By Michael Bennett
The Eagles’ aggressiveness in fourth-and-short situations last season have been noteworthy. Why, though, were they in those situations so often?
It wasn’t merely chance.
It was partly the result of unconventional play calls on third down.
In the first three quarters, they ran the ball on third down 23.8 percent of the time, the third-highest rate in the NFL. Three out of every four times, they either gained enough for a first down or came within a yard of one.
| 1. Colts | 29.3% | 4.1 | 54.2% |
| 2. Bills | 28.2% | 7.2 | 64.0% |
| 3. EAGLES | 23.8% | 5.0 | 47.5% |
| 4. Browns | 22.9% | 7.1 | 68.6% |
| 5. Broncos | 22.5% | 5.0 | 63.4% |
| 27. Bucs | 13.5% | 4.2 | 70.0% |
