Eagles coach Chip Kelly says his team is better than its 1-3 record looks, as Philadelphia is two field goals away from 3-1. That’s not entirely true, as we don’t know how those two games would have played out if the Eagles had made the two field goals in question, but Kelly at least has a point that his team has been competitive in all but one game.
However, if Kelly is going to make the argument that a close loss is really a game that could have been a win if you change one play, he needs to acknowledge that the Eagles’ only win, 24-17 over the Jets, was also a one-score game. And if you look at how the Eagles have played in one-score games in comparison to the rest of the NFL, it turns out that the Eagles really don’t look any better.
Here’s a ranking of all 32 NFL teams in order of what their record be if we removed all the one-score games:
UNDEFEATED
Packers 3-0 (1-0 in one-score games)
Cardinals 3-0 (0-1 in one-score games)
Jets 3-0 (0-1 in one-score games)
Falcons 2-0 (2-0 in one-score games)
Bengals 2-0 (2-0 in one-score games)
Panthers 2-0 (2-0 in one-score games)
Giants 2-0 (0-2 in one-score games)
Broncos 1-0 (3-0 in one-score games)
Patriots 1-0 (2-0 in one-score games)
Steelers 1-0 (1-2 in one-score games)
WINNING RECORD
Bills 2-1 (0-1 in one-score games)
Vikings 2-1 (0-1 in one-score games)
.500
Seahawks 1-1 (1-1 in one-score games)
Cowboys 1-1 (1-1 in one-score games)
Washington 1-1 (1-1 in one-score games)
Titans 1-1 (0-1 in one-score games)
Browns 1-1 (0-2 in one-score games)
Texans 1-1 (0-2 in one-score games)
Ravens 0-0 (1-3 in one-score games)
LOSING RECORD
Buccaneers 1-2 (1-0 in one-score games)
49ers 1-3 (no one-score games)
WINLESS
Rams 0-1 (2-1 in one-score games)
Raiders 0-1 (2-1 in one-score games)
Chargers 0-1 (2-1 in one-score games)
Saints 0-1 (1-2 in one-score games)
Eagles 0-1 (1-2 in one-score games)
Colts 0-2 (2-0 in one-score games)
Bears 0-2 (1-1 in one-score games)
Jaguars 0-2 (1-1 in one-score games)
Chiefs 0-2 (1-1 in one-score games)
Dolphins 0-2 (1-1 in one-score games)
Lions 0-2 (0-2 in one-score games)
This exercise probably doesn’t mean much of anything, but Kelly seems to want his team to get credit for close losses. The reality is, every team’s record looks better if you remove the close losses. But when you also remove the close wins, the Eagles remain near the bottom of the league.