Phil Sheridan, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Rough starts have plagued Eagles offense

PHILADELPHIA -- The last 20 yards of a scoring drive are tough, as the Philadelphia Eagles' red zone problems have demonstrated all season.

The first 10 yards are no picnic, either, except when they are. It has been feast or famine for the Eagles all season. In some games, they get off to a quick start with successful drives right from the beginning. In other games, the Eagles seem unable to generate a first down for the entire first quarter.

The Eagles' past two games, losses to Seattle and Dallas, were examples of the latter.

"We have to execute better," coach Chip Kelly said. "We need to stay on the field on third down and convert those third downs into first downs. Usually with this offense, once we get one first down, we're in pretty good shape. But we have got to get that first first down. That's the key for us in terms of being successful on the offensive side of the ball."

Against Dallas on Sunday, the Eagles lost the ball when the opening kickoff fell shorter than they were prepared to handle. The Cowboys scored a touchdown. On the Eagles’ first two possessions, they went three-and-out. They punted twice and the Cowboys drove down and scored two more touchdowns. It was 21-0 before the Eagles got a single first down.

It was a similar story the week before against Seattle. The Eagles threw three incomplete passes and punted the ball away. After a defensive stop, the Eagles got the ball back when Seattle’s punter mishandled the snap. They converted that opportunity into a touchdown, but were unable to get a sustained drive going until Seattle regrouped and took the lead.

Earlier in the season, when the Eagles lost in San Francisco and Arizona, they had trouble keeping drives going. They got one first down on their opening drive against the 49ers, but had to punt quickly. In that game, the offense had trouble getting into a rhythm for other reasons, too. The Eagles scored three first-half touchdowns on a blocked punt recovery, an interception return and a punt return. Their offense never got going and didn't score the entire game.

In Arizona, the Eagles started with three incomplete passes and a punt. They did sustain a drive for a touchdown later in the first quarter. Two second-quarter drives were ended by turnovers -- another problem that has plagued the Eagles all season.

But when the offense is really clicking, it tends to do so from the start.

Against the Giants, the Eagles' first two drives lasted 10 plays each. One produced a field goal, the second a touchdown. The Eagles went on to rout New York 27-0.

In the first Dallas game, the Eagles went 80 yards in nine plays on their first possession. Mark Sanchez's 2-yard touchdown run ended that drive. His 15-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz ended their second possession, a 10-play, 81-yard drive.

So the Eagles experienced both extremes against the Cowboys. They came out and moved the ball with ease in Dallas. They couldn’t move the chains at all in Philadelphia.

"They didn't do anything we didn't expect," offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "There were a few new things, but nothing drastic. It was the total opposite of the first time we played them where we jumped up by two scores. We just got behind. So we didn't execute as well in the first couple series. We got it rolling. Then that's when we scored what amounted to be 24 straight points. It just comes back to execution."

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