Eagles must utitlize a running back-by-committee against Falcons
Doug Pederson will need to get the most out of his backfield in order to beat the Falcons.
If you don’t know by now, the Philadelphia Eagles are the underdogs heading into their NFL Divisional Round matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. The loss of Carson Wentz has been a massive blow to this Eagles team and their chances of reaching the Super Bowl. It also doesn’t help that the team has lost their elite left tackle Jason Peters as well as their promising middle linebacker Jordan Hicks.
For the most part, the Eagles’ defense has held up well. Thanks to a talented and deep defensive line, it has made things much easier from the linebackers and the secondary unit.
The same cannot be said for the offense. Quarterback Nick Foles has looked shaky and many have reservations on whether he lead this team to victory in the playoffs.
Despite this, all is not lost. The Eagles have had success in running the football this season. They finished the 2017 season third in Team Rushing with 2115 yards. They have also finished third Rushing Yards/Game with 132.2 yards. One of the key reasons why the Eagles have been effective running the ball is because of their running back-by-committee system.
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Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount, and Corey Clement have done a nice job of making the offense a balanced one. It’s safe to say that the must run the ball in order to have any success on offense. Head Coach Doug Pederson should look to take the pressure off of Foles by pounding the rock.
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Feed the Committee
Given how the Eagles have a plethora of running backs at their disposal, there’s a question one may ask. How should they distribute the carries? First, Ajayi must be the focal point.
Not only is he the team’s most complete back. He has also had success against the Falcons defense. While with the Miami Dolphins prior to joining the Eagles, Ajayi rushed for 130 yards on 26 carries against the Falcons in Week 6.
Pederson needs to give him more than the season high 15 carries he got in the team’s Week 15 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. They should look to give him 20-25 carries on Saturday afternoon.
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Though Ajayi should be featured the most, that doesn’t mean the team should neglect the other backs. Blount could pay dividends in short yardage and goal line situations with his style of running. A workload of 7-10 carries should work.
Clement has added much needed versatility despite the loss of Darren Sproles. Clement can really help out Foles by running and catching the ball. Like Blount, he should get around 7-10 carries.
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The Eagles should look to run the ball around 40 times on Saturday. That’s more than their 29.6 attempts/game which is ranked sixth in the league,but without their MVP candidate in Wentz and with Foles’ struggles, they have no choice but to put the game in the backfield’s hands. Run the ball Philly, and run it often!