In Roob's stats: The Eagles' remarkable success in one-possession games

By Reuben Frank • Published November 12, 2025

Our weekly stats column is a blast to put together. Give me a nice 45-38 game and I’ll give you a thousand great stats that you won’t find anywhere else. But a 10-7 game? That’s a challenge!

But the stats must go on! So here are our best stats of the week. Hopefully it fills your Eagles stats needs!

1A. With their three-point win over the Packers Monday night, the Eagles are now 6-1 this year in one-possession games. That ties the 1960 team for most one-possession wins through nine games. The 1960 NFL Championship team was 6-0 at this point in the season in one-possession games. The Eagles are an NFL-best 30-8 in one-possession games since 2022 and 14-2 in their last 16. Those are insane numbers. Their one loss in a one-possession game this year was to the Broncos, who are the only other NFL team with six one-possession wins this year, at 6-2. Only five teams in NFL history have had more one-possession wins through nine games than this year’s Eagles team (1987 Chargers, 2006 Colts, 2022 Giants, 2022 Vikings, 2024 Chiefs). The most one-possession wins in a season is 11 by the 2022 Vikings and 2024 Chiefs, who were both 11-0. The 1978 Oilers (10-3) and 2019 Seahawks (10-2) won 10 each.

1B. The Eagles were 7-1 in one-possession games in 2022, 9-3 in 2023 and 8-2 last year, which made them the first NFL team since the Patriots from 2003 through 2005 to win 70 percent of their one-possession games three years in a row. They’re 6-1 this year in one-possession games, and if they finish with a .700 winning percentage they’ll become the first team in 75 years with at least four straight seasons at .700 or better in close games. The Browns from 1946 through 1950 – their first five years of existence – went 3-1, 3-1-1, 4-0, 3-0-2 and 5-2 in one-possession games.

1C. The most one-possession wins the Eagles have had in a single season is eight in 2023 and 2024. They had seven in 1978 and 2022. So Nick Sirianni is responsible for three of the four best seasons in franchise history in close wins with an opportunity for more this year.

2. This was the first meaningful Eagles game that was scoreless at halftime in 27 years. In Week 3 of the1998 season, the Eagles and Cards were scoreless into the fourth quarter at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., before the Cards won 17-3. The Eagles and Cowboys did play a game with the backups on the final day of the 2017 season that was scoreless into the fourth quarter – Nate Sudfeld started at quarterback for the Eagles – and the Cowboys won 6-0. This was the first game the Eagles have won that was scoreless at halftime in 36 years, since a 10-7 win over the Raiders at the Vet in 1989.

3. The Eagles had lost 22 straight games going back 18 years when scoring 10 or fewer points. The last time they won a game in which they didn’t score more than 10 points was in Dallas in 2007, a 10-6 win at Texas Stadium with the only touchdown coming on Donovan McNabb’s TD pass to Reggie Brown. Going back to 1998, the Eagles were 3-50 when scoring 10 or fewer points, and in franchise history they were 23-249-9.

4. The win over the Packers was the first time in seven years the Packers scored seven or fewer points in a game at Lambeau and the first time in three years they scored seven or fewer points in any game anywhere. The Packers had played 59 games since losing to the Lions 31-0 on the final day of the 2018 season, a game that DeShone Kizer QB’d for Green Bay.

5A. Jalen Hurts has started 75 games in his career and this was his 45thwithout an interception. That’s the most interception-free games by any quarterback in NFL history in their first 75 starts. Russell Wilson had 44 and Dak Prescott 43.

5B. With one interception in 241 pass attempts this year, Hurts has improved his career interception percentage from one 49.7 pass attempts coming into the season – 15th-best in NFL history – to one every one every 54.5 attempts – 9th-best in NFL history. Going back to Week 3 of last year, Hurts has thrown two interceptions in his last 533 attempts. Hurts is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw two or fewer interceptions in the span of 21 starts. Aaron Rodgers has had several spans with three.

5C. Hurts is the seventh QB in history with 16 or more touchdown passes and one or fewer interceptions nine games into a season. The others are Roman Gabriel in 1969 (18, 1), Alex Smith in 2017 (18, 1), Drew Brees (21, 1) and Aaron Rodgers (17.1) in 2018, Russell Wilson in 2019 (22, 1), Patrick Mahomes in 2020 (25, 1).

5D. Hurts is now 53-22 in 75 career starts. The only quarterbacks in history with more wins in their first 75 starts are Patrick Mahomes (59), Hall of Famers Ken Stabler (58) and Roger Staubach (56), Tom Brady (56), Lamar Jackson (55) and Daryle Lamonica (54).

6. The Eagles are 7-2 or better for the fourth straight year. They were 7-2 or better only 11 previous times in franchise history – 1948, 1949, 1960 and 2017 – four seasons that they won NFL championships – as well as 1961, 1980, 1981, 1994, 1996, 2004 and 2014. They’re only the third team ever to open four straight seasons 7-2. The Dolphins did it from 1972 through 1975 and the Patriots seven years in a row from 2013 through 2019.

7. With the win Monday night, Nick Sirianni boosted his career winning percentage from .711 to .714 and for the second time moved past Hall of Famer George Allen (.712) for the 4th-highest winning percentage ever by an NFL head coach. Sirianni was at .722 before the losses to the Broncos and Giants. He dropped to .703 with the two losses before improving to .714 over the last three weeks. He trails only Guy Chamberlin (.784 from 1922 through 1927), John Madden (.759) and Vince Lombardi (.738).

8. The Eagles have eight defensive players 24 or younger who’ve started at least four games – Jihaad Campbell, Jalen Carter, Cooper DeJean, Jalyx Hunt, Quinyon Mitchell, Drew Mukuba, Moro Ojomo and Nolan Smith. No other NFL team has more than five. The eight defensive starters 24 or younger already ties the franchise record set in 2018 (Derek Barnett, Ronald Darby, Rasul Douglas, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Sidney Jones, Cre’von LeBlanc, Avonte Maddox, Jalen Mills).

9A. With 22 carries for 60 yards against the Packers – a 2.7 average – Saquon Barkley became the first player in Eagles history with four games in a season with at least 15 carries and 2.7 yards per carry or worse. Ricky Watters in 1996 and Duce Staley in 2001 each had two. Only six players in NFL history have had more in a season – Lamar Smith of the Dolphins in 2001 (7), Curtis Martin of the Jets in 1998 (6), the Titans’ Eddie George in 2001 (6), Marshall Faulk with the Colts in 1995 (5), the Bengals’ Corey Dillon in 2000 (5) and the Packers Ryan Grant in 2008 (5).

9B. This is a weird one, but Barkley is averaging 6.77 yards per carry this year in the first quarter, 2nd-highest among regular backs behind De’Von Achane of the Dolphins, who is at 6.80. The rest of the game, Barkley is at 3.00, 2nd-worst in the league over the last three quarters.

10. The Eagles are now 28-11 under Sirianni on the road since 2021, an NFL-best .718 winning. The Chiefs (26-12, .684), Ravens (23-15, .605) and Seahawks (23-15, .605) are next-best.

11. With his four catches against the Packers, DeVonta Smith increased his career total including the postseason to 399. He passed DeSean Jackson, who caught 398 during his two stints with the Eagles, to move into eighth place in Eagles history. With his next catch, Smith will become the eighth Eagle with 400 receptions, joining Harold Carmichael (618), Zach Ertz (612), Brian Westbrook (459), Pete Retzlaff (453), Dallas Goedert (435), Brent Celek (425) and Keith Byars (400).

12A. When the Eagles hit consecutive plays of 35 yards or more – the 41-yard Saquon Barkley catch and 36-yard DeVonta Smith TD catch – believe it or not it was the first time as far back as Stathead’s play finder goes – which is 1978 – that they hit offensive plays of 35 yards or more on consecutive snaps. The closest they came since then was in 1990 in a 23-21 loss to the Cars at Sun Devil Stadium when Randall Cunningham hit Calvin Williams for 41 yards (on a flea flicker from Keith Byars) and on the next play threw a 34-yard touchdown to Willingboro’s Marvin Hargrove.

12B. If you don’t remember the Marvin Hargrove story, it’s amazing. He was a Willingboro High School graduate – and a state champion in the long jump – and played football at Richmond. He didn’t get invited to a training camp but showed up at JFK Stadium one day during practice and asked Buddy Ryan for a tryout after practice. Buddy grabbed a personnel guy with a stopwatch, they ran Marvin in a 40 and threw him some routes, he did well, and the Eagles signed him on the spot. That game against the Cards was his first NFL game, and the touchdown was his first NFL target (and his only NFL reception).

12C. The only Eagles WR since then to catch a touchdown pass in his first game is DeVonta Smith, who caught an 18-yarder from Jalen Hurts in the Eagles’ 32-6 win over the Falcons on opening day 2021.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/roobs-stats-one-possession-games-nick-sirianni-jalen-hurts/695217/

Damn and we thought the Chiefs kept getting away with it and were the masters of winning one score games… Turns out we are!