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The Eagles are Dead Last in Stuffed Yardage – Poor Blocking, Predictable Play Calling, or Both?
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Is it the passing game? Is it the play calling? Is it the quarterback play hindering the Eagles offense?
The biggest issue is probably the amount of negative run yardage the Birds are accruing this season. They’re dead last in the NFL when it comes to going backwards on the ground:
Three statistics there tell the story. In addition to the -76 stuff yards, they have a 10% negative play percentage, which is 7th-worst in the NFL. They’ve taken losses on 20 running plays and 18 of those are Saquon Barkley carries, which has him tied with rookie Ashton Jeanty for most among players individually.
There’s been a thought that the Eagles’ offensive line just hasn’t been very good this season. The eye test corroborates, though Lane Johnson recently said that the offense has been predictable, which perhaps is allowing defenders to tee off by identifying obvious rushing downs and obvious passing downs. The issue could simply start and end there, like Jesus Luzardo adjusting the way he pitches out of the stretch.
But if it doesn’t start and end there, you look first at the guard positions. Landon Dickerson has been less than 100%, or out entirely, over six games. Brett Toth has had to step in at left guard. Johnson has missed time at right tackle, giving way to Fred Johnson, and Tyler Steen took over for Mekhi Becton at right guard.
Our Sportradar data allows us to separate Saquon Barkley runs by the various holes he’s hitting, and there are drops across the board, but mostly when running between the guards and tackles:
| gap | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| A gap (between center and guard) | 77 carries, 405 yards, 5.26 yards per carry, 9 stuffs | 26 carries, 55 yards, 2.12 yards per carry, 6 stuffs |
| B gap (between guard and tackle) | 128 carries, 783 yards, 6.12 yards per carry, 5 stuffs | 36 carries, 136 yards, 3.78 yards per carry, 4 stuffs |
| C gap (off tackle) | 72 carries, 394 yards, 5.47 yards per carry, 8 stuffs | 16 carries, 76 yards, 4.75 yards per carry, 3 stuffs |
| D gap (wide / outside of tight end) | 68 carries, 423 yards, 6.22 yards per carry, 11 stuffs | 15 carries, 63 yards, 4.20 yards per carry, 3 stuffs |
Everything is down across the board, but the A and B gaps see more significant decline. Saquon was only stuffed 33 times in 16 regular season games last year and has been stuffed 18 times in six games this year. That’s almost a full stuff per game difference, and even one of those can be a drive killer.
To get a little more granular, we can filter by left side and right side.
Running to the left in 2024, Barkley had 174 attempts for 1,047 yards and a 6.02 YPC. Running to the right, he had 171 attempts for 958 yards and a 5.60 YPC. Pretty similar.
This year, he’s run 40 times to the left for a 3.2 YPC and 53 times to the right for 3.81 YPC.
He had some of his best numbers when running behind Becton in 2024, getting 6 yards per carry through the right side A and B gaps, while this year that number is way down to 3.56. So either Steen isn’t as effective in run blocking or Cam Jurgens has taken a step back. It could be both of those things at the same time.
Bottom line, they just aren’t opening the same holes. Saquon’s yards before contact and time behind line of scrimmage numbers are both trending downward and if this offense is going to get humming, they need to get the run game going, clear a path, and avoid negative plays.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com