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This Was the Worst Play the Eagles Ran Against the Panthers
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There was a lot of bad to go around on Sunday afternoon, but this was the worst:
Uhhhhhhh..
Okay, let’s set it up. It’s 1st and 20 after a holding penalty wiped out a 20-yard reception. Thank you, Johnny Mundt.
The Panthers are in nickel with five defensive backs out there. They’ve got two safeties 15 yards back and the guy at the bottom of the screen is in man coverage with DeVonta Smith. The Eagles are in 11 personnel out of the pistol with Smitty, Makai Lemon, Darius Cooper, Dallas Goedert, and Dameon Pierce:
This thing looks ugly from the start because Markel Bell gets beat by Trevis Gipson and Tanner McKee has to throw a lollipop just to get the ball up and over so Pierce can catch it eight yards behind the line of scrimmage. I’m not sure what Bell is supposed to be doing on this play, but I’m pretty sure it’s not this:
Meantime, let’s check in on the trips right players.
Two of them go to block one strong safety in Tre’von Moehrig, who is up on the line, while Lemon goes OUTSIDE of Goedert and Cooper to take the outside corner, which leaves the high safety (out of the frame) and two linebackers completely unblocked:
When the pass is completed, Devin Lloyd is already up on the line of scrimmage. Bell is laying on the ground while Pierce is trying to get his feet settled so he can begin moving the football in a forward direction:
Pierce does a good job of juking Lloyd, and making him miss, but the unblocked Bobby Okereke is there with the safety and also with Moehrig who had gotten off his block by that point:
Someone definitely messed up here, because there’s no way the design would be this stupid. There’s no way you would double team the slot corner/box safety with a tight end and receiver, then send the other receiver around them to go block the outside corner. There has to be a lineman at least passing off and kicking out to get downfield and lay a big body on someone. Is that what Bell was supposed to be doing? He dove at the defensive end’s legs. Lemon blew an assignment last week on an outside zone running play, so maybe this was his brain fart.
And as far as I can recall, I don’t think they’ve thrown this version of a screen this season. This one comes out of pistol with trips right. They do put Lemon in motion, but it’s not that orbit/bubble screen they failed miserably with over the first four games. In fact, they FAKED that play later in this game and tried to set up a downfield shot, which resulted in a penalty and first down when a DB tried to pull down Goedert’s pants.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to Fran Duffy and the film guys getting their hands on this one.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com