Another week, another scrappy win by an Eagles team found yet another way to prevail in a close game. In front of our eyes, they are slowly becoming a resilient bunch.

It wasn’t pretty for the defense (Keenan Allen is still running), but the offense was sharp and picked up the slack. Good teams are able to find multiple paths to victory.

https://twitter.com/PatrickMCausey/status/914629152334139392

We may have a decent squad on our hands.

Run/Pass Option: Free Yards and Running Room

Leading up to the game, Chargers linebackers were the popular choice as a matchup that the Eagles could look to exploit. Most predicted the below-average and banged up group to have trouble holding down the running game. They also presented a dream matchup inside for Zach Ertz or Nelson Agholor.

Clearly, Doug Pederson and his staff felt the same way. After successfully establishing the run early in the game, Carson Wentz and the offense began to toy with them, putting them in situations where they were guaranteed to be wrong.

After gashing the defense a few times with the run, Pederson began calling run/pass option plays to take advantage of the over-pursuing linebackers.

A run/pass option play can serve two purposes. First, it provides Wentz with a few quick and easy throws when the defense chases hard after the run– free yards. Second, after aggressively chasing the running back on multiple occasions only to hear the ball whiz right by their heads, defenders begin to slow their roll, leaving room for the running backs.

On Sunday, the Eagles were able to capitalize on both of these benefits.

The first one came early in the second quarter with the Eagles already up by 10. Wentz took the snap while watching the reaction of backside linebacker Korey Toomer (#56). Toomer came aggressively downhill after Blount, leaving the middle of the field wide open. Wentz the pulled the ball and hit Ertz on a quick slant into the void:

On the very next play, Pederson dials it up again from a different formation, this time keying on Hayes Pullard (#50). The Eagles run an outside zone to the short side of the field causing Pullard to flow to his right with the play. Wentz takes advantage of Pullard’s jump, pulls the ball and hits Agholor over the middle– easy money:

Pullard actually sees Wentz pull the ball and tried to get back to the slant, but had no chance.

The RPO is a fairly common tactic for the Eagles, and after getting burned by it on consecutive plays, Chargers linebackers began to hesitate before committing so quickly to the run. Later in the game, the Eagles would make them pay for that, too.

Early in the fourth quarter, after the Chargers had pulled within two points, Pederson went back to the well. Wentz again reads Pullard’s reaction, but this time opts to give the ball the Corey Clement who picked up four yards on the play. Watch the slight hesitation by Pullard right after the handoff, which gave Clement that one extra second to get out to the edge.

Lastly, on the Eagles’ amazing game-sealing drive, Wentz again hands the ball to Clement for a gain of seven, this time toying with linebacker Jotavis Brown (#57) who also hesitates momentarily before committing to the run:

It’s also important to note that these plays were called at the perfect time. The first two provided some quick, cheap yardage for the offense to get into a rhythm early in the game which then helped loosen up the defense for the second two plays at the most crucial time.

Blount’s Balancing Act

LeGarrette Blount had an amazing game, but that storyline is probably already played out. Instead, I thought I’d break down two plays that display how unique of a player he really is.

Listed at 6’0, 250 pounds, Blount’s reputation as a bruiser precedes him. He is often mistaken for just a big, lumbering battering ram, but, as we found out over the past two weeks, he is so much more.

While his size certainly helps, the real culprit behind his short yardage success is his quick feet and balance. I’m certainly not saying he is as quick as someone like Donnel Pumphrey Tarik Cohen, but for his size, his balance and athleticism is special. Two runs from Sunday’s game really put that on display:

Wow! First, that is a pretty impressive jump cut inside to start the run. Then, he runs through a tackle (from a defensive tackle!) while spinning to avoid another tackler, then steps over another player while spinning. Pretty impressive.

He did it again later. This time, he stumbles through the hole after running through a tackle, but he manages to plant his foot and cut sharply back to the inside:

First, the ability for a player his size to stay on his feet while picking up yards is impressive in and of itself. To then put his foot in the ground and cut back in the other direction while his 250 pound frame is completely off-balance is something not many players his size can do.

Command of the Offense

When discussing Wentz’s development as a franchise quarterback, many will cite his command of the offense, but don’t usually provide much insight into what that means or how it actually impacts the game.

The mental aspects of Wentz’s game can be really difficult to measure. Without being in the meeting rooms with the coaches, we don’t know the actual plays that are called, or the progressions and audibles for those plays. We only know the end result.

For two crucial plays on Sunday, Wentz’s impact was quite clear.

The first play came on a crucial third down with just under four minutes remaining. The Eagles needed one yard to keep the drive alive and continue to ice the game.

Before the snap, Wentz tried unsuccessfully to get the Chargers to jump offsides. He didn’t, but he was able to get a read on how the defense would react when the linebackers jumped at his cadence. He then used it to his advantage.

He then walked down to his offensive line, changed the play and shifted Clement from his left to his right. When the ball was snapped, the Eagles ran an inside zone play and Clement found a cutback lane and hit it just quickly enough to pick up the first down.

We may never actually know what the play call was before Wentz’s pre-snap adjustments were made. What we do know, is that Wentz had the foresight to make a change at the line of scrimmage on a running play that resulted in a successful third down conversion.

Earlier in the game, Wentz also did an excellent job changing the protection on a key third and eight. With the Chargers showing blitz and looking like they were in man coverage, Wentz walked back down to the line of scrimmage yelling “Boston, Boston.”

Who the hell knows what “Boston” means or what the Eagles had originally drawn up for the play, but we do know that Wentz’s adjustments worked well.

With the Chargers in man coverage, Wentz called for Blount to release out into the flat bringing the linebacker with him and opening up the middle of the field. This left the Eagles in a five man protection. He called for the protection to slide left to pick up the heavy side of the Chargers’ blitz.

A slide is a common type of protection versus the blitz. It essentially functions as zone block, allowing each lineman to only worry about blocking the defender to one side. It works well protecting against more exotic blitzes, twists and stunts.

The only issue with slide protections is that they typically leave the left or right tackle on an island, something the Eagles are typically comfortable with given the talent at the tackle position.

On this play, though, Lane Johnson was on an island versus two blitzing defenders, so the extra blitzer was Wentz’s responsibility. He had to get the ball out before the blitzer arrived. Of course he did:

With the middle of the field open from Blount’s route into the flat, Wentz stood calm under pressure and hit Alshon Jeffery over the middle for a key first down.

These were just two examples of Wentz’s command of the offense, there are many more that we may not be privy to. He isn’t just involved in the passing game, he directs the run game and helps Jason Kelce in setting the protections.

That is a lot of responsibility for a second-year quarterback, and Wentz is thriving in it.