Inside the Numbers: Wis Outplays Warmack

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) — We've told you for weeks on The Sports Bash that Stefen Wisniewski is the Eagles' best option at left guard and now we have some empirical evidence to back it up.

After watching Issac Seumalo struggle through two games and his replacement, Chance Warmack, coming out slowly against the New York Giants,  Doug Pederson and Jeff Stoutland went to a rotation and gave Wisniewski a chance.

It likely won't be his last as Wisniewski actually got more playing time than Warmack (44 reps to 32) and he also greatly outperformed the former Alabama star grading out at a solid 82.4 by ProFootballFocus.com versus 43.4 grade for Warmack.

Coming off Seumalo allowing four sacks in Kansas City and Warmack getting beaten early by Jay Bromley during Sunday's 27-24 win over the Giants, Wisniewski entered and stemmed the tide, not allowing a pressure of any kind.

The Eagles utilized more of a dink and dunk attack against a solid New York front as only three of Carson Wentz's 29 pass attempts traveled more than 10 yards in the air, a stark contrast from the first two games. In the opener, 14 of 36 attempts traveled over 10 yards and in Week 2 the number increased to 26 of 43.

Alshon Jeffery had the big catch to set up the 61-yard Jake Elliott game winner but he isn't seeing many throws capable of being hauled in. According to PFF, only 53.5 percent of Jeffery's targets have been deemed catchable in 2017 (15 of 28).

On the other hand, tight end Zach Ertz has caught 21 of 25 total pass targets this season which gives him a catch rate of 84.0 percent, on pace to top his previous best, which was 77.2 percent last season.

In the running game, LeGarrette Blount earned his reputation as a bruiser, gaining 5.5 of his 5.6 yards per attempt after contact.

Defensively, Jalen Mills is like Philadelphia in rush hour -- he sees a lot of traffic. The Eagles' second-year corner was targeted 21 times on Sunday, the most ever in the PFF era (2006-2017).

Outside of getting burned on the 77-yard score to Sterling Shepard, Patrick Robinson played very well, an 88.3 game grade, the second-best mark of the week in the NFL for any CB.

Tim Jernigan, who is fitting in nicely in Jim Schwartz's defense, matched a career-high by playing 50 defensive snaps.

As expected with Eli Manning on the docket the Eagles put the blitz in their hip pocket, sending an extra rusher just 13.2 percent of the time.

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen