Eagles' DeVonta Smith Did Something That Hadn't Been Done in 82 Years

Roob Stats: Smith does something that hadn't been done in 82 years originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Nine sacks in a game? A huge passing day for a second straight week? A first-half scoring record?

The Eagles’ 24-8 win Sunday over the Commanders in Landover, Md., was the kind of game that was so jammed with statistical oddities that one Roob Stats column just wasn’t enough.

So we took our giant mountain of numbers and broke it up into two. For a special Jalen Hurts edition of Roob Stats, click here! And here are our 10 non-Jalen Week 3 Eagles stats! 

1. Let’s start with DeVonta Smith, whose 169 receiving yards were the most by an Eagle since Jeremy Maclin had 187 in a loss at Arizona in 2014. It was the most yards any Eagle had against Washington in 29 years, since Calvin Williams had a 181-yard game at the Vet in 1993. The only Eagle with more yards in Washington was Don Looney, who had 180 in a game at Griffith Stadium in 1940. It was the most yards by an opposing player in Washington since Mike Evans had 209 yards for the Bucs in 2014. Smith and A.J. Brown (85 yards) combined for 254 yards. The last Eagles wide receiver duo with more yards in a game was Maclin (187) and Riley Cooper (88), who combined for 275 in a loss in Arizona in 2014. Brown (309 yards) and Smith (249 yards) are the first pair of Eagles ever with at least 249 yards through three games. And Brown is the first Eagle with at least 69 yards in each of the first three games since T.O. in 2005.

2. The Eagles’ nine sacks equal the fourth-most in franchise history, since sacks became an official stat in 1982. They were just two shy of the team record of 11 set in Dallas in 1991. It was the second-most sacks ever recorded in a game against Washington and the most ever in a home game. The Bills had 10 sacks against Washington in Buffalo in 2011. The last time a team had more sacks in a road game? That would be the Eagles against the Jets at the Meadowlands in 2019.

3. With Brandon Graham recording 2.5 sacks and Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat and Fletcher Cox 1.5 each, this was the second time ever – and the first time in 26 years – that four Eagles have had at least 1.5 sacks in the same game. In a 19-10 win over the Giants at the Meadowlands in 1996, Mike Mamula had 2.5, Rhett Hall, William Fuller 2.0 sacks and William Thomas 1.5 each.

4. Graham, who was 34 years, 175 days old on Sunday, also became the oldest Eagle in 26 years with 2.5 sacks in a game. Fuller was 34, 289, when he had three sacks in a game against the Cards late in that 1996 season at the Vet. Graham is the oldest NFL player with a 2.5-sack game in three years, since the Titans’ Cameron Wake had 2.5 in the 2019 opener in Cleveland. He was 37 years, 221 days old.

5. By holding the Vikings to seven points and Washington to eight, the Eagles have recorded consecutive games allowing eight or fewer points for the first time in 18 years. In 2004, the Eagles beat Washington 28-6 at the Linc and the Giants 27-6 at the Meadowlands. The Eagles have now allowed fewer than 20 points in 12 of 20 games since Jonathan Gannon became defensive coordinator. Only the Broncos with 13 have limited more teams to fewer than 20 points over that time. 

6. The Eagles are the first team in NFL history to score 24 first-half points in each of their first three games. The closest any other team has come was the 2019 Chiefs, who opened their Super Bowl season by scoring 23 first-half points against the Ravens, 28 against the Raiders and 23 against the Jaguars. The 1948 49ers also came close, opening the season with 27 against the New York Yankees, 22 vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers and 28 against the Bills. The Eagles are the second team to score 17 or more points in the second quarter in each of their first three games. The 1986 Cowboys did it as well (21, 17, 17).

7. Rookie tight end Grant Calcaterra’s 40-yard catch in his first NFL game made him the fifth Eagle since the merger in 1970 with a reception of at least 40 yards in his first career game: Jason Dunn is the only other tight end on the list. He had a 54-yard catch from Rodney Peete in the 1996 opener against Washington at RFK Stadium. In 2008, DeSean Jackson caught a 47-yard pass from Donovan McNabb in the Eagles’ opener against the Rams at the Linc. In 2016, Bryce Treggs – yes, Bryce Treggs – caught a 58-yarder from Carson Wentz in a mid-season loss to the Giants at MetLife Stadium. And in the 2020 opener, Wentz connected with Jalen Reagor on a 55-yard pass play that remains Reagor’s longest career reception. For Dunn, Jackson Reagor and Calcaterra, the big play was their first career reception. Treggs had an 11-yard catch earlier in the game. 

8. The top two receivers in the NFL on Sunday were Eagles draft picks, Smith with 169 yards and Mack Hollins with 158 yards for the Raiders. This was only the second time in history two Eagles draft picks had 150 receiving yards on the same day. On Dec. 20, 2015, the Eagles’ Jordan Matthews had 159 yards against the Cards and Washington’s DeSean Jackson had 153 yards against the Bills. Hollins’ 158 yards were the 

9. With the Eagles’ win, Nick Sirianni improved to 12-8 as a head coach (and 9-2 in his last 11 games), a .600 winning percentage, which is the highest in franchise history (not counting interim coaches). He moved ahead of both Greasy Neale, who coached the Eagles to the 1948 and 1949 NFL Championships (and was an outfielder on the Cincinnati Reds team that beat the White Sox in the infamous 1919 Black Sox Scandal World Series), and Andy Reid, the fifth-winningest coach in NFL history, with the win in Washington. Here’s a look at the highest winning percentages among Eagles head coaches:

.600 … Nick Sirianni [12-8]
.590 … Greasy Neale [63-43-5] 
.583 … Andy Reid [130-93-1]
.563 … Rich Kotite [36-28] 
.553 … Chip Kelly [26-21] 
.552 … Jim Trimble [25-20-3]
.551 … Buddy Ryan [43-35-1]

10. Finally, this: Cox and Graham went into Sunday’s game tied for fifth place in Eagles history with 59.5 sacks. Cox picked up 1.5 sacks in the first quarter to take over sole possession of fourth place on the all-time Eagles list at 61. But Graham then added 2.5 sacks to increase his career total to 62, move into fourth and bump Cox back down into fifth. The top five now looks like this: Reggie White (124), Trent Cole (85.5), Clyde Simmons (76), Graham (62), Cox (61).