- #15: 2009
Week 6: Eagles 9, Raiders 13 (ρ=1.2855) - Eagles' season: finished 11-5, clinched the #6 seed in the NFC, and lost to the Cowboys in the Wildcard round..
- Raiders' season: finished 5-11 in Tom Cable's first full season as head coach.
- What happened: the 2009 Eagles won and lost by their offense. When they scored 24 or more points, they won, and when they didn't, they lost. But they were facing the Raiders, who had a pretty bad defense in 2009—every opponent they faced (except for one) scored a touchdown on them.
- The problem was, the Eagles were that one exception. Looking at the stats (24 incomplete passes, 6 sacks, and only 67 yards rushing), it looks very much like a pretty epic break-down of the Eagles offensive line.
- Also of note: the Eagles and Chiefs were the only opponents the Raiders faced in 2009 that didn't score at least 17 points. I also wrote about this game in the 2009 Week 6 Pick Results, as well as the top upsets for 2009.
Next week: sometimes even a good offense needs help from
the defense (part 1).
