Philadelphia Eagles Limiting Target Spread in Passing Game 'How it Kind Of Goes' Says Coach Brian Johnson
The Philadelphia Eagles (10-3) are one of the best teams in the NFL according to their record. But after dropping two in a row, many are wondering if it's real or not.
Only four players got targets in the passing game and only three got looks from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in the team's 33-13 Week 14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys (10-3).
Of those four, Philadelphia receiver Olamide Zaccheaus had just one off a fake punt conversion, leaving 13 to receiver A.J. Brown, 10 to receiver DeVonta Smith, and four to tight end Dallas Goedert.
It's something coach Nick Sirianni said was by design.
“Our passing game runs through three guys,” he said. “That doesn't mean we don't want to get the ball to some other guys here and there, but the main passing game goes through those guys...We wanted to get A.J. going. We wanted to get DeVonta and Dallas the ball. Every plan is thought of through that…That was by design to throw those guys the football, and that's why the football went there.”
DeVonta and A.J.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Some have been a little - or a lot - confused by this. Isolating your own offense to just three targets in the passing game seems counter-productive, and in fact only produced 196 passing yards on the 27 targets that trio received.
The previous week, seven Eagles received targets, and while the team still lost, the offense produced better results against a better San Francisco 49ers (10-3) defense.
It makes sense then that offensive coordinator Brian Johnson was asked about the strategy as well.
"I think just based on the type of defensive structure that we got, with how they’re playing, it’s going to create a lot of one-on-ones on the perimeter," Johnson said. "We feel really, really good about those matchups on the perimeter. That’s just how it kind of goes. So, some weeks it’ll be like that. Some weeks it won’t.
"I think for us, in particular just in that particular game in terms of how we were getting played defensively, there were a lot of opportunities for one-on-one matchups with two great options."
We don't know if many people would call less than 200 yards passing in a key divisional matchup game from 'two great options' as Johnson said, but we certainly can't say Philadelphia didn't think outside the box with that strategy.
Or perhaps, it thought too far in the box. What we do know is there aren't many games where teams look to get the ball to one of just three different players, instead opting to use the whole field and as many playmakers as they can scheme open.
It was a bold strategy. One that clearly leans on the Eagles' stars. But Philly will need to keep its options open on Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field.
