Philadelphia Eagles Running Full Throttle

Oct 26, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back

(25) steers guard

(64) for a block while running the ball during the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia Eagles Running Full Throttle

The Philadelphia Eagles will be running full throttle beginning with this Sunday’s game at Houston to face the improving Texans. Much has been made of the unusual season so far: a defense that allows many yards, but is beginning to find a way to limit opposing teams from scoring; an offense that had all but forgotten about the running game and has relied on the sometimes inaccurate arm of quarterback Nick Foles; an offensive line that has not played three consecutive games with the same lineup beginning to heal; and an all-pro running back who looked for a break out season.   The season has been a success, but fans and pundits continue to find reasons to undermine what has been to this point a very successful year.

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So how can head coach Chip Kelly fix this?  Pretty simple.

Run  The   Ball.

If you look at the number of passes thrown by Foles this year versus last year, you see that the offense is pretty much being carried by the young man.  It seems a little harsh for the fans to ignore the 42 plus passes per game offense that the 2014 Philadelphia Eagles have become and think that the interception rate should not rise accordingly.    What about that running game… the friend of the NFL quarterback?  Well in 2013, the Eagles rushed for 31 times a game and passed for 32 times a game.  That is a very balanced attack.  In 2014, the numbers skew:  the Eagles rush for only 27 times a game, while passing for nearly 43 times in a game.

At the beginning of the season, defenses challenged the Eagles to defeat them by stacking the box and forcing the eagles to win games with the pass.   Now that the season is seven games old, the team needs to rethink the strategy that asks Foles to throw the ball 62 times in a game, all the while giving running back LeSean McCoy the workhorse load of 21 carries and the entire running game a mere 26 rushes (two by Foles himself).

It’s no guess what the Eagles will do.   They’ll pass.   Using the game against the Arizona Cardinals as an example, the Eagles ran just over one out of every four plays.  For the remaining offensive plays, which works out to nearly three out of four, are predictable pass plays.

The Arizona Cardinals were the best rushing defense in the NFL until they met the Eagles.   LeSean McCoy maintained a nice 4.0 average and ran for 83 yards.  Despite the success, the Eagles passed.   Despite McCoy rushing for more yards than any other running back against that lauded defense to date, they passed.   Despite having the options to load up the offense with tight ends, and despite the commitment to the run in 2013, they passed.

By electing to become a “pass first” offense, several things happen:  defenses begin to dictate the tempo of the game.   They do this by remaining in favorable coverages, opting for nickel and dime packages which forces Eagles into a passing play that they can defend.  In moving to the pass only offense, the deceptive quality of play action is minimized.  Why worry about the run when you aren’t doing it?   And finally, there is a matter of fatigue.   In seven games, Nick Foles is just shy of the number of passes he had thrown in 2013.   In fact, much like the Dallas Cowboys are running DeMarco Murray into a short lived career, the Eagles are just as one-tracked when it comes to Foles.

Nick Foles is in his third NFL season, and is an NFL starter from the beginning of the year for the first time.    In 2012, Foles passed 265 times, in 2013 he passed for 317.  In 2014, he’s already up to 299 yards.  The Indianapolis Colts, whose quarterback Andrew Luck has been pre-designated All Pro, threw 627 times in 2012 with 18 interceptions and only a 54.1% accuracy.   It was in his second year, when the team limited his pass attempts to 570, that his reputation was earned by throwing for a mere 9 interceptions and 60.1% accuracy.  Right now, Foles is on pace to throw for nearly 700 attempts this season.    The only quarterback in recent history to break 700 passes in a season was Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford, who did so without a running game and in the direction of wide receiver Calvin Johnson.   The Eagles have a running game.

So it would seem that, in the case of passing quarterbacks, more is NOT always better.  The flip side of the offense is the rushing game.  The pounding hurt-the-defense bruising style that gets better as the game goes along.  With the injuries to the offensive line early and wide-spread, the Eagles offense did not enjoy the success they had grown accustomed to from a year ago.   The running has seen it come back to life, coinciding with the return of offensive tackle Lane Johnson following a four week suspension.  And that is why the team can feel optimistic.

But the season is mature now, and the offensive line is healing.   Sitting back and asking quarterback Nick Foles to carry the load, when the running back who steps up to do so each year is getting only a fraction of the work should be reconsidered.    Keeping Foles on the current pass attempts pace leads to huge interception totals, no matter who the quarterback is.

Oct 12, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back

(43) celebrates his 15-yard touchdown with quarterback Nick Foles (9) against the New York Giants during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

A lot can happen in a year.   The Eagles have McCoy as well as running backs Darren Sproles and Chris Polk in the backfield now.  And their skills COMPLIMENT the running skills of McCoy.     Sproles is a fast and elusive running back who can easily get lost in the traffic of big bodies and pile up rushing yards quickly.   Polk is a big strong body who is capable of simply running through arm tackles as his workhorse legs never seem to stop until he’s brought down.  But combine both and you have the ankle breaking phenom who is “Shady”.

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In a team that prides itself on facing the challenge, winning the day, and playing smarter than the competition, it’s time to buckle up the chin straps, forget the defense, and do what they do best.  With the return of center Jason Kelce, its important for this Philadelphia Eagles team to begin to send the message to the NFL.

Win The Day

We Fight.

We’re Running The Ball, and You Can’t Stop Us.