The Houston Texans have had a first interview with Jonathan Gannon this hiring cycle, but they got to see him make his case as a coaching candidate on Saturday night.
The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the New York Giants 38-7 in the NFC divisional playoffs at Lincoln Financial Field. Gannon’s defense smothered the Giants and kept the lid on quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley as Philadelphia’s offense built a 28-0 halftime lead.
The performance by the Eagles was more evidence that Gannon had taken the defense’s promising floor in 2021 and built upon it.
Here are four areas where Gannon’s defense excelled against New York.
4.4 yards per play
Here are some numbers to put into context how dominant the Eagles were in limiting the New York offense to 4.4 yards per play.
The worst offense in the NFL was the Houston Texans at 4.7 yards per play. The Giants offense averaged 5.2 yards per play, admittedly, the 11th-lowest in the league.
Not only did the Eagles hold the Giants well below their own average, but they exceeded their own. The Eagles and Jets were tied for the lowest yards per play surrendered at 4.8.
Sacking Daniel Jones
The Eagles led the NFL with 70 sacks, which averages to a little over 4.1 sacks per game. Philadelphia took down Jones five times. Throughout 2022, Jones was the eighth-most sacked quarterback in the NFL by sack percentage at 8.5.%. Nevertheless there were only three games where Jones was sacked five times going into divisional weekend, and the Eagles made sure they added a fourth, including postseason.
Second down efficiency
While third down is considered the money down, second down efficiency is critical as it sets up an offense’s chances to convert on third down.
The Eagles limited the Giants to 2.4 yards per play on second down. To put that into context, the worst team in the NFL at second down efficiency was the Los Angeles Rams at 4.3. The Giants’ own second down efficiency for 2022 was 5.6, the seventh-highest in the NFL.
Philadelphia was tied for the eighth-lowest second down efficiency on defense at 4.8 yards.
As it related to the Giants’ third down efficiency, New York was 5-13 (38%).
Three-and-outs
Takeaways are exciting ways to end an opponent’s drive, but, like most things in life, the boring parts are typically what comprise the success.
The Giants had four drives with the first beginning with 14:40 to go in the second quarter and the the fourth one beginning with 15:00 to go in the third quarter. All four drives were three-and-outs. The Giants offense simply could not get into a rhythm to keep pace with the Eagles’ offense, which had built a 28-0 lead by that point.
