Over the past year, the Eagles have perfected the quarterback push play in short-yardage situations. A moment from Sunday’s win over the Bills highlights a possible strategy for trying to neutralize it.
It happened when defensive lineman Jordan Phillips left early as Buffalo prepared to stop (or try to stop) an inevitable quarterback sneak, shoving through and over Eagles offensive lineman Cam Jurgens. Eagles center Jason Kelce complained earlier this week that Phillips should have been flagged for unnecessary roughness (he wasn’t) and should be fined (he likely won’t be).
Kelce’s complaint highlights the potential impact of a defense essentially fighting fire with fire, when it comes to the brute-force violence the Eagles deploy by digging in and blasting the entire defense backward, with other offensive players shoving quarterback Jalen Hurts from behind. The Eagles rely on the raw strength and explosion that comes from their approach to the play. It’s something defenses can never properly practice, and it’s something the Eagles essentially sharpen in game situations, each and every week.
The strategy would be a simple one. In pointing this out (as we did on Thursday’s PFT Live when discussing Kelce’s take on the Phillips mauling of Jurgens), we’re not saying a team should do it. We’re saying that a defense desperate to defend real estate could choose to employ this approach.
It would only work in goal-line situations, where an offside penalty would result in the ball moving a little bit closer to the end zone. The entire defense would essentially do what Phillps did to Jurgens. Start a little early, and blow up the offensive formation. The flag gets thrown, the ball moves forward by a few inches, and they all hunker down to do it again.
The objective wouldn’t be to inflict injury. It would be to take what essentially is a close-quarters street fight to the Eagles, giving up a little bit of yardage after the offside penalty is called in exchange for pushing the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jordan-phillips-hit-cam-jurgens-061146840.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2023-12-01 06:11:46
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