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What a win! This was the best game I have broken down all season. It was a proper team win and there was some good things to look at on both sides of the ball. Let’s just get to it.
The usual disclaimer - I will be breaking down film on my Twitter account and then uploading the tweets with some more analysis in this piece. I obviously cannot post everything so I will focus on certain things each week that stand out to me. I might see something a few times on film but only upload one example as you don’t need to see everything, so you will have to take my word if I say that I have seen something multiple times.
OFFENSE
I’ve spoken in recent weeks about the Eagles offense starting to have some staple concepts that they are running consistently. Flood/Sail/3 level stretch (whatever you want to call it) has become a staple and Jalen Hurts has been really good at the intermediate throw. This is why I really like this play - it is the same concept but thrown on the move to keep the defense guessing.
Eagles All22 Offense thread v. Broncos! Eagles staff have done a great job building on concepts of late. They have loved running sail/flood recently so they started getting into it from different looks. Here they roll Hurts out. Hurts is v good at hitting the intermediate route pic.twitter.com/o7wwRlHSUV
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
This may only seem like a checkdown but I think it highlights that Hurts is starting to eliminate what isn’t there quicker and is comfortable sitting in the pocket rather than running around when something is not there. In my eyes, I see this play as progress.
Strangely...really like this play from Hurts. To me, this is progress. Half field read, recognises he isn't going to get the ball to the vertical WR or Goedert (where he wants to go) but elimates quickly, steps up and hits the checkdown rather than try to extend the play. pic.twitter.com/38bfmvtHdA
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
This is lovely offensive design and just a great all around play. Dallas Goedert’s route is brilliant. Hurts’ pocket movement and accuracy is as good as I’ve ever seen from him. It seems very clear that Hurts is accurate when he is comfortable with what he is being asked to do. Anything outside his comfort zone (or when he gets confused) seems to badly impact his accuracy.
Phew, how good is this. Hard count, get them to jump, sort protection v 5. Know its cover 1 w/ 5 man pressure. Goedert wins on the 'over' or 'bender' - Hurts steps up in pocket, resets & delivers a strike. Pass pro is so so good here too (especially Dickerson!). This is awesome. pic.twitter.com/aqVOtvIm2K
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
This was not the same Eagles offense as the past few weeks just because there was a heavy emphasis on the run. This was much more of a shotgun game than under center like the past few weeks. There was a lot more creativity in the run game too than previous weeks. We saw a lot of inside zone and split zone as usual, but combined with some tackle-over, some QB counter with pulling guards across the formation. It was fun! Jordan Howard continues to look really good too. Both him and Boston Scott played well.
What makes Jordon Howard so good right now? Flow with the zone, quickly realise 22 has filled the initial gap, doesn't try and get outside, cuts it back quickly and gets downhill with no wasted movement. Falls forward on contact and picks up about 7 yards. Simple but effective. pic.twitter.com/6dGLM0aoiH
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
I am loving this 4 strong or 4 man flood being called once again. It puts so much stress on a defense but this time they just couldn’t connect due to pressure. I would have loved this play to have come off though and I am glad to see Nick Sirianni continuing to expand the playbook.
I am gutted Hurts got hit on this play and couldn't complete this because Eagles ran '4 strong' (or whatever you call it - 4 WR flood essentially) with Reagor almost hiding behind the TE before coming open late behind 2 deep. Pretty weird/awesome concept. Becoming another staple. pic.twitter.com/AUHfrIpFnu
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Let’s look at this once and never again... if we had lost this game this play would have been going viral.
Omg... Sirianni would have been RAGING if we lost this game after this. Perfect call v. Blitz. Dickerson & Maliata get out perfectly. It's the easiest touchdown of all time, 2 OL vs 1 DB and they someone screw it up!! Thank goodness we won & this didn't matter... pic.twitter.com/FlVucwueLC
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
The Broncos’ gameplan to blitz a lot seemed quite strange to me but Sirianni and Hurts had the answers to the test this week. There was some great man beaters called and Hurts seemed to always know exactly where to go with the football. He never seemed panicked or rushed and trusted everyone around them to do their job. It was a really professional display on offense. The Eagles coaching staff deserve huge credit for getting the Eagles this prepared for this game. Everyone looked really good in the first half and that is a really promising sign.
Sirianni was cooking against man coverage this game. Was taking apart the blitz & seemed to have a great feel for Denver's defense early on. Condensed split means CB has outside, move Smith in motion to confirm man coverage, throw the shallow cross. Easy money = 1st down. pic.twitter.com/xtSSKoPzys
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Again... classic man beater & example of putting your best player in a position to succeed. Put Smith in condensed split, CB has to have outside lev, spread out options so he is left 1v1. Great job by Hurts ignoring the rush and knowing Smith will be open. It all looked... easy! pic.twitter.com/FhCToq1Czc
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Again, Hurts knows exactly where to go. What I love about this play too is how Hurts just shows no care at all for the pressure right in his face. He stays calm, does not panic and releases an absolute strike. This is the type of play I was not sure he had in him to be honest. A good sign.
Right... if Hurts starts making throws like this under pressure... we might just have something here Not getting carried away yet but this was easily the best Hurts has looked in the pocket. He looked really confident in the pocket this week. pic.twitter.com/tV35GLJme4
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Now for the slight negative on Hurts... I think the Broncos confused him twice in the second half when they played more zone and use some post-snap safety movement. This throw might actually be open but if will require a heck of a throw and you have to eliminate one side of the field far quicker. Hurts pauses for just a second before throwing but it is enough time for this to nearly get picked. The positives from me is that Hurts is even attempting to throw a backside corner route. I don’t think he even gets this far in the progressions a few weeks ago.
Would have been interesting if Eagles had to throw late as Broncos went to zone and confused Hurts more. This is a tough throw against Surtain & Hurts is slightly too late. This is a more difficult throw & highlights he still needs to speed up processing on harder throws. pic.twitter.com/C2RckNR3e2
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Shoutout Jack Stoll!! He is playing really well as a run blocking tight end.
Bit of a random mention but I'm going to do it anyway!! Jack Stoll is awesome on split zone and had a number of really good blocks coming across the formation. So shoutout Jack Stoll! pic.twitter.com/7PGRkxxF4s
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
An example of Hurts getting confused by post-snap safety movement and forcing a ball under pressure. I’m not sure about the design of this play either, seems quite a predetermined throw and not sure it was needed in this particular game and situation. At least Sirianni was aggressive at least.
Hurts pick also wasn't great, seems like he failed to read the safety and thought he had Watkins 1on1. He missed this throw to Reagor a few weeks ago so maybe he had that in his mind. Anyway, regardless of the deflection this throw is not open. Safety is all over this. pic.twitter.com/yezkcMLCXE
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
One final shoutout to Jordan Howard, this offensive line and Jack Stoll because... why not?
Final one... Eagles running game was awesome at the end. Howard & the OL looked very good. Bit of power here with Kelce/Johnson moving so well for big guys. Check out Stoll's block too! Great block on 96 to create a lane and then gets up to the 2nd level! Howard trusts this OL. pic.twitter.com/pceIgYrRDs
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
DEFENSE
This was such a fun game to break down from a defensive standpoint. The Eagles have transformed from a passive, boring defensive to a really creative defense right now. Jonathan Gannon obviously needed a few weeks before he started throwing out some new wrinkles but it was fun to watch. The first drive set the tone, the Eagles played press man and were disguising their coverages all game with late safety movement.
Eagles All22 Defense thread v. Broncos. Eagles defense is really changing and showing new looks weekly. Cover 1 press man here. I like how the Eagles deal with motion by moving Maddox & leaving Slay outside. Also enjoyed Harris showing presnap C2 then coming down to cover TE. pic.twitter.com/eZFjZFuUHm
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
This is just awesome defense by everyone. The Eagles used a combination of man/zone frequently throughout the game and Teddy really was confused. I won’t get into huge detail about the benefit of combination coverages (I will write in the offseason if you would like) but if run correctly it can really confuse a quarterback and help against man-beating formations (such as stacks, bunches).
Awesome team D. Safetys go MFC presnap to MFO post. Avery shows blitz then covers TE. Playing 2 high with man to the right side but zone to the left. Great pressure from Sweat and Barnett. The coverages are becoming way, way more complicated which is so good to see! pic.twitter.com/BVKLgOQKnV
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
I know some people will say this stuff doesn’t matter but I will gladly disagree. I love this stuff.
Last few weeks, Eagles D has been way more aggressive and quick to close. I know this isn't 'scheme' or 'talent' but I love this stuff. Maddox flies out to Jeudy and Edwards comes along and buries him. Give me an aggressive defense who rallies to the ball please. pic.twitter.com/wPui8DVOMz
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Feel like I need to give Fletcher Cox a shoutout every so often because he’s still a pretty good defender who some fans have forgotten about because he is not as dominant as he once was.
Cox has made some plays in the run game recently. Look at the quickness here to be aggresive and get upfield. pic.twitter.com/TmTsc8KAQ2
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Again, just great team defense. Mixing up coverages and the defensive line wins again. Barnett had the best game I’ve seen in a while. It was weird seeing the Eagles confuse an opposing quarterback with some different coverages, it has been a long time since I can say that about an Eagles team. I mean, a LONG time!
This is fun. Teddy was lost out there. Press man on the isolated WR and zone on the 2 to the right. Really helps against man beaters if you can do it correctly. Zone defenders do a good job passing guys off & brilliant rush by Barnett & Hargrave gets big sack. pic.twitter.com/fHj2WTvygO
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
I really do think these two cornerbacks have been superb this year. Darius Slay has certainly had a bounce back year and aonte Maddox is proving he is a very good slot cornerback. He is aggressive, good in coverage and can play the run well too. I really hope the Eagles bring him back quickly or a team is going to give him a good contract in free agency this offseason.
I thought Slay and Maddox were lights out this game. Slay shuts down Sutton here and Maddox does about as good as a job against Jeudy as you can do. Jeudy is an elite route runner. DL does great job getting pressure too! pic.twitter.com/mpuC5mPODE
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
This is also an exciting sign! Milton Williams is showing up every week at the moment with a splash play here or there. This is a really encouraging play as the knock on him pre draft was his size and whether he can handle playing inside. Well, here he is taking on two defenders and taking down the running back. I am excited to watch his tape in more depth in the offseason because I think he is getting better and better each week.
Do you know who else is flashing every week right now? Milton Williams! He came into the season as an undersized DT (some even saw him as an edge) and now here he is taking on double teams and making the tackle. I'm really encouraged by him so far. pic.twitter.com/MvsN71pWOw
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Again, another different call by the Eagles that I really like. Being aggressive on this on 3rd down against a quarterback who can’t create almost guarantees that he will check it down. If you can rally to the ball quickly and make the tackle like Edwards/Maddox do here, you can hopefully make the tackle before the first down. I also just like throwing different looks at quarterbacks to make them think. It is hard to measure the impact that switching up coverages can have but I think it is important.
Really like this call on 3rd and medium too. Pretty much forces the short throw and if you rally quickly you can make the stop as Singleton and Epps do. Singleton shows blitz then bails out quickly. Edwards/Maddox come instead. pic.twitter.com/uhg8oySgxI
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
Teddy looks like he has no idea what he is seeing here and he is a pretty smart quarterback both pre and post snap. This wasn’t a one read and run young quarterback the Eagles were confusing. Teddy is a veteran now and the Eagles defense really did confuse him which is a positive sign moving forward.
I've not seen the Eagles make a QB look as lost as they did with Teddy this week. Once again, zone to Teddys left and man coverage to his right. He has no clue where to go with the ball. Eagles gameplan against the pass really was good. pic.twitter.com/2L5PaWA2tT
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
What a fun game to break down! As always, any questions or comments you have just leave below. Cheers guys and lets hope for another win!
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