Playcall balance under Andy Reid
by TGryn, originally written Jan 13 2006

I did a little breakdown of the Eagles' playcall balance under Reid, here it is:

1999: 57% passing (472 passes, 355 runs*) Pederson at QB, McNabb starts after week 9
2000: 65% passing (570 passes, 303 runs*)
2001: 62% passing (521 passes, 313 runs*)
2002: 58% passing (543 passes, 391 runs*) McNabb on IR week 12, Feeley starts
2003: 60% passing (483 passes, 326 runs*) 3-headed running attack: Buckhalter, Staley, Westbrook
2004: 59% passing (547 passes, 376 runs) Owens arrives, Buckhalter, Ritchie hurt
2005: 63% passing (620 passes, 365 runs) McNabb on IR week 11, McMahon starts

Prior to Owens arriving in '04, Reid had actually been reducing the percentage of
the offense that was passing for four years straight, culminating in '03 when 
the offense was virtually balanced. (Oct 2009 note: this is true until you remove
McNabb's 71 scrambles from the '03 numbers, which reduces the # runs considerably).
Then Reid got T.O., who'd arguably been the #1 weapon on offense while he was playing,
and lost Buckhalter and Ritchie. So I don't think its a case of Reid stubbornly throwing
regardless of the situation, more that he's altered the offense to fit the weapons he's 
had on hand.

2006: 57% passing (544 passes, 416 runs) Garcia starts last six games - under Garcia, 54% passing (203 passes, 176 runs)
2007: 58% passing (577 passes, 421 runs)
2008: 59% passing (606 passes, 427 runs)


Historical comparisons:
1981 Chargers: 57% passing (629 passes, 481 runs) highest # passes for Fouts/Air Coryell
1986 Dolphins: 65% passing (645 passes, 349 runs) highest # passes for Marino
1991 Oilers: 67% passing (667 passes, 331 runs) run and shoot offense
1991 Falcons 55% passing (499 passes, 410 runs) Red Gun offense
1995 Lions: 61% passing (605 passes, 387 runs) run and shoot offense


* Note: 1999-2003 numbers above remove runs by QBs and passes by non-QBs to try and
compensate for McNabb's scrambling, which in many cases were called passes which turned
into runs. This is why the #s for those years won't exactly match up with published NFL  
stats, but otherwise the analysis is open to the criticism that "many of the runs were
just scrambles by McNabb which pad the # runs stat." McNabb's rushing attempts fell    
considerably after 2003, and so I stopped making this adjustment to the numbers.