4 Keys to a Philadelphia Eagles win versus Pittsburgh in Week 5
By Hunter Doyle
2. The screen game and quick passes have to develop for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Going off of the mismatch of the Eagles offensive line versus the Steelers’ pass rush and run defense, head coach Doug Pederson can scheme against this. He needs to get the quick pass game working with three-stop drops. Zach Ertz needs to be involved this week. Devin Bush is an amazing linebacker but he does struggle versus receiving tight ends. Pittsburgh often puts Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds in the middle of the field in one of their disguised ‘Cover 3′ defenses to help but there could be opportunities for Ertz to get more involved.
To minimize the pass rush, the Eagles have to look Ertz’s way when he is matched up one-on-one or versus a zone defense and get him the ball quick. Philly’s offense is going to need to go at their own pace and chew clock to win this game so hitting Ertz on those short passes will help. Quez Watkins, who is making his NFL debut, could also help with the short game with his speed and quick feet on slants and drag routes. Keep an eye on him when he’s on the field.
Greg Ward will be Wentz’s top receiver again this week, and he’ll be matched up against Mike Hilton who is a solid slot corner but will occasionally gets left in the dust. Ward will once again need to be that consistent weapon that he always is and pick up first downs. The Steelers also like to call nickel blitzes for Hilton a decent amount of the time so Wentz needs to be aware of that. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to run some more of those RPOs (run-pass options) that we saw a little bit of last week. This is an aggressive defense and Philly has to keep them off balance any way possible.
Speaking of keeping the defense off-balance, the screen game needs to come to life this week. With how good the Steelers’ run defense is, the ‘Birds’ will need to find other ways to get Sanders involved. He’s been great in the receiving game thus far but Pederson’s screen game has been well-defended through the first four weeks. He needs to get creative and get it going not only with Sanders and Scott but also with the tight ends. Maybe we’ll see one screen pass called for Hakeem Butler if he is active this week. Who knows, maybe Doug will call another trick play with Jalen Hurts and it won’t get sniffed out like it was by the San Francisco 49ers’ defense last week.