Zech McPhearson, Special Teams Rise to Occasion
The Lions tried to catch the Eagles by surprise after scoring a touchdown to pull within 10 points late in the third quarter of Sunday's season opener.
They went with an onside kick.
In a game that featured the first pick-6 of James Bradberry’s career, an exceptional 54-yard completion from Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown, a pass that Brown said was a dime and “just fell from the sky,” four rushing touchdowns from all three Eagles running backs and Hurts, the onside kick is easy to overlook.
More specifically, cornerback Zech McPhearson’s recovery of the Lions’ onside kick attempt with 4:09 left in the third quarter of what would eventually become a 38-35 Eagles victory, was what head coach Nick Sirianni termed "a huge play."
At the time of the onside try, the score was 31-21.
Asked about the decision afterward, Detroit coach Dan Campbell said simply: “I wanted the ball back.”
The Eagles were ready.
“Zech (was) just being disciplined in the sense of what he's taught there, and he's taught a very specific fundamental there while the ball is getting kicked,” said head coach Nick Sirianni.
“Zech stayed true to his rules and he executed a huge play in that game. It wasn't just Zech. The ball happened to go to Zech and Zech caught it. Our whole line and the whole of everybody in the front was doing that.”
McPhearson also made a team-high two tackles on special teams while tying for the team-high in ST reps with Shaun Bradley. Both players had 25 each (81 percent).
Undrafted rookie Josh Jobe had 23 ST reps and rookie sixth-round pick Kyron Johnson had 18.
Sirianni gave a lot of credit to special teams coordinator Michael Clay, assistant ST coach Joe Pannunzio, and ST quality control coach Tyler Brown for onside kick recovery.
“They prepared those guys for that,” he said. “They knew that was in the repertoire and prepared them for it, and we practiced that. Zech did that in a practice.”
Sirianni compared recovering the onside kick to getting a turnover.
The Eagles took over at the Lions’ 49 and, five plays later, Boston Scott was rolling into the end zone from a yard out with 1:45 left in the third.
They would be the final points the Eagles would score, and they turned out to be the winning points.
“By where we get the football and how we get it, that momentum, like hey, you just tried to get us and we got you, you know what I mean, that's a great feeling,” said Sirianni.
The Eagles’ special teams struggled last year, but they seem to have a knack for getting a big play at the right time.
T.J. Edwards had a punt block last year in Carolina that bailed the offense out and helped the Eagles win that game. The ST units also had a big punt return from Jalen Reagor to set up an important touchdown in another win.
Now, this play.
"I thought special teams played really good (Sunday) and that was a huge, huge play in that game,” said the head coach. "...it's great to see all phases contributing to winning the football game.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
