Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

49ers safety Antoine Bethea had one hell of a game against the Eagles — seven tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble — but it wasn’t all just great athleticism and football instincts. According to Bethea himself, the veteran safety decoded the Eagles’ audible signals:

Bethea, who wore a microphone during the game, knew what was coming before the Eagles snapped the ball facing 1st-and-10 at the 49ers’ 20-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Nick Foles surveyed the defense and called an audible by motioning with his hands over his helmet. In response, Bethea began pointing to his right and yelling: “Hey! Hey! Run! Run! Run! Run!”

The result: Defensive tackle Demarcus Dobbs drilled running back LeSean McCoy for a four-yard loss on a sweep left.

Earlier in the game, Bethea had told his teammates on the sideline a run was coming when Foles made a back-and-forth motion over his helmet, a tip that earned him an approving slap on the shoulder pad from defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. After Bethea came off the field shortly after Dobbs’ tackle, Tomsula, smiling broadly, sought him out for an enthusiastic handshake.

In response, Chip Kelly claimed they were limited in what calls they could make — even though they change the signals every week — because of their depleted front line. “You self-scout yourself in terms of what you’re doing from a formation standpoint,” Chip said, “but there are also sometimes when you are a little bit more limited in your game plan just because of who you have available to run what you want to run. To say, ‘Hey, this would be great to run this because they won’t think it’s coming,’ well if your guy doesn’t think it’s coming either it’s going to be real difficult for you.”

Either way, you definitely can’t use “motioning with his hands over his helmet” to mean run again this week. Or … can you? It’s the last thing they’d expect.

via PhillyMag