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Season opener against the Lions. Not much in the way of the return game. More on that in a moment.

Arryn Siposs punted three times. He averaged about 45.3 yards (from the line of scrimmage to where the ball went/landed) and 4.33 hangtime. None had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, which I consider the defining mark of good hangtime. Only one of the three was hit outside the numbers. Jack Fox punted four times for the Lions with an average of about 46.3 yards and 5.02 hangtime. All four of his punts were over 4.5 seconds including two which were considerably over 5.0 seconds. Two of the four were hit outside the numbers. The obvious clear win goes to Fox, putting Siposs at 0-1 on the season.

The snap to foot times on the Eagles punts was around 2.0 seconds. The Lions were in that range, but probably closer to 2.05 seconds.

Jake Elliott kicked off seven times and did a marvelous job of playing pepper with the back line of the endzone. Almost every one of his kicks landed right around that spot. He averaged about 74.4 yards (that's 9.4 yards beyond the goal line) and 4.22 hangtime. Austin Seibert had what I would consider four legitimate kickoff attempts. He averaged about 65.3 yards and 4.46 hangtime. That's very impressive hangtime for kickoffs. Kicks that high can really limit the return game. Obviously he had one onside kick attempt as well as one kickoff that was intentionally hit short.

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from a distance of only 23 yards. From there that's about a 97% chance kick. His Elo Kicking Rating remained the same at 2283, which ranks thirteenth in the league. The standard is 2200. The league average is 2271. The rating of Eagles Opponents remains at 2287, which would be tied for twelfth. The Top Five kickers after the first week were Tucker (2410, 2.92 STD above the mean); Gano (2371, 2.11); Butker (2353, 1.72); Koo (2349, 1.64); and Boswell (2337, 1.39). The Bottom Five were Seibert (2222, -1.0);  York (2222, -1.0); Crosby (2207, -1.4); Maher (2184, -1.8); and Blankenship (2180; -1.9). And wouldn't you know it, the lowest ranked kicker was released after the first week of the season. 

The times on the place kicks were right around 1.3 to 1.35 for both teams. Maybe the Eagles were a tad quicker. No issues noted.

Other stuff:

* As expected, Britain Covey was activated to be the punt returner. I suspect this will be the plan going forward, until the point where he's activated for good. He gained about eleven yards on his first return. I like his forward instincts as he's returning. He doesn't wasted time or moves.

* The Lions intentionally hit the ball short (but deep enough to be included in the stats) late in the first half and pinned Watkins at the 22 yard line. They obviously had no fear of him, which is kind of troubling in a way.

* On the second half kickoff, Watkins fielded the ball at the goal line and when he reached the fifteen, he stopped and geared to the left,  only making it to the nineteen. This is a bad habit of his that I'm tired of seeing. He shows poor vision and makes bad decisions. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

* Zech McPhearson fielded a popped up onside kick attempt by the Lions late in the third quarter. He might could have called for a fair catch but I didn't have a problem with him maintaining his concentration and fielding the ball cleanly. Good try by the Lions. It was worth a shot.

* On a Covey fair catch in the fourth quarter, he was almost knocked down by the friendly fire of Zach Paschal. Fortunately he was able to field the ball cleanly. But that was a potentially disastrous play.

* After Detroit's final touchdown, they made a very smart decision by hitting the ball semi-deep and forcing the Eagles to field the ball. The Eagles only had two guys back there, so there was not going to be any blocking to support a return. Even so, I was disappointed that Watkins only managed five yards before crumbling to the ground in self defense. I wish he had gotten more because after all, every yard you gain in that spot is a yard more that the Lions would have to get back if they could get the ball again. Maybe I'm being nitpicky because if he had been aggressive, he might have fumbled, which would be even worse. Still, I feel the Eagles should have been able to get past their own nineteen yard line on a kick like that.

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The very enjoyable Monday Night Game against the Vikings.

Arryn Siposs punted four times with an average of about 45.0 yards and 4.60 hangtime. Three of the four had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of four -- the same three -- were hit outside the numbers. Ryan Wright had a strong game for the Vikings. He averaged about 47.8 yards and 4.88 hangtime on his five punts, with four of them reaching the 4.5 second mark and all five being hit outside the numbers. The snap to foot times on punts for both teams were very good. Usually below 2.0 seconds. The better statistical day goes to the Vikings punter, putting Siposs's mark at 0-2 on the season. Through two games, Siposs is averaging about 45.1 yards and 4.49 hangtime with 57% reaching the 4.5 second mark and 57% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging 47.1 yards and an amazing 4.94 hangtime with 89% at 4.5 seconds or more and 78% hit outside the numbers. Those opposing punting numbers have to come down pretty soon, although with Tress Way looming next, it might have to wait a few more weeks.

Jake Elliott kicked off four times, including once from the forty yard line after a penalty on an extra point. He averaged about 68.3 yards and 4.28 hangtime. Very good numbers. Greg Joseph kicked off twice but only one was kicked far enough (more on that later) to be stat-worthy. That kick measured 58.0 yards and 4.11 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 72.2 yards and 4.24 hangtime while opponents are averaging about 63.8 yards and 4.39 hangtime. The other team is kicking it higher and significantly shorter. Again, more on that later.

The snap to foot times on Eagles and Vikings PATs were very good. Around 1.25 seconds for the Eagles and closer to 1.20 seconds for the Vikings. 

Elliott made one of two field goal attempts from distances with an expectancy of about 1.62. On the season, he's now 2 of 3 from distances with an expectancy of about 2.59. So he's a minus .59 on the season, which means he's a negative 1.77 in terms of expected points. Obviously the missed field goal was not his fault, but that's just the math of it. His average attempt distance this season is 34.0 yards. Elliott's Elo Kicking Rating dropped to 2265 which is now twenty-first in the league. He's about 0.16 standard deviations below the mean. Since the Vikings never attempted a field goal, the rating of Eagles Opponents remains at 2287, which would be tied for thirteenth in the league. The league standard is 2200. The league average is 2273. The Top Five Kickers through two weeks are Tucker (2413, 2.80 STD above the mean); Gano (2385, 2.24); Butker (2353, 1.60); Boswell and Carlson (2345, 1.44). The Bottom Five are York (2233, -1.00); Crosby (2213, -1.20); Maher (2206, -1.34); McLaughlin-PS (2179, -1.88); and Ammendola-PS (2155, -2.36).

Other stuff:

* I have to give the Vikings credit. The obviously had the Eagles kick return game well scouted and they knew that if they kicked it short and forced Quez Watkins to field the ball and try to make a play, they would quickly engulf him for a net loss. On the opening kickoff, the ball landed at about the twelve yard line (which I've arbitrarily determined is too short to be included in any data collection meant to quantify kickoffs -- after all, it's not a measurement of a kicker's prowess per se but rather his directional ability, which can't be properly measured). Watkins HAS TO come up and CATCH that ball. Instead, he let it hit the ground, free for anyone to recover. Fortunately he got to it first, but that isn't always the case. Wasn't there a Cowboys game a few years back where on the opening kickoff the ball bounded away from the Eagles return man and the Cowboys quickly bounced on it for a free extra possession? This was the first crappy play that Watkins made as a kick returner against the Vikings.

* The Eagles got screwed on their first extra point when they were flagged for delay of the game. That clock hit zero precisely forty seconds after Jalen Hurts crossed the goal line with the ball. Yeah, there's a forty second clock that needs to be observed. And the league doesn't want teams to celebrate needlessly to delay things. But they usually give the teams a few seconds before starting the clock. But not these guys. It was touchdown-boom let's start the clock. Fortunately the officials came to their senses and negated the call. But the Eagles were forced to kick it again after having made it the first time. Fortunately Elliott banged the second kick through so no one made a big deal about it. But still, it shouldn't have had to come down to that.

* Zech McPhearson made a great play in punt coverage on the Eagles first punt.

* On the Vikings second kickoff, they again hit it short to Watkins and again he looked like crap on the return. As soon as he ran into traffic at the sixteen yard line, he stopped in his tracks and tried to go wide. It's his signature move and it never works. He was immediately swallowed up by the Vikings. It's maddening when he does this. He's really pretty bad at kickoff returns. I suspect that he won't be returning kickoffs by midseason. He's that bad.

* On the field goal attempt on the last play of the first half, the Vikings (Patrick Peterson) tried to block the kick coming around the right side of the Eagles line. He came vaguely close but the time was about 1.25 seconds and it's hard to come off the edge that fast. But they apparently saw some vulnerability in the Eagles blocking.

* On the opening kickoff of the second half, Nakobe Dean came close to making a big tackle but he missed, only to have Kyron Johnson made the secure tackle. I'd say they both did well on that play.

* The Vikings successfully blocked the Eagles next field goal attempt. This time Peterson came around the left side of the Eagles line. Noah Togiai failed to slow him down -- he's got to at least get a hand on him, and Peterson was brilliantly able to turn the corner and block the kick. The snap to foot time on that attempt was right around 1.3 seconds, which really should be fine. Anything around 1.4 seconds and you're starting to ask for trouble. But at 1.3, you should be okay. But the failure to disrupt Peterson at all, and his great athletic ability led to what could have been a catastrophe. Jake Elliott missed his tackle attempt, and a touchdown was only saved by a great effort from Arryn Siposs. Since the Vikings subsequently threw an interception, I think it's fair to say that Siposs saved the Eagles at least seven points. That could have been a ten point swing play. In summary, good play by Siposs, bad play by Togiai, and phenomenal play by Peterson.

* Zach Paschal and K'Von Wallace combined to corner Jalen Reagor at the sideline on a punt.

* On the Eagles final punt of the game, Siposs made an obvious effort to "get the ball off as quickly as possible, distance be damned". It kind of reminded me of the final punt by Donnie Jones in the game against the Rams where Nick Foles had to come off the bench and Nelson Agholor caught that critical third down pass. Just catch the snap and get rid of the ball ASAP. 

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I'm not sure why Scott isn't returning kicks. 

I've noticed that we don't seem to get a lot of penalties on returns, but our blocking isn't very effective either (probably related). Watkins has great speed, but we should net a positive gain in starting field position by replacing him with Scott for now. Scott is better with the ball in his hands. 

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Week 3 game at the Washington Commanders.

Arryn Siposs punted six times. He also had a free kick after the safety. I always classify those as "punts" since the punter hits the ball in a punting motion and the ball travels upfield. Normally those are counted as though they were punts from the thirty yard line since punters generally strike the ball about ten yards behind the line of scrimmage. Anyway, his seven attempts averaged about 48.7 yards with 4.50 hangtime. Three of those were in the air for 4.5 seconds or more. Three were hit outside the numbers. Tress Way punted eight time for the teamformerlyknownastheRedskins. He averaged about 52.6 yards and 4.54 hangtime, with five at 4.5 seconds or more and five hit outside the numbers. Clearly Way had the better day statisically, putting our punter at 0-3 on the season in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter. I don't think Siposs has done particularly poorly or anything but rather the opposition has been fantastic through three games. Way is historically a very good punter.

On the season, Siposs is averaging about 46.9 yards and 4.49 hangtime with 50% at 4.5 seconds or better and 50% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 49.7 yards and 4.75 hangtime with 76% at 4.5 seconds and 71% hit outside the numbers. Those numbers for the opposition will definitely start to come back to the normal range, at which point the Eagles return game should do better. Let's hope so.

Jake Elliott kicked off four times. He averaged about 71.8 yards with 4.13 hangtime. All four were hit well into the endzone. The first and last had great hangtime. The middle two were kinda low. The Commanders only had one deep kickoff with Joey Slye hitting the ball into the stands. It's a tough call for me to make judging how much distance is between the end line and the stands. I put it at seven yards deep, though I freely admit I could be way off on that. So that calculates to 82.0 yards with a rough hangtime of 4.00 seconds. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 72.1 yards with 4.21 hangtime while opposing kickers are averaging (on their legit deep kickoffs) about 66.8 yards and 4.32 hangtime. So we're seeing the opposing team kicking it higher and significantly shorter. The math corresponds to what we've been seeing, and that is that other teams often try to kick it short to force the Eagles to actually return the ball, usually with great effect.

The snap to punt times for both teams were around 2.00 seconds, with the Eagles possibly a tick faster. Their final punt was closer to 1.85 seconds. The snap to foot times on field goals/punts for the Eagles was around 1.25 seconds. Slye had one field goal that ended up getting wiped out due to a penalty. It looked like that was around 1.20 seconds. Solid numbers for both teams in that regard.

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from a distance with an expected value of about .903. On the season, he's made 3-of-4 from distances with an expectancy of about 3.49. So he's about .49 below standard, meaning he's at a negative 1.47 points for the season. But as we know, that block against the Vikings wasn't really his fault. But the math needs to be accounted for somehow and it goes against Elliott. His Elo Kicking Rating improved to 2267, which ranks 20th in the league. The league average is now at 2272. The rating of Eagles Opponents remains, as it has all season, at 2287, which would rank 15th overall. Elliott's ranking is about 0.09 standard deviations below the mean. Opposing kickers are at 0.30 standard deviations above the mean. After three weeks, the Top Five Kickers are Tucker (2417, 2.82 STD); Gano (2376, 2.02); Butker (2353, 1.58); Carlson (2348, 1.48); and Koo (2339, 1.31). The Bottom Five kickers are Crosby (2213, -0.94); Seibert (2206, -1.28); Maher (2205, -1.30); McLaughlin-PS (2196, -1.47), and Ammendola-PS (2136, -2.64). Ammendola was subsequently waived by the Chiefs after a poor game.

Other stuff:

* I have to give the Eagles credit for addressing some issues this week. They demoted Quez Watkins from kick return duties. That was hardly a surprise after his dismal performance through the first two weeks. They also implemented a new defensive scheme on punts with Zach Pascal peeling back at the snap and running down the field to support the punt returner. With two defenders on one gunner on one side and one defender on the other gunner, Pascal usually looked to help out the teammate who was isolated. Incidentally on the first punt, Pascal actually rushed up the middle, which may explain why Britain Covey fair caught the ball.

* With the Commanders punting from their own ten yard line and the Eagles in position to get the ball around midfield, they elected to put DeVonta Smith back as the return man rather than Covey. I liked the idea of having a more explosive guy there in a situation where you might be able to get a big return. I suspect this is a strategy that will be used judiciously in the future. It's not going to be an every-punt thing, I'm sure. Incidentally Smith got off about twelve yards on the return, which was pretty solid.

* Covey had three punt returns of about a dozen yards himself. With one exception (see below), I was pleased with his forward decisiveness and quickness. He fields the ball and just goes forward. That's a far cry from what we've been accustomed to in recent years. Jalen Reagor was notorious for fielding a ball and then hesitating or backtracking looking for an avenue for a big play. He'd often end up getting swallowed for minimal gain. So yes, I like Covey as a punt returner. We'll have to see about him as a kick returner. I suspect he won't be as good as that.

* On the other hand, Covey had a potentially disastrous play on a Way punt. The ball sailed away from him and he never quite caught up to it properly. He ended up muffing the punt, not too far from the shadow of the Eagles goal line. Fortunately it took a favorable bounce and he got it right away. He was immediately smothered. I was relieved he didn't cough the ball up a second time just prior to going out of bounds. It looked for an instant like that was a possibility.

* Siposs had two punts go into the endzone for touchbacks. The first hit inside the endzone, which is precisely what you don't want to see. The second one landed at the five but immediately bounced into the endzone. It's kind of disappointing to have touchbacks in those situations.

* Covey did have a punt return that I was disappointed with. He fielded the ball and circled backwards before ultimately getting back to where he initially caught the ball. Curiously this was on the lowest ball that Way hit.

* On Elliott's final PAT, the ball just squeezed inside the upright. A little too close for comfort there.

* Jordan Davis was penalized on a Commanders field goal attempt for crashing down on the center. It gave them a first down, and they took the points off the board to start anew. They ended up not scoring on the drive, so the net result was a positive. Still, it was a bad play. Hopefully he'll learn from that.

* Siposs had an excellent kick/punt after the safety but the Eagles allowed for too much of a return before Shaun Bradley made the tackle.

* Dallas Goedert cleanly recovered a late onside kick.

* Covey can no longer be activated off the practice squad for games. He will need to be added to the active roster. With only 52 players on the roster, it seems like an easy decision to make.

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Not sure if others noticed, but Jordan Davis was lining up as the wing on the left side of the place kicking formation.

That is where Tongai had let Peterson get through for the block in week 2.

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3 hours ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Not sure if others noticed, but Jordan Davis was lining up as the wing on the left side of the place kicking formation.

That is where Tongai had let Peterson get through for the block in week 2.

Calcaterra had the job last week and looked a bit vulnerable. I'm not sure that Davis did all that well though.

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So no opponent FGs through four games?

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1 minute ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

So no opponent FGs through four games?

Correct, minus the Slye kick that was wiped out by penalty. It reminds me of the last four games of the 1978 season when Mike Michel took over the kicking duties. In that time span, the Eagles never even needed to try a field goal. It seemed hard to believe that something like that could happen. Four full games without a kick. And we know what happened next. Bad, bad memories.

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6 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Correct, minus the Slye kick that was wiped out by penalty. It reminds me of the last four games of the 1978 season when Mike Michel took over the kicking duties. In that time span, the Eagles never even needed to try a field goal. It seemed hard to believe that something like that could happen. Four full games without a kick. And we know what happened next. Bad, bad memories.

I was curious.  There have been 24 seasons where an opponent has not made a FG in 9+ games.  All but 2 before 1990.

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Looks like the Steelers had a big advantage the year that Heinz Field opened. Quite the learning curve for visiting teams. I know it’s considered a difficult stadium for kickers, which makes the success of Chris Boswell even more impressive.

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Jaguars game. Upon further review, it wasn't as bad as I initially thought. As I mentioned elsewhere earlier, this was one of the worst weather conditions I've ever had the privilege of experiencing at an Eagles game. Watching at home doesn't do it justice. It was windy and rainy and altogether crappy and unpleasant. It was bound to affect the special teams.

Arryn Siposs punted three times, twice from around midfield. He averaged about 42.7 yards and 3.83 hangtime. None were at 4.5 seconds or better. Two were hit outside the numbers. Logan Cooke punted three times for the Wires, all from pretty deep in his own territory so that he had a lot of room to boom the ball. He averaged about 48.3 yards with 4.36 hangtime. One was over 4.5 seconds. Two were hit outside the numbers. The clear statistical win goes to the Jaguars, putting Siposs at 0-4 on the season.

On the season, Siposs is averaging about 46.2 yards and 4.37 hangtime with 41% getting to 4.5 seconds of hangtime and 53% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 49.5 yards (remarkable) and 4.69 hangtime (again, remarkable). 70% of their punts are getting to 4.5 seconds and 70% have been hit outside the numbers.

The snap to foot times on punts were a little slower than usual,  no doubt because of the wet weather conditions. The Eagles clocked in around 2.00 to 2.05 seconds. The Jaguars were much, much slower. Around 2.25 on two of them. They looked very deliberate. In fact, it looked to me like the Eagles actually made an effort to block their final punt. Not a bad choice given how slow they had shown to be earlier in the game.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times, twice after getting dinged and presumably not at full strength. He averaged about 67.7 yards with only 3.66 hangtime. The last two were line drives. Riley Patterson kicked off four times for the Jaguars, at least three times having to use a holder because it was so windy. He averaged only 62.0 yards and 3.99 hangtime.

On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.8 yards and 4.06 hangtime while opponents are averaging about 64.9 yards and 4.19 hangtime. Yes, opposing kickers are hitting it shorter and higher so as to induce the Eagles to return the ball.

Elliott actually made two field goals, but the first one was wiped out because of a penalty. So statistically we have to pretend it never existed. Same for the Washington kicker last week. So Elliott was 1-of-1 from a distance with an expectancy of about .94. On the season, he's now 4-of-5 from distances with an expectancy of about 4.43. So he's at a minus .43, meaning he's at a negative 1.29 points on the season. Again, that block against the Vikings wasn't his fault. His average attempt distance is only 32.4 yards, which is shorter than an extra point, which goes to show how effective the offense has been once they cross midfield. They're not getting bogged down between the 25 and 35 yard line. His Elo Kicking Rating improved to 2268, which ranks 22nd in the league and is about 0.11 standard deviations below the mean. The rating of Eagles Opponents remains at 2287, which would be tied for thirteenth in the league, with a standard deviation of about 0.30 above the mean. The average (mean) is 2273. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2421, 3.21 STD); Gano (2359, 1.87); Butker (2337, 1.73); Carlson (2352, 1.71); and Koo (2344, 1.54). It's always Tucker in first place. I'm not sure people realize how incredibly awesome he is. The Bottom Five kickers are Crosby (2219, -1.18); Badgley-PS (2208, -1.42); Eberle-PS (2206, -1.46), Seibert (2206, -1.46); and McLaughlin-PS (2183, -1.96).

Other stuff:

* On the first Jaguars punt, Covey did not field a catchable ball at his own twenty-six yard line. Instead he let the ball bounce and roll all the way to the twenty. Perhaps he was instructed to not catch balls because of the horrible weather conditions. Or maybe he just got scared of doing so. But he really should catch that ball. Furthermore, on that play, the Jaguars gunner on that end of the field ran out of bounds and then tripped, so that end of the field was devoid of defenders. Granted that only lasted an instant until the rest of the Jacksonville players could get there. But Covey had time to field that ball and had some room to do something. Instead he let it roll to the twenty. Okay, you figure the play is over there. But he then decided to pick up the (wet) ball with a barrage of opposing players bearing down on him. At which point he proceeded to only gain one yard. The risk-reward on that was far too great. I was not happy with this play from an Eagles/Covey perspective.

* I thought Covey had a good return on the first Jaguars kickoff. He fielded the ball at the six and got it out to the 29. I was impressed with his vision and his ability to shorten his strides and accelerate to space while maintaining forward movement. So many returners (cough, Quez Watkins) like to dance and move laterally. This was a good play by Covey, I thought.

* Siposs's first punt resulted in a touchback. You want to have your punter do better than that when punting from midfield. Disappointing.

* I thought Covey made a questionable decision on the second Jaguars kickoff. He fielded the ball two yards deep (just take a knee and we get the ball at the 25) and only managed to get out to the 22. Yeah, I didn't like that. Also, I thought Josh Jobe made a poor block

*  On Elliott's first PAT, the snap from Lovato was low. Good job by the holder.

* Jordan Davis is now manning the edge on field goals and extra points. This, after Noah Togiai allowed a kick to get blocked against the Vikings. Grant Calcaterra replaced him last week against the Commanders but looked kinda exploitable out there. It made sense to put a huge body in that position. I should point out that those guys aren't supposed to backpedal like a left tackle. Instead, they keep their feet firmly in place and reach out at the edge defender to at least knock him off stride.

* I thought the goal post on the left side (North endzone) looked a little crooked. Not a lot, but slightly. Someone ought to get a level on that thing.

* Elliott missed a PAT to that side. The ball simply tailed to the right in the wind. Tough conditions.

* On the second half kickoff, the Jaguars did something interesting. While using a holder, Riley Patterson approached the ball and then sort of altered his motion and jabbed at the ball, hitting it to the left side of the field which was somewhat vacant. Receiving teams can generally tell which direction the ball is going to be kicked and they deploy that way. This was an attempt to catch the Eagles off guard. It sort of worked because Covey couldn't field it in time and had to pick it up on a bounce. (Kinda scary to see a loose ball in wet conditions). At the time I was disappointed that Covey "let a ball hit the ground" but upon reflection I don't consider this a mis-step. It just happened that way. And on the plus side, he did a very nice job on the return of getting to the edge and turning the corner out to about the thirty. Overall a good play by Covey.

* I was very disappointed with the Eagles coverage unit on their second punt from midfield. The ball was fielded at the ten yard line and a swarm of Eagles defenders were right there. Yet they allowed the return man to go left and then cut back to his right for a gain of about seven yards. Not good.

* On a Jaguars punt in the second half, Covey ran backwards and then let the hit the ground where he had been and roll for six more yards. He had tons of room to make a play yet he chose to not do so. He could have fair caught it. The question I have is whether he was instructed (plausible I guess, although the Jaguars return man wasn't doing it that way) to not field balls in the air. Overall, not a good play.

* Andre Chachere made a great play on an Eagles punt, running down the field and tackling the return man dead in his tracks as soon as he caught the ball. I'm a Chachere fan.

* Jake Elliott was injured when the Jaguars attempted to block a field goal. The snap to foot time on the kick was around 1.25 seconds which is actually quicker than average. The Eagles had called timeout with two seconds left in the quarter so that they could make the attempt on that side of the field. 

* Kyron Johnson and Zach Pascal combined for a tackle on a fourth quarter kickoff. I'm becoming a fan of our rookie linebacker on special teams. He's starting to stand out.

* The Eagles went for two rather than have Elliott attempt an extra point. The play failed when the fade pass to DeVonta Smith fell short. But did anyone notice how wide open Dallas Goedert was in the middle of the field? It would have been a super easy conversion if Hurts had looked that way. Oh well. 

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Cardinals game in Arizona. Interesting game. Better in many respects but some issues.

Arryn Siposs punted four times for the Birds that we root for. He averaged about 45.0 yards (measured from the line of scrimmage to the spot where the ball came down, bounces and rolls not counting) and 4.42 hangtime. Two of the four had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of the four were hit outside the numbers. Veteran Andy Lee punted four times for the Cardinals. He averaged about 49.3 yards and 4.62 hangtime with three reaching 4.5 seconds and three hitting outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to the Cardinals punter, putting Siposs's mark at 0-5 on the season. To be fair, he did punt once in Arizona territory and didn't have a chance to boom his distance numbers. At any rate, on the season, Siposs is averaging about 46.0 yards and 4.38 hangtime with 43% at 4.5 seconds and 57% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 49.5 yards and 4.68 hangtime with 71% at 4.5 seconds and the same 71% hit outside the numbers. So, opposing punters are getting about 3.5 more yards of distance with about three/tenths of a second more hangtime.

I've been looking through the historical numbers a bit, and I would estimate that opposing punters are punting at about 10% better than average so far this year. Meanwhile Siposs is about 1% above average. So yeah, Siposs has been "outpunted" but he hasn't punted poorly by any means. It's that that we've faced five games in aggregate where opposing punters have been extraordinarily good. I'm pretty confident they'll come back to earth soon enough.

I'll also say this in regard to punting. Siposs this year has put up better numbers than Donnie Jones did in four of his five seasons with the Eagles, and better than Cameron Johnston in two of his three years. Though to be fair, he's been punting in the good months and hasn't had the winter games yet which will bring the numbers down.

It was difficult to get snap to foot times on all the punts but from what I got, it looked like both teams were very good. They were significantly better than the Jaguars game when both teams were very deliberate in the rain. I would say the Cardinals were the best opposing team we've seen at that in a while, maybe years. The Eagles are almost always good at this. Other teams, not so much.

Practice squad replacement kicker Cameron Dicker kicked off five times. He was great. He averaged about 72.0 yards with a very strong 4.34 hangtime. Matt Ammendola kicked off three times with an average of about 69.7 yards and a fantastic 4.42 hangtime. On the season, the Eagles (Elliott/Dicker) are averaging about 71.0 yards and 4.11 hangtime compared to opponents at 66.0 yards and 4.24 hangtime. We're hitting it five yards further with solid (above average) hangtime while opponents are hitting it shorter with noticeably better hangtime.

The snap to foot times on place kicks for both teams were very good. Roughly in the 1.25 second range.

Dicker made both of his extra points and both of his field goals, which were kicked from distances with an expectancy of about 1.74. So he's plus .26. His average attempt distance was only 32.5 yards, which is shorter than an extra point. His Elo Kicking Rating, which is arbitrarily set at 2200 to start since that is the standard, is now at 2206, which ranks him 34th in the league. He's about 1.20 standard deviations below the mean. The rating of Eagles Opponents dropped (thankfully, I should add) to 2267, which would rank 20th. That's about .01 standard deviations below the mean. The league average is 2268, which is the same as Ellliot. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2428, 3.13 STD above the mean); Carlson (2367, 1.94); Gano (2365, 1.90); Butker (2353, 1.67); and Folk (2330, 1.22). It's remarkable to me that Tucker is more than a full standard deviation above the second ranked kicker. He's truly that special. Oh and kudos to Carlson for making about thirty kicks (I forget the exact number) in a row to pull himself into second place. Kinda shows how successful Elliott would have to be over the next year or so to move into the top tier of kickers. The Bottom Five kickers are Badgley-PS (2208, -1.17); Dicker-PS (2206, -1.20); Bertolet-PS (2204, -1.24); York (2202; -1.28); and Ammendola-PS (2120; -2.88). I was cautiously optimistic when Ammendola was setting up for that potential game-tying kick because as I said at the time to the people I was watching the game with, "He's the worst kicker in the league!" 

Other stuff:

* Zech McPhearson and Reed Blankenship combined to make the tackle on the opening kickoff. Good play by both. First play of Blankenship's NFL career, by the way.

* Zach Pascal once again was fading back on opposing punts, like he did against Washington. They didn't do that last week against the Jaguars, as far as I recall.

* McPhearson and Kyron Johnson combined on a punt coverage tackle.

* The Cardinals successfully converted a fake punt from their own 28 yard line late in the first half. Gutsy move on their part. The whole left side of the Eagles front caved in. It's hard to assign blame so I won't guess as to who was at fault. I really don't know.

* Britain Covey muffed a punt as he was hit simultaneously by a Cardinals player. It could easily have been flagged. Fortunately he picked it up immediately. I suspect some people will question his decision to try to return it. I'm kind of on the fence about it. He actually would have been in good position to get a solid (ten yards or so) return since the ball was hit so deep. All he had to do was sidestep the first defenders, which is generally not that difficult to do. Those guys aren't necessarily expected to make the tackle in those situations. It's difficult to break down and actually make the tackle. They're looking primarily at slowing the return man down enough so that the second wave can get there and stop him. But the second wave wasn't going to get there that quickly, so Covey would have had some room. Still it is troublesome that he's now put two balls on the ground in five games. Incidentally I would pin some blame on Josh Jobe for allowing the gunner to beat him so cleanly. You gotta do better than that, rookie.

* Shaun Bradley made one of the most boneheaded plays of the day when he was downing a punt at the six yard. He wound up inadvertently kicking the ball to the ten. Four free yards. But I knew in my bones that the Cardinals were going to drive the length of the field anyway, so in the end it didn't matter too much. Still, you gotta do better than that.

* Jordan Davis is still the outside man on place kicks. I'm not sure but I think I might have saw him approach things a bit differently this week. Perhaps he was angled a bit more steeply.

* It could be argued that Milton Williams tipped that failed field goal in the closing seconds. I don't think he did. The bigger issue on that play was that Brandon Graham endured a hands to the face that ultimately ripped his helmet off. No flag was thrown. Of course Trent Cole grazes Peyton Manning's helmet with his finger and he gets penalized.

* Curious if Elliott will be back against the Cowboys. I hope so, yet I'm curious how well Dicker would do. But my gut tells me, "nah, you really don't wanna see that!"

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11 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

At any rate, on the season, Siposs is averaging about 46.0 yards and 4.38 hangtime with 43% at 4.5 seconds and 57% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 49.5 yards and 4.68 hangtime with 71% at 4.5 seconds and the same 71% hit outside the numbers. So, opposing punters are getting about 3.5 more yards of distance with about three/tenths of a second more hangtime.

One stat related to the above is that the opponents’ punts have been returned twice as frequently as Siposs’s punts.  15 to 8 and the resultant return yards is 97 on opponents’ punts and only 38 on Siposs’s.  That is 59 extra yards in the Eagles’ favor.

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Dallas game.

Arryn Siposs punted four times. He averaged about 45.5 yards and 4.26 hangtime. Two had 4.5 seconds of hangtime. Two were hit outside the numbers. Bryan Anger only punted two times -- on their first two possessions I should note -- with an amazing average of 56.0 yards and 4.82 hangtime. Both were above 4.5 seconds and both were hit outside the numbers. Clearly the statistical advantage goes to the Cowboys on this one, putting Siposs at 0-6 on the year in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Siposs is averaging a solid 45.9 yards and 4.36 hangtime with 44% at 4.5 seconds or better and 56% hit outside the numbers. Opponents are just kicking the hell out of the ball on punt plays. They are averaging about 50.0 yards and 4.69 hangtime with 73% reaching the 4.5 second mark and 73% hit outside the numbers. What can you do when the opposing punter is constantly unloading monster punts? Rhetorical question. You can't really do anything other than field the ball and hope for the best.

It was hard to get the snap to foot times on the punts but it was clear that the Eagles were quicker than average while the Cowboys were slower than average.

Jake Elliott returned from injury and had a solid overall game. He kicked off six times with an average of about 69.7 yards and 4.17 hangtime. Brett Maher kicked off four times with an average of about 73.3 yards and 4.21 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging 70.6 yards and 4.08 hangtime while the Eagles as a team are averaging about 70.8 yards and 4.13 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 67.7 yards and 4.23 hangtime.

The snap to foot times on place kicks were good for the Eagles (around 1.25 seconds or so) and slow for the Cowboys. Around 1.35 to a little over 1.4 seconds. Their process looked deliberate to me. If I were an opposing team, I'd take a look at trying to block a kick of theirs in the future. Just file that away for now.

Elliott made both of his field goal attempts from distances where the expected value would be about 1.48. On the season, he's made 6-of-7 (only miss was a block that wasn't his fault) from distances with an expectancy of about 5.91. So he's a plus .09, meaning he's earned the Eagles about .27 points above expected. Solid. His average distance attempt is 35.3, which is lower than the leaguewide average of about 39.5 yards.

Elliott's Elo Kicking Rating improved to 2278, which ranks nineteenth in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents dropped to 2257, which would rank twenty-second overall. The current league average is 2275. The Top Five Kickers are Tucker (2416, 2.85 STD above the mean); Carlson (2367, 1.86); Gano (2366, 1.84); Butker (2350, 1.51); and Koo (2326, 1.03). The Bottom Five kickers are Maher (2226, -0.98); York (2224, -1.02); McLaughlin (2222, -1.07); Crosby (2217, -1.17); and Ammendola-PS (2121, -3.10). Ammendola was subsequently waived in favor of Rodrigo Blankenship, whose current rating (2180) is below the standard.

Other stuff:

* On the opening kickoff, Cowboys return man KaVontae Turpin made a sudden cut to his left and had green grass ahead of him, as Kyron Johnson had come too far inside, but luckily for the Eagles, he tripped and fell, minimizing what could have been a big return. The Cowboys saw this and revisited it later. The Eagles apparently celebrated the play without making any adjustments for the future. It's disappointing.

* Britain Covey returned a monster punt for fourteen yards. When he fielded the ball, there were two Dallas players both around ten yards from him, so his gaining fourteen yards on the play should be viewed as a positive result. What Covey did NOT do, which so many Eagles return men have done in recent years, is field the ball, hesitate, and then dance around before moving. I'm convinced that if Jalen Reagor fielded that ball he might have gotten about five yards before being engulfed. But Covey's immediate decisiveness earned a solid return.

* On the next Cowboys punt, Covey smartly pretended to camp under the ball, only for it to hit behind him and roll into the endzone for a touchback. Another positive play.

* Jack Stoll made a wrap-up tackle on a punt.

* On the Eagles kickoff when they went up 17-0 in the second quarter, four Eagles players (Dean, J Scott, Bradley, and P Johnson) all converged to make the play. Good job. The Cowboys were also penalized on the play, knocking them back inside their own ten.

* On the next Eagles kickoff late in the first half, the complexion of the game changed entirely. The Cowboys return man employed the same tactic that he used on the opening kickoff, only this time he didn't slip on his own. Instead he broke to the sideline expertly and returned it all the way to the Eagles forty-one. Once again, Kyron Johnson overran the play and lost his containment. Meanwhile Nakobe Dean was out of position and looked pretty damn slow to me trying to run downfield, and Josiah Scott struggled to get off his block in time. Just a really brutal play. And a concerning one for the future. Credit the Cowboys for being smart and revisiting that same strategy. No credit for the Eagles on this one.

* With 28 seconds left in the first half and the Cowboys kicking off, I was surprised that they chose to kick the ball into the endzone for a touchback. The Eagles were in a position where the could consider trying to drive for a field goal. I would have thought the right play was to kick it high and force the Eagles to return the ball and waste three or four seconds. It's probably not a big deal but it's something to note.

* The Cowboys were offside on their next kickoff.

* On the Eagles next punt, they did a terrible job of covering the play. That same damn Cowboys return man squired through the middle and busted out a pretty nice return. I would call out Chachere and Stoll as the primary culprits. Ultimately it didn't matter because the Cowboys were penalized and were forced to start inside their own ten. Of course they drove the length of the field to score anyway.

* With only 1:13 left in the game and needing two scores, the Cowboys tried a 59 yard field goal. Much to my surprise, an opposing kicker actually missed a very long field goal attempt. That has not happened all that often over the past decade. In fact anything over 55 yards has felt automatic to me. That was a nice break.

* It was good to see Elliott back. I thought Covey did well. But our coverage units had a rough night. And opposing punters continued to dominate.

* I enjoy a good bye week. Especially when you're the only undefeated team in the league. And your favorite baseball team is playing for a chance to go the World Series.

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Football Outsiders' analysis of special teams... https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/nfl/special-teams/2022/regular

You can see that the Eagles are close to league-neutral when kicking the ball.

    FG/XP: -0.3, KO: -0.6, Punt: +0.7

It's our return game which is abysmal.

    KO Return: -1.8, Punt Return: -3.0

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  • 2 weeks later...

Let's do this. Steelers game.

Arryn Siposs  punted four times. He averaged about 41.3 yards and 4.52 hangtime. Two had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Only one was hit outside the numbers. Pressley Harvin, who reportedly had been struggling, punted four times for the Steelers with an average of about 45.0 yards and a very strong 5.05 hangtime. Opposing punters this year just have monster games against us. I guess we should just accept this as a fact and move on. All four had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of the four were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical game goes to Harvin, putting Siposs at 0-7 on the year in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

Through seven games, Siposs is averaging 45.2 yards and 4.38 hangtime with 45% at 4.5 seconds or more and 52% hit outside the numbers. These are actually decent numbers. Opposing punters are averaging an amazing 49.3 yards with 4.74 hangtime. 77% of their punts have reached the 4.5 second mark. 73% have been hit outside the numbers. Basically, opposing punters are averaging about four yards better than the best single season average that any opponents have ever had against us, as well as about .17 seconds better hangtime than the best we've ever faced. It's insane.

The snap to punt times once again favored the Eagles. This is almost always the case. The first three punts were around 1.90 seconds with the third closer to 1.85. The final punt was a more leisurely 2.10. Pittsburgh was more deliberate. Around 2.10 throughout. They just seemed a bit deliberate.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times with an average distance of about 70.2 yards and only 3.86 hangtime. It's weird how his worst kickoff was the one from the twenty yard line after the unsportsmanlike penalty on Brown knocked them back. It's as if there is a mental block for kickers in that situation. It's not unusual for them to kick the ball out of the back of the endzone normally but when they get put back, they still can't hit the ball the same distance (to the five yard line). Instead, he only reached the fifteen, which is the equivalent of getting it to the goal line on a normal kick. That would seem to be routine. Steelers replacement kicker Nick Sciba kicked off four times but the last one went out of bounds so it didn't "count" for the stats I keep. You can see why he didn't make an NFL roster after a solid college career. He just doesn't have the powerful leg you're looking for. He averaged about 62.0 yards with 4.01 hangtime.

On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.5 yards with 4.04 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 66.9 yards with 4.20 hangtime. The Eagles average (which includes Cameron Dicker) is 70.9 yards with 4.10 hangtime. Of course this only includes legit deep kickoffs.

Elliott didn't attempt any field goals. His extra points were somewhat of an adventure though. His kicks drifted right consistently and flirted with the right upright throughout. Somewhat disconcerting. The snap to foot times on Eagles kicks were around 1.30 seconds. Steelers kicks were closer to 1.40. On the season, Elliott is 6-of-7 from distances with an expected value of about 5.91. His average attempt distance is only 35.3 yards, well below the league average of 39.4. His Elo Kicking Rating remains at 2278, which is tied for seventeenth in the league. It's about 0.09 standard deviations above the mean. The league average is 2274. The rating of Eagles Opponents improved to 2261, which would rank twenty-sixth in the league. That's about 0.28 standard deviations below the mean. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2412, 2.97 STD); Gano (2373, 2.13); Carlson (2372, 2.11); Koo (2334, 1.29), and Folk (2331, 1.23). The Bottom Five kickers are Joseph/Maher (both 2226, -1.03); York (2220, -1.16); Crosby (2208, -1.42), Sciba-PS (2206, -1.46); and Blankenship-PS (2191, -1.78).

Other stuff:

* Covey returned a punt for five yards. On the subsequent punt the Eagles brought in DeVonta Smith, who only returned it three yards. It looks to me like the plan this year is to have DeVonta back there when the opposition is punting from near the goal line and he'll be in position to field the ball at around midfield, hopefully with room to work since the kicking team has to spend an extra moment blocking and the punter kinda has to hurry his kick. My guess is that the Eagles had Smith ready-to-go prior to the third and very long play. The play ended up gaining more yardage than expected so Smith came in anyway since he was already about to go in.

* Nakobe Dean whiffed badly on a tackle attempt on a kickoff. It was kinda ugly, to be honest. A penalty negated the return, but still... To be honest, I'm getting a little worried about Dean. To me he actually looks a little stiff and not all that fast either. Maybe he wasn't the steal everyone initially thought. Maybe he fell in the draft because he was never all that great to begin with. Naturally I hope I'm wrong.

* After Jordan Davis was injured, they used Jordan Mailata at his spot at the end of the line on place kicks. I'm guessing this is going to be the norm this year. Use a mammoth lineman instead of a tight end. They seem spooked (not saying I blame them) after getting that field goal blocked by the Vikings.

* Zach Pascal and Zech McPhearson combined on a kickoff tackle.

* The Steelers were flagged for an illegal formation on a kickoff. I don't understand why. My first thought was that one of their players had his foot over the hashmark. But on another kick a Steelers player was fully between the hashmark and the kicker. So I don't know. On the return, Covey got the ball all the way out to the thirty, though I didn't like the fact that the ball almost came out at the end. Still, I'm pleased that we finally have a kick returner who goes forward decisively rather than hesitatingly running sideways and failing to make it back to the twenty. Quez Watkins.

* Once again the Eagles allowed a fake punt by the opposition in their own territory to be successful. In this instance, both Patrick and Kyron Johnson got blown off the ball from their positions in front of the snapper.

* I thought I noticed the Eagles with only ten men on the field on the Steelers final punt of the game with about nine minutes left.

* McPhearson made a fantastic play at the goal line to knock a punted ball back into the field of play. The Steelers return man made a very smart play in trying to pick the ball up and get positive yardage. There was zero risk on his decision, as the worst case was that the Steelers would get the ball at the one. If he had taken it to the five, they'd have gotten it at the five. If he had gotten it to the twenty, they'd have gotten it at the twenty. There was no risk whatsoever. So when he was tackled in the endzone for what appeared to some to be a safety, it was disheartening (to me anyway) to see the Eagles players think it was a safety (they should know the rules). Likewise it was super annoying to hear our fans booing loudly about what they perceived to be a bad call. You'd think people would know the rules of the game. Ugh.

 

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It took awhile but I finally got around to doing the Texans game.

Arryn Siposs punted three times with an average of about 49.7 yards and 4.46 hangtime. Two had at least 4.5 seconds of hangtime. Only one was hit outside the numbers. Former Eagles punter Cameron Johnston punted four times for the Texans. He averaged about 49.3 yards and 4.01 hangtime. Only one had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Two were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical game goes to Siposs, putting his record at 1-7 on the season.

The snap to foot times on punts seemed to slightly favor the Texans. They were mostly close to 2.0 seconds while the Eagles were uncharacteristically slower at around 2.1 seconds.

On the season, Siposs is averaging about 45.7 yards with 4.39 hangtime with 47% at 4.5 seconds and 50% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 49.3 yards and 4.74 hangtime with 71% at 4.5 seconds and 71% hit outside the numbers. Basically opposing punters are doing legendary work every week. And since Washington has the best punter in football, this will probably continue for at least one more week.

Jake Elliott kicked off five times with a strong 72.6 yards and 4.22 hangtime. Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked off four times for the Texans with an average of about 66.5 yards and 4.18 hangtime. Definitely better for Elliott. On the season Elliott is averaging about 70.8 yards and 4.06 hangtime. The Eagles as a whole are averaging about 71.0 yards and 4.12 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 66.8 yards and 4.20 hangtime. Basically we're hitting it about four yards deeper while opponents are hitting it about a tenth of a second higher.

It looked to me like the snap to foot time on place kicks were in favor of the Texans. They seemed to get theirs down in about 1.27 seconds or so. The Eagles were closer to about 1.30. Good numbers for both teams, though it is somewhat rare when the Eagles aren't quicker than their opponents.

Elliott missed his only field goal attempt from a distance with an expectancy of about 53%. (I don't care what they showed on TV.) On the season he's now 6-of-8 from distances with an expectancy of about 6.43. So he's at a negative .43, which means he's a negative 1.29 points. His average attempt distance is 37.6 yards. His Elo Ranking dropped to 2263, which ranks twentieth. That's about 0.24 standard deviations below the mean. The rating of Eagles opponents improved to 2262, which would rank twenty-first and is 0.27 standard deviations below the mean. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2414, 3.05 STD); Carlson (2375, 2.20); Gano (2373, 2.16), Folk (2343, 1.50); and Myers (2328, 1.18). The Bottom Five (Six) are Maher/Sanders 2226 (-1.05); McLaughlin (2224, -1.09); York (2220, -1.18); Dicker-PS (2212, -1.36); and Crosby (2209, -1.42).

Other stuff:

* Shaun Bradley was penalized on the first Houston kickoff, setting the Eagles back to their own ten (or so). They still drove the length of the field.

* Britain Covey did a good job of avoiding a line drive punt at the six yard line which went into the endzone for a touchback.

* It looked to me like the snap on the missed field goal was a little low. The timing of the process may have been thrown off by this.

* Zech McPhearson made a great play as a gunner on one of the punts. He tackled the returner dead in his tracks as soon as he caught the ball. This is hard to do. Josh Jobe got into the tackle as well.

* Although it's not really special teams, I found it noteworthy. On the two point play from the one yard line, the Eagles brought in Cam Jurgens as an extra tight end/eligible receiver. This is not anything they had done all year. It looked to me like they were setting up some sort of trick play. And then he shuttled out wide, drawing a Houston defender to come with him. But this was all just window dressing for a quarterback sneak, which worked easily. Well done.

 

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Tonight on special teams:

"Roughing" the punter and ineligible man downfield ... and a couple Covey kick returns that were well short of the 25. 

You would think there would be one week by now where our special teams helped us more than hurt us. 

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2 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

You would think there would be one week by now where our special teams helped us more than hurt us.

But this is the thing... We've been saying all year that eventually STs will cost us a game. Now I'm not sure they cost us this one tonight but they certainly didn't help us. 

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13 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

But this is the thing... We've been saying all year that eventually STs will cost us a game. Now I'm not sure they cost us this one tonight but they certainly didn't help us. 

Can’t distinctly remember any particular play that cost them, but there were a lot of little things. The first big return on the first kickoff that got called back. They almost got the ball at midfield. How does the kick coverage simply let a guy go free to the kicker to the point he had to bring the ball down and run with it to kick it. It cost a penalty and rekick. Oh how about the first drive stupid roughing the passer call that extended that drive and let them drive down the field for a score. Of course Covey has been useless as a kick and punt returner. No I can’t completely blame special teams for this loss, but their fingerprints are all over this one. 

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Washington game.

Arryn Siposs punted four times although only three were official punts. I debated whether to include the "run-punt" and initially thought to exclude it, but it wasn't as horrible a punt as I initially thought so I counted it. His four punts averaged about 44.5 yards with 3.97 hangtime. Only one had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Only one was hit outside the numbers. Tress Way only had two official punts but actually punted three times. His three punts averaged about 44.7 yards with 4.27 hangtime. One had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. None were hit outside the numbers. I guess they had no concerns about hitting the ball to the middle of the field. The better statistical game goes to Way, putting the mark for Siposs at 1-8 on the year.

Eagles punt snap to foot times were a little better than Washington's, with the exception of Way's final punt of the game when it was imperative to simply get the ball off. That one came in under 1.9 seconds which is very good.

On the season, Siposs is averaging about 45.5 yards with 4.34 hangtime, 44% at 4.5 seconds or more, and 47% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 48.9 yards and 4.62 hangtime with 68% at 4.5 seconds and 65% hit outside the numbers. Clearly better numbers for the opposition, although I still maintain that Siposs hasn't been nearly as bad as most Eagles fans seem to think. The numbers are reflective of a decent NFL punter.

Jake Elliott kicked off four times. He averaged about 69.0 yards and 4.04 hangtime. Joey Slye punted off too many times -- six in total. He averaged about 68.3 yards and 4.17 hangtime. Slightly better game for the opposition. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.6 yards and 4.06 hangtime. Opposing kickoff guys are averaging about 67.1 yards with 4.19 hangtime. The Eagles average (Elliott and Dicker combined) is 70.9 yards and 4.12 hangtime.

Elliott did not attempt any field goals. On the season he is still 6-of-8 from distances with an expectancy of about 6.43 and an average attempt distance of 37.63, which is about a yard and a half shorter than the norm. Elliott's Kicking Rating remains at 2263, which ranks 20th in the league and is 0.21 standard deviations below the mean. The league average is 2273. The rating of Eagles Opponents improved to 2290, which would rank 14th and is 0.34 standard deviations above the mean. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2414, 2.99 STD); Gano (2377, 2.21); Carlson (2375, 2.16); Folk (2343, 1.49); and Myers (2336, 1.34). The Bottom Five kickers are McLaughlin (2222, -1.07); Vizcaino (2221, -1.09); Wright (2219, -1.14); Patterson (2208, -1.37); and Crosby (2197, -1.60).

Other stuff:

* The opening kickoff did not bode well for the game. The coverage until was unable to keep the Commanders return man from a big return. Fortunately it was negated because of a penalty. It looked to me like Wallace was held and it did impact the play, so good call.

* On the subsequent Way punt, the Eagles (Reed Blankenship) roughed the punter. At least they tried to do something there. But don't run into the punter, please.

* The Eagles are no longer using the "big guy" approach at the outside position on placekicks. After the Vikings blocked that field goal, the Eagles adjusted by putting Jordan Davis there. After he was injured they put Jordan Mailata there. But they're back to using Grant Calcaterra and it really didn't go that well. The left side of the line was susceptible to outside pressure. If I were an opposing special teams coach, I would surely look to create something off that edge. Prediction: We're going to get a kick blocked before the end of the season unless Davis or Mailata man that outside spot.

* Quez Watkins was back under the goal post on the final play of the first half, that long field goal that was made.

* It's disgusting how opposing kickers never seem to miss when attempting REALLY long field goals against the Eagles. It's been going on for decades. And it's not just our imagination as Eagles fans. It's statistically true. Since 2000, opposing kickers have made 8-of-10 field goal attempts from outside 55 yards. They should only have made about three or four of them when you do the math. Instead, it's like everyone suddenly becomes Justin Tucker when they're kicking against the Eagles.

* I'm pretty sure the Siposs line drive punt that went out of bounds early in the third quarter was intentionally hit that way. It wasn't a shank.

* There was atrocious blocking by the Eagles on the fourth quarter Washington punt that Covey fielded at the fifteen. The Eagles had a double team (McPhearson and Wallace) on the Commanders gunner on the left. He ran out of bounds, came off the sideline, and split the double team without any hindrance and engulfed Covey almost immediately. Brutally bad. Covey should have had some space to make a play but he did not.

* On the busted punt late in the game, who the hell knows what the Eagles were doing? Nakobe Dean didn't even bother to brush the man opposite him as he released downfield, and personal protector K'Von Wallace didn't even glance to his right before attempting to go downfield. The result was that a free rusher was on top of Siposs just like that. Fortunately he had some rugby experience and was able to escape and actually punt the ball respectably downfield. The Eagles of course were penalized on the play (not their fault, really) and had to re-do it all over again.

* On the subsequent punt, Dean actually made a strong effort to block his man so my guess is that he was at fault on the busted play. I'm kinda thinking that Dean isn't particularly good on special teams. And that when mistakes happen, Wallace is often there too.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been sick so it took longer than usual to do this. Here's the Colts game. I'm gonna keep this shorter than usual.

Arynn Siposs punted four times with an average of about 42.0 yards and 4.46 hangtime. One punt had 4.5 seconds or more hangtime. Two were hit outside the numbers. Matt Haack punted four times for Indianapolis. He averaged about 50.8 yards and 4.66 hangtime. Three had 4.5 seconds of hangtime. One was hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to the Colts, putting Siposs at 1-9 on the year.

On the season, Siposs is averaging about 45.2 yards and 4.36 hangtime with 43% at 4.5 seconds and 48% outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 49.1 yards and 4.62 hangtime with 68% at 4.5 seconds and 61% hit outside the numbers.

Snap to foot times on punts favored the Eagles considerably. The Colts punter was very deliberate, perhaps the slowest I've seen this year.

Kickoff were difficult to decipher. My best determination was that Elliott's four kickoffs averaged about 72.8 yards with 4.05 hangtime. Chase McLaughlin's five kickoffs averaged about 72.6 yards and 4.30 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.8 yards and 4.06 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 67.9 yards and 4.21 hangtime. The Eagles (Elliott and Dicker combined) are averaging about 71.0 yards and 4.11 hangtime.

Placekick snap to foot times were normal. Eagles probably a bit faster.

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from a distance with about a 97.6% expectancy. On the season, he's 7-of-9 from distances with a 7.41 expectancy. His Elo Rating remained at 2263, which ranks 22nd. The league average is 2278. The Rating of Eagles Opponents is now at 2284, which would rank 20th. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2415, 3.07); Gano (2377, 2.22); Carlson (2367, 1.99); Myers (2336, 1.30); Koo (2327, 1.10). The Bottom Five kickers are Wright (2228, -1.11); McLaughlin (2222, -1.25); Patterson (2208, -1.56); York (2204, -1.65); and Crosby (2201, -1.72). Naturally Crosby's rating will improve this coming week since he's kicking against the Eagles. A long attempt will surely be made.

Other stuff:

* Boston Scott is the new kickoff returner. He didn't get a chance to return a ball, however.

* Andre Chachere made an attempt to block a field goal from the edge. He almost kinda came close. The kick was wide anyway.

* Tyree Jackson is the new end guy on field goals and extra points. At least he's bigger than Calcaterra, who hasn't been good at this.

* The Colts really made a strong effort to block the winning PAT by Elliott. Their edge guy guessed (correctly) on the snap and beat Stoll around the end.

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It really says something when the other team is willing to return the ball from about eight yards deep in the endzone with only a couple minutes left in the game. Normally they'd maybe get to the fifteen...twenty if they're lucky. Normally they'll just take the touchback and the ball on the twenty-five. But they knew the Eagles coverage units were so awful that it was to their advantage to just bring it on out, even if it costs them ten seconds of play time. And of course the guy nearly goes the whole way.

It's embarrassing.

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