Understanding A Staple Of The Eagles' Offense

Gentlemen, I have my schematic hat on today. It gives me great pleasure to provide a thorough breakdown of the design and execution of one of the staple plays of the Eagles' offense.

If you pay attention, you will not only gain a greater understanding of the Hi-Lo concept that is so critical to our offense, but you will also grasp how this versatile concept is designed to beat various standard defensive coverages.

Step up, concentrate, and imbibe deeply of that timeless, 200-proof DSmith215 wisdom. Mmmmmm, it goes down smooth.

I present, on behalf of Team Erudition:

Posse Left 629 Cross TE Read

If you're at all interested in the technical side of football and you're an Eagles fan, you know about this play. You may not know it by name, but you'd probably recognize it as an Andy Reid classic even if you saw it run by a different team. You may have even run it in Madden a few times.

This play is designed to have a viable receiving option regardless of the coverage run against it, and it's a go-to play at many different down-and-distance situations for the Eagles.

Schematically, the play looks like this:

(All Images created by DSmith215)

If you're one of the very small group of people who looked at that diagram and said, "Oh yeah, that play," pat yourselves on the back for being a schematically sound fan. What I'm going to do for you all is break down the structure and terminology of the play, then walk you through the routes.

This play is run out of the Eagles' most common offensive set, which Andy and Marty call "Posse." It's 3 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE. The play is run with a five step drop, a mild left slant to the QB's dropback, and a pocket designed to be stronger to the QB's blind side. In this play, LeSean McCoy has no route to run, only a pass protection assignment biased toward the right side.

The name of the play gives you a lot of good info as to how it's set up. The personnel grouping is "Posse Left" because Avant is in the slot (Y) to the left of the OL, which in this case is the weakside. Maclin is up on the line as the Split End, (X) and DeSean is alone on the right, back behind the LOS as the flanker, (Z). Their routes are numbered left to right because their lettered assignments would be written left to right: X, Y, Z. Celek, as the single TE, has an option route. However, he only exercises the option in specific circumstances, which I'll get into later.

So, from left to right:

Maclin's route, the "6": In this play, Maclin will run an 7-10 yard square-in route which breaks toward the strongside of the formation. He comes off the line as though he were running a fly route, or "9", in an attempt to get the DB to give him a too-large cushion which will result in his being wide open when he breaks to the inside.

This is an effective bluff since Jeremy is very fast and the Eagles do have a few plays from this formation which are "99" plays, or double-streaks on the outside.

Avant's route, the "2": This route is the heart and soul of the play. First thing to note: "2" is the number for a slant, and Avant isn't really running an extended slant here. It's actually a much more nebulous drag/cross route which varies in its spacing and depth based on how Avant reads the coverage in mid-sprint. Marty sends Avant out into this route so often some people actually call it the "Philly cross" or "Eagle cross".

The reason this route is numbered as a "2"  is because Avant runs the first part of it as a slant with a hard inside release move. If the blitz comes heavy from the weakside, Vick can throw to Avant as though Jason were running a standard slant, a widely-used blitz-defeating route. Avant, as you all should know, is a terrific route runner, so while this route requires a lot of discipline, #81 has the skills to pay those bills. (Interestingly, as Maclin has developed his route running, Marty has started giving him this route as well.)

Jackson's route, the "9": No fancy tricks here. DeSean gets going behind the LOS and runs vertically. As the route develops, he will bend it toward the sideline. There are two interesting things about this route, though.

Interesting thing one: DeSean will often give himself another half-step back from the LOS in this personnel package because he wants extra time to get up to speed. There are two reasons for this. One, DeSean's release technique sucks dirty ditch-water, (sorry, it's the truth, watch some film,) so he can use the extra speed to avoid a jam, and two, the extra speed eats up the DB's cushion faster, making the streak deadlier.

Interesting thing two: the reason DeSean bends so many of his go routes toward the sideline is because of how small he is. He's never going to be able to out-muscle a DB for the ball, so Marty has the QB throw it where either DeSean's going to grab it or it's going to go sailing out of bounds.

Celek's route, the "Option": Celek runs a simple out route with a short curl option. Celek will only run the curl option if he sees a blitz coming, especially from the SAM 'backer who would usually be covering him. Celek can also be ordered into the curl at the line by the QB, although Eagles QBs are rarely given a lot of freedom to do route adjustments pre-snap.

So, that's how the play is designed. Here's why it's so effective against various standard defenses.

Posse Left 629 Cross TE Read vs. 2-Man Coverage:

Here is a vanilla 2-Man look against this play. I'm assuming, for simplicity's sake, that the defenses will be run out of an ordinary 4-2-5 Nickel defense. In this defense, the scheme is to keep both safeties back to guard against the deep ball, and to trust their DBs and LBs to handle their men one-on-one.

DeSean isn't a good look for Vick in this situation, as he's going to end up double-covered pretty much every time. However, the matchup of Avant on the opposing NB is one the birds will take every time. Also, if the defense's RCB gives Maclin a big cushion, he often ends up wide open in front of the safeties.

You all have probably seen this happen a lot and perhaps wondered, "How did Maclin get so open there?" Well, dudes, that's how. This deep square-in route has sort of become the Jeremy Maclin special. (Ironically, T.O. used to be great at this route. Remember?) Another option against this coverage is a quick throw to Celek if Marty thinks the opposing LB is over-matched.

Posse Left 629 Cross TE Read vs. Cover-1 Coverage:

Here's a Cover-1 look against this play. 1 safety high, WLB in a short zone, SS with a long-cover on the RB, normal man-on-man everywhere else. Against this coverage, Vick will look primarily for Avant in the "second window", meaning he has run past the LB's short zone, and for DeSean on his deep route.

Often in Cover-1, the FS will move to run with Maclin after he makes his break to the inside, as the RCB will have no help and be pursuing from the backside of the play. This leaves DeSean one-on-one running downfield. We score a lot of touchdowns that way. Celek is a bad choice as the SS has a good angle to get to him along with the SLB if he catches a pass in the flat.

Posse Left 629 Cross TE Read vs. Cover-2 Coverage:

Here's the play against a standard 4-2-5 Cover-2. Against this play, Cover-2 is the best defensive call. When our division opponents think this play or some variant of it is coming, their standard call or audible is to a Cover-2 defense.

In Cover-2, DeSean's deep route is shut down by the two high safeties, Celek will be running right into the LCB's zone in the flat, Avant will be running through the entire cloud of short zones on his cross, and the safeties are back to contain the damage if Maclin gets the ball on his square-in.

The birds have three options if a Cover-2 is called against this play. None of them are super great. First, Vick can throw the ball to Celek right away and hope he runs the LCB over. Second, Vick can throw the ball to Maclin before he makes his break inside in the gap between the RCB's and FS's zone. This can work, but it means Jeremy really needs to be awake. Third and last, Vick can bomb it to DeSean if he thinks the SS is out of position or if DeSean has beaten the press at the line (remember Cover-2 usually calls for press coverage by the CBs at the LOS,) and has gotten a free run into the secondary. This doesn't happen very often because, as mentioned earlier, DeSean's release technique stinks like a thousand ancient sewers.

Posse Left 629 Cross TE Read vs. Cover-3 Coverage:

This play works great against Cover-3. If the Birds catch a defense in Cover-3 with this play called, they usually get a big chunk of yardage. That's because Cover-3 is vulnerable to the two deepest routes in the play: Maclin's square-in and DeSean's streak.

In Cover-3, the FS is kept high in "center field" while the CBs backpedal furiously. The SS moves forward toward the LOS, (this is why Cover-3 is great against the run,) while the NB and the SLB cover the flats as best they can. The WLB provides the other short zone in the middle along with the SS.

Since Maclin is coming off the line as though he were running a 9 route, the RCB will give him lots of cushion. Therefore, when Maclin makes his break, he'll likely be open with only the FS in between him and the endzone, as the RCB will be pursuing from the backside after having to come out of his backpedal and change direction completely. The SS is moving toward the LOS and the LCB will be busy trying to keep up with DeSean, who actually is running a 9. Don't you trust Jeremy to make a lone FS miss one-on-one? Yep, Marty does too.

DeSean's route is particularly deadly against a Cover-3 because of its bend to the sideline. The single high safety in Cover-3 gets pinned in the middle because for a while, it looks like DeSean and Maclin are both running streaks. Therefore, when DeSean bends his streak to the outside, he'll have a good one-on-one with the LCB, and the FS will usually be too late to catch up if Jackson can make the grab.

How Vick chooses his guy in about 3.5 seconds:

When the ball is snapped, the first thing Vick does is read the safeties. If he sees single high, he's anticipating some form of either Cover-1 or Cover-3, both of which are vulnerable to DeSean's deep route and to Maclin's square-in.

If he sees both safeties back, he's anticipating some form of either 2-Man or Cover-2, both of which have a positive look to Celek or to Avant at some point in his special crossing route.

If a blitz comes, Vick counts on Celek to run his curl option if the blitz comes from the defense's left, or he'll throw the ball to Avant on a functional slant if the blitz comes from the defense's right.

The Implications:

Just to be very clear, this Hi-Lo concept isn't unique to this play, nor is it unique to the Eagles. The Hi-Lo system is a staple of the West Coast Offense, and the Eagles run a variant of it out of many different personnel groupings, off the play-fake, and even near the goal line.

However, the Hi-Lo construct is especially prominent in Andy Reid's system and takes advantage of the types of skill position players that the Birds have collected over the years. Next time you're watching an Eagles game, be alert for these kinds of concepts, as noticing them will help you understand how Andy and Marty attack defenses.

That's all, folks.

I hope you have emerged from this better informed and with material you can use to lecture your fellow Eagle fans on how our offense works.

Two final things:

One: if you honestly already knew all of this, shout yourself out in the comments. You are a schematic baller and deserve it.

Two: Jason and Co., if I don't get front-paged after all of this work, I will have to assume you are working in concert with CNCITINFO and beat you with dead fish. (/s)

May your joys be many and your nights merry, and may the Birds finally win a Superbowl.