Eagles

Washington Film Study the Catalyst for Julio Jones’ First Eagles Touchdown

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Oct 30th, 2023 · 10:48 AM EDT

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Julio Jones says his first Eagles touchdown came on a play the Eagles practiced a bunch:

Julio Jones on his first touchdown with the #Eagles: pic.twitter.com/GSop3hIcUm

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) October 29, 2023

“It was a play we’d been practicing. We saw some looks they were going to give us down in the red zone throughout the week, me and Jalen practice it. I mean, couldn’t have drew it up better, they did exactly what they’ve been showing on film, and we just went out there and executed.”

Great throw, great catch.

It looked like an RPO to me, just a brilliant read and pull from Jalen Hurts to move a of couple of defenders out of way and create that window to stick it in there. Of course, it could have just been straight play action all the way based on the Commie’s alignment (edit – watching this back again, the left side of the line is pass blocking, which makes me think this was going to Jones all the way, sometimes they’ll try to run block horizontally and stay at the one-yard threshold if there’s a running element in the play) –

Julio Jones is an Eagle in 2023
pic.twitter.com/B32fqsprRY

— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) October 29, 2023

Washington is playing nickel here. They’ve got two linebackers on the field. but one, Jamin Davis, #52, is on the line of scrimmage and spying Hurts. He doesn’t rush, but holds there instead. David Mayo, #51, is playing the middle and then safety Percy Butler, #35, is one of the three guys playing the goal line. Butler and Mayo both come downhill on the pull to take D’Andre Swift, and it opens up a gap between Danny Johnson and Kam Curl.

Maybe that’s what the Eagles saw on film, an over-aggressive safety or a linebacker lurking on the boundary side. So they run their action to the other side, move the safety, and create that pocket of space to attack. Good stuff.