buccaneers 2024: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Saints 2024: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Falcons 2024: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Packers 2024: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Tampa playoff game: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Giants regular season finale: no 1st quarter score
- vs. Cardinals: Julio Jones 12 yard TD pass from Jalen Hurts (with 36 seconds remaining in the quarter)
So the statistic is that in the last 10 Eagles games, the only first quarter touchdown has been scored by Julio Jones, who had a cup of coffee with the Birds and finished his Hall of Fame-worthy career with just 11 receptions here, but three TDs.
There is, however, a caveat in distinguishing between first drive and first quarter scoring. The Eagles did score on their opening drive on Sunday, which kicked off a 37-point avalanche. Jake Elliott’s field goal only took place in the second quarter because the Bengals opened with a 10-minute drive that burned almost the entirety of the first frame. The Eagles started a bit quicker on offense in this game, they just didn’t score until the second because of a lopsided time of possession.
If you take it a little further and look at some scoring differentials, the Eagles have a +39 total point differential, which is 11th-best in the NFL. They are -30 in the 1st quarter, which is third-worst, +20 in the second quarter, which is ninth-best, +21 in the third quarter, which is fourth-best, and +28 in the fourth quarter, which is also fourth-best. They’ve been a strong second half team, they just start slow more often than not. If they can remedy that, look out.
TOUCHDOWN JULIO JONES.
📺: #AZvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/sFjqko01pD pic.twitter.com/kNRvf9RzWe— NFL (@NFL) December 31, 2023