Eagles film study: Highlighting a trio of failed red-zone plays during Philly's Week 5 win
By Jake Beckman
Jalen Hurts throws an incomplete pass to DeVonta Smith. (4th Quarter, 3rd-and-7 from the 8-yard-line)
This one was gross. Looking at Jalen first, he was initially going to hit DeVonta Smith but saw a defender crashing down on the route and he pulled the ball back. That was a good decision as a pass attempt would have resulted in an easy interception.
QB1 elected instead to abandon the pocket. It was impressive that he was able to deliver as good a pass as he did, This was a nice throw that we’ve seen him make in the past. He put it low and to the outside, in a spot where only Smith could make the catch.
The pass fell incomplete, but again It was a nice ball, all things considered.
On the other side of the coin, Rams cornerback Duke Shelley made one hell of a play on the ball. He dove, reaching over Smith to get his arm in to break up the pass.
That’s probably the best play the Rams’ defense made all day. You can’t be mad about that. Good for him.
Now for the incredibly aggravating part: Quez Watkins.
Before the snap, we see Watkins clearly having some kind of communication issues. He looked over at the sideline and didn’t get off the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped.
Then he runs some kind of makeshift route which, to his credit, was the right move. He looked back and saw Jalen bailing the pocket and scramble-drilled himself into the back of the endzone. He did all that he could, including jumping up and down to get Jalen's attention.
Buddy, Quez, you do not get to do that. Yes, maybe you were open, but you are NOT the caliber of receiver who gets the benefit of the doubt.
We’re all on the same page when we say that a DeVonta Smith with a guy on draped all over him is a more reliable target than a wide-open Watkins. That was ludicrous, bizarre, and quite frankly unhinged behavior by Quez. Calling him 'Fast Batman' may have been premature.
Ultimately, it was a good defensive play, but the execution of the scramble drill could have been cleaner. It's tough to assign blame here. When all else fails, blame the wide receiver who didn't know the play.