Eagles Film Review: Midseason Offense Review

The Eagles' bye week comes at a really good time for the team. Coaches use the bye week to discuss all areas of the team and consider how the team can get better. I thought I would do the same this week, and try to imagine what the coaches might be looking at this week. So here is my midseason summary of the Eagles’ offense, and what I would be discussing if I was in the meetings! I won’t go into detail on every single point here because some of them are fairly obvious, but I’ll try to find some film or stats to back up my point. All stats that are included in this article are from Sports Info Solution, FTN Fantasy, and ESPN.

Strengths

Jalen Hurts development as a pocket passer

Hurts has had limited mobility the past few weeks, and his ability to win from the pocket has impressed me a lot. The Eagles’ coaches must be so happy with the development they are seeing from Jalen Hurts. It wasn’t too long ago we were saying plays like this very regularly.

Now we are seeing pocket presence like this...

Jalen Hurts processing speed

The other huge area of improvement from Jalen Hurts we have seen this year is his processing speed. The Eagles coaches deserve a lot of credit for developing his processing speed and Hurts has obviously worked hard at it. I can’t say enough about how good Hurts has been this year. There was a time when Hurts simply did not target the middle of the field. Go back to 2021 and we saw this.

And now we see this!

Elite wide receiver play

I don’t need to give you all the stats about AJ Brown. I think you’ve seen them all! The Eagles have one of the best, if not the best, receivers in the game right now. AJ Brown can win in every single way possible. He can win down the field and track the ball perfectly...

In contested situations...

Oh, and he can get YAC too, and turn shorter throws into big gains.

It’s not just AJ Brown though, DeVonta Smith reminded us this past week how special he can be as well.

D’Andre Swift’s value in the passing game

I think has been a huge improvement and possibly the biggest improvement from last year to this year. Miles Sanders was terrible as a receiver last year, and he ended up with only 20 receptions for 78 yards despite starting 15 games. This year, D’Andre Swift already has 30 receptions for 155 yards.

The Eagles’ ability to win

I don’t need to say anything else. All this team does is win under Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts’ leadership.

Areas for Improvement

Gap Scheme Run Game

The Eagles last year 1st in gap scheme success rate. The Eagles’ gap scheme run game was so beautiful.

The Eagles ran it all. QB Counter Bash. Counter Read. My personal favorite is Dart (tackle trap).

This year, we just aren’t seeing this anywhere near as much. The Eagles have gone from 1st in gap scheme rushing success rate to 27th in the NFL. There is no way this team, with this offensive line, should be 27th in gap scheme runs. The Eagles need to find a way to get the running game going, and I can’t help but feel we need to see some more counter and dart to try, even if it isn’t DeAndre Swift’s specialty, in order to get this running game going.

The RPO Game

The Eagles’ RPO game has improved of late, and it is still very good, but it was better last year. Last year, the Eagles had the 4th highest amount of RPOs (18% of snaps) and ranked 3rd in success rate. This year, the Eagles have the 7th highest amount (16% of snaps) but they rank 11th in success rate. The success rate has dropped from 55% to 43%.

Last year, there were games where the Eagles didn’t just throw slants off RPOs but actually took some deep shots.

The Eagles struggled at the start of this year with offensive linemen down the field and were called for a few penalties that seemed to stop them from running RPOs consistently. However, there has been some improvement of late and the Eagles look like they have got the RPO game back, but I still think they could build on the RPO success they have had on late.

The Eagles’ screen game

The Eagles have had a few nice screen passes this year, but it remains pretty average overall. The Eagles rank 19th in screen passes, and 15th in success rate. This may sound OK, but the Eagles’ offensive line are athletic freaks, and they should be better in this area. The Eagles have had some good screens, but it just feels like they are either predictable or poorly blocked. This feels like an area the Eagles have to improve, and I think it must come down to playcalling and when the screens are being called, rather than personnel because the offensive line is too good for this team to be a below-average screen team. However, even when the Eagles do call the perfect screen, someone seems to make a blocking error.

Turnovers

This one is a big one. The Eagles’ offense currently ranks 18th in giveaways this year, whereas last year they ranked 4th. Jalen Hurts has been great at taking care of the football over his career, but this year the Eagles rank 23rd in interception % which isn’t great. Hurts threw 6 interceptions last year, but this year he has already thrown 8. I think some of this is just bad luck, but it is fair to point out that a lot of Hurts' interceptions have come on taking deep shots down the field. This is a big part of the Eagles’ offense, and we probably have to accept that 6 interceptions was almost a bit flukey, but Hurts does need to do a better job taking care of the football and not force it.

Questions?

What happens if Hurts is no longer a big part of the Eagles’ running game?

I touched on this when looking at the gap scheme stuff earlier, but the Eagles’ run game when it involved Hurts was simply elite last year. The Eagles could not be stopped on plays like QB Counter Bash or QB draw. QB draw was a cheat code for the Eagles last year.

It’s easy to point to the injuries Hurts has suffered, but Hurts was not a big part of this running game even at the start of this year.

The question the Eagles now have to solve is - what happens if Hurts can’t be a big part of the run game this year? The Eagles have options. They could consider running more from under center and we have seen them effectively run from under center the past few years (and when Jalen Hurts was injured).

They could consider using motion (more on that later).

Do they consider bringing in Rashaad Penny and running more traditional gap scheme stuff?

This offense has an elite offensive line and elite weapons on the outside which means that the running game should not stop without the threat of Jalen Hurts. They need to look carefully at the running game and think about what they can do to improve it.

How do the Eagles replace Dallas Goedert?

Dallas Goedert is an elite tight end, and he’s going to miss the toughest part of the Eales’ season. The Eagles will almost certainly stop using 12 personnel and they need to consider whether Jack Stoll can handle being the starting tight end. If they go with Jack Stoll, this should hopefully improve the running game because he is a great blocker.

But, Jack Stoll is not a great receiver and won’t add a lot to this offense overall. I hope the Eagles’ coaching staff look carefully at Albert O, because it could be the time to give him a chance!

But, Albert O was a terrible blocker when in Denver and this could make the Eagles’ running game even worse. I’m excited to see what the Eagles will do.

Is it time for Pony Personnel?

Maybe we should stop thinking about how the Eagles are going to replace Dallas Goedert at tight end and start to think about other ways the Eagles can line up without Goedert. I think the idea of more than 21 personnel (Pony personnel - 2 backs) is incredibly appealing to me. We have seen the Eagles be really effective out of 21 personnel of late and it could cause defenses to have to prepare for something else in the running game. Here are just some examples we have seen of late...

Do the Eagles just not care about motion?

When once asked about motion, Nick Sirianni said that he didn’t want to rank 32nd in any category. Well, right now, the Eagles’ offense uses motion at the lowest rate in the league. However, the Eagles are actually 6th in success rate when using motion which suggests that it is something they are successful with, they just don’t do a lot!

When you look around the league, you see a lot of the best offenses using a lot of motion. To be honest, I don’t really care about the Eagles' lack of motion as long as the offense keeps playing well. But I still don’t want the Eagles ranking 32nd in anything that the stats show they are pretty good at. This example in particular stands out to me.

I know AJ Brown isn’t the biggest fan of being a decoy, but I think the Eagles should look around the league (especially at the Dolphins) and consider whether they could use some more motion to make the offense even more unpredictable. I know that you can’t do everything on offense, and the Eagles’ offense is already good, but you turn on the film from some of the top offenses around the league and you can’t help but think the Eagles could do more.

It’s just not the passing game though. Motion can really help create new blocking angles and distract linebackers, as well as force defenses to alter their run fits at the very last minute. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.

This was a long one. This offense has been really good overall and I am excited to watch it develop. I know I missed some stuff here (I could have gone on for longer!), so feel free to ask any questions about anything I may have missed and I’ll try to answer.