NFC WILDCARD GAMEDAY PREVIEW: EAGLES AT BEARS
Pederson mixes use of team’s three running backs to keep opponents guessing
The Eagles over the last three weeks have more resembled their 2017 Super Bowl selves, but perhaps never more than in Sunday’s 24-0 win against Washington in the season finale.
Lost in the hysteria of the improbable three-game, playoff-clinching win streak, of Nick Foles’ record-setting revival and of the defense’s first shutout since 2014 was a development in the run game that could mean the difference between a first-round exit and another deep playoff run.
Wendell Smallwood, Josh Adams and Darren Sproles all were significantly involved in the offense against Washington, with Adams and Smallwood splitting the rushing load almost 50-50 and Sproles making the most of his touches and targets.
Coach Doug Pederson maximized the usage of all three running backs in a manner similar to last season when he routinely mixed and matched LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement to present different looks and skill sets to the opposing defense.
Smallwood and Adams combined for 103 rushing yards against Washington, with Smallwood’s 53 leading the way. Sproles added 24 more on the ground and 36 more through the air.
But it’s not so much how often these three touched the ball that mattered, it’s how Pederson used them that stood out. He mixed his run formations and personnel, sometimes from under center, sometimes from the shotgun, and alternated all three backs within those formations to avoid tipping his hand to the defense.
“We try to get all three guys involved as much as we can. And all three have done a really nice job,” Pederson said Friday. “A lot of it’s by design, and sometimes, too, who has the hot hand, who is playing well, especially maybe the second half of the game as we settle in. So it should be the same type of plan moving forward.”
Sounds obvious, right? Pederson has three running backs with different skill sets. Why wouldn’t he capitalize on their strengths? It’s not as obvious as it might seem.
Adams, an undrafted rookie from Notre Dame, is a 230-pound battering ram who excels when he receives the ball from an under-center formation, which gets him flowing downhill prior to the
handoff.
In shotgun formations, Adams takes the ball from almost a stand-still position, giving defenders more time to swarm and corral him before he gets his momentum going forward. He is 0-for-7 this season in 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 runs.
Most of Adams’ best rushing efforts this season came when Carson Wentz played quarterback because Wentz is comfortable running the offense from both shotgun and under center.
Smallwood, on the other hand, is a natural shotgun runner. He’s quicker to the hole than Adams and played in a shotgun-based offense at West Virginia. He’s an ideal fit with Foles, who functions best from the shotgun and when the Eagles are moving the ball quickly.
It’s no surprise, then, that Adams’ five-game streak as the team’s leading rusher stopped in Los Angeles when Foles replaced an injured Wentz, and more production came from Smallwood, who ran 10 times for 48 yards against the Rams compared to Adams’ 28 yards on 15 carries.
Adams got the majority of carries the following Sunday against the Texans, but Pederson had abandoned the run by halftime of that game and ran just 22 total times.
Last Sunday, though, Pederson unveiled an offensive plan that called for using his runners and quarterback in nontraditional roles.
Foles went under center on the first snap and handed the ball off to Smallwood,
who powered up the middle for eight yards. On the same drive, Adams took his first handoff from Foles in the shotgun and scampered through a hole four yards. Adams gained five yards on his next carry, with Foles operating from under center.
“That’s part of our self-scout that we do each week in making sure we have enough both under center and shotgun so it’s not a tip to defensive coordinators,” Pederson said. “That we’re a certain formation or a certain quarterback alignment. So yeah, we try to make sure we self-police ourselves.”
Pederson’s play calling drew criticism earlier this year for its predictability. By mixing and matching his running backs against Washington, Pederson avoided any telegraphing, which becomes critical for today’s wild-card game in Chicago against the Bears, who tout the NFL’s top-ranked overall defense and topranked run defense.
The Bears’ defense is so fundamentally sound from top to bottom that Pederson can’t afford to bail on the run like he did against the Texans, who were down their top three corners.
But he and his runners need all the help they can get against an extremely fast and disciplined Bears front that’s been studying tape all week and now has something new to think about.
Geoff Mosher is a freelance writer. An award-winning reporter in his 14th season covering the Eagles, he co-hosts “Inside the Birds” podcast with Adam Caplan and former Eagle Bill Osborn and co-hosts on 97.3 ESPN in New Jersey every Monday and Thursday during the football season. Find more of his Eagles coverage at Patreon.com/geoffmosher.