If the Eagles do Something Special this Season, Jalen Hurts' Bulldozer Run is the Turning Point
Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is one of the most boring quotes ever. We watch his press conference each week and the guy is a master at saying absolutely nothing and playing it close to the vest.
But we will digress this week and share a quote about what I felt was the most important two-play sequence from Sunday’s win, and the most underrated sequence of the season thus far:
Q. What about trust when Jalen Hurts needs to either protect himself or willing to kind of take on a linebacker at the goal line? (Jeff McLane)
SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think there’s a happy medium there, but I think when it’s fourth down and we’ve got to go get it, he ain’t going to back down, and he’s going to go get it, and that’s what he did.
We had the third-and-goal at the 16 and he took off and got us down to fourth-and-goal at the 4, called the pass play there, they zoned everything off, and he saw a lane and he went and got it.
I think he knows the situation that we’re in. When we need to go get it, he’ll go get it, and he needs to be smart when it doesn’t call for that situation.
I went looking for the all-22 of these plays but couldn’t get it because apparently you need a NEW SUBSCRIPTION to NFL+ to access that. We’ve had the all-22 for years through our Gamepass subscription, so looks like I gotta whip out the company credit card.
But back to the drive, here’s a screengrab I pulled of the first run:
3rd and goal from the 16 so Jacksonville is playing soft here. Hurts recognizes this and says “fuck it, I’m gonna take off,” which puts the Eagles in an ideal fourth down situation. He wasn’t going to throw into zone nickel coverage and took what was given to him instead.
That set up this play:
Jalen Hurts with a Touchdown 🤩🔥 pic.twitter.com/ibE83OAWmR
— Alabama DieHards (@DiehardsAlabama) October 2, 2022
This is 11 personnel out of the shotgun. Dallas Goedert and Kenny Gainwell in there with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Quez Watkins. It doesn’t look like much, but Jacksonville is in a nickel goal line setup with five DBs and two linebackers, and what makes the play is that Hurts realizes the situation rather quickly. As soon as the pocket starts to collapse around him, he just takes off and goes for it. There’s no hesitation and he’s on to Plan B almost immediately.
Jacksonville is rushing four, they’ve got a safety in the end zone, and then four defensive backs for the receivers, so when the second linebacker (Oluokun) follows Gainwell out of the backfield, Hurts basically just has to win a 1v1 here with Devin Lloyd:
I’ll be 100% honest with you –
When I watch games I don’t get too high or too low, because I’m writing and not really absorbing the plays like a fan. It’s not like it was 10-15 years ago watching with my dad and uncles. This play, however, got me to stand up and make some kind of yelping sound. It was such a beastly run. Just put your head down and fucking go for it. Get your team back in the game and start the comeback.