Eagles

Watching the Eagles Deal with a Blitz is the Most Excruciating Thing Ever

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jan 8th, 2024 · 9:17 AM EST

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This Baldy video speaks to me like few things ever have:

.@Giants @eagles #BigBlue constantly showed flaws in the Birds protections and that their seems to be no answers to their blitz schemes. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/5fCEqQ58dZ

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) January 8, 2024

“There’s no sight adjustment, there’s no hot (route), there’s no nothing. Jalen Hurts is forced to just get out of the pocket and throw it away.”

It’s insane. Same thing week after week. You and I can see it coming while sitting our fat butts on the couch, engorged on nachos. Why is there no easy check at the line, no blitz beater, no hot route? They’ve got three guys running 10 yards down the field and the running back can’t even leak out before Jalen is flushed from the pocket and running to his right. How many times over the past two seasons have we watched Jalen running for his life and inevitably throwing the ball out of play?

This isn’t some new thing, either. Dallas kept selling out in the second game this year and the Eagles had no answer for it. The Giants blitzed them. Tampa will do it as well.

According to the SportRadar data, the Buccaneers blitz 38.9% of the time, which is 3rd-most in the league. They don’t always get home, but they try. And furthermore, Hurts has been blitzed 29.5% of the time this season, which is 7th-most in the league. Teams game plan this way against the Eagles, because they know they stink against the blitz. The protection stinks, the routes stink, and the quarterback is a pocket leaver to begin with, so it only exacerbates the issue. Brian Johnson’s answer is probably another bubble screen.

Jalen Hurts vs. the blitz this season:

60.5%, 1,306 yards, 6 TD, 8 INT, 3 dropped INT, 74.1 rating (28th in #NFL).

The #Buccaneers defense blitzes at the 3rd highest percentage rate in the league.#Eagles

— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) January 8, 2024