Eagles Film Analysis: All-22 offense takeaways from the Commanders game

You know the drill by now… Let’s do it.

Offense

I really liked the offensive game plan in this one. It reminded me more of the 2022 Eagles, minus the dominant QB run game. I stood up and cheered when I saw this play on Sunday (I’m not kidding) because this is the exact play I have been waiting for this year. The Eagles’ RPO game just hasn’t got going this year, but this was a beauty. I watched the linemen carefully on this one live and they did a great job not getting downfield. This was an easy button for the Eagles’ offense last year, and it is so good to see the RPO game work again, especially on 3rd down.

I’ve seen a lot of debate this week about Jalen Hurts and I find it quite confusing after looking at the all22. I thought Hurts was really good. He wasn’t perfect, and there are plays he will want back, but his downfield accuracy and decision-making on these throws were elite. The Eagles’ downfield passing concepts were really good. This post is perfect against quarters and Hurts just has to read the safety and see if he is going to play downhill on Goedert. The second Hurts sees the safety coming downhill, he knows he has a chance at the post and he lets it go with pressure in his face. It’s a fantastic throw and a really good catch by DeVonta Smith too.

As I said earlier, Hurts wasn’t perfect and the biggest issue I had with him this game was his pocket management in the 1st half. There were a couple of times when he was a beat slow to eliminate what wasn’t there and also too quick to bail from empty pockets. Every time I see Hurts bail and run to his right, it just doesn’t seem to end well. I would like to see Hurts step up and forward, rather than to the side, in situations such as this.

However, I put this play in there to prove that sometimes I feel like the issue with Hurts bailing isn’t just on him. The Eagles looked OK against the blitz once again and had some good moments against pressure early on in the game with some quick throws. However, this is one of those where I can see that pressure is going to come, but the Eagles don’t really have an answer. 3 routes down the field don’t really give Hurts anywhere to go with the football, so it causes him to bail and once again, leads to nothing.

What else can you say about Hurts when you see throws like this? This is an absolute beauty. When you hear people talk about tight windows in the NFL, this is what they mean. I think some of the reactions to Hurts this year have gone a bit too far, and he’s still playing like a very good quarterback and is a big reason why the Eagles are 4-0 this season.

This is one of those calls where everything just goes perfectly. You know there are going to be a lot of first bumps in the Eagles meetings next week when they turn on this play. AJ Brown is so good in the open field and always seems to turn these big plays into touchdowns. The effort from Olamide Zaccheaus and Smith is outstanding and it’s the sign of a very good team.

The Eagles’ use of 11 and 12 personnel has confused me a little this year. Week 1, they went heavy 11 personnel and I moaned they didn’t use 12 personnel enough. Then in weeks 2 and 3 they run the ball incredibly well from 12 personnel. This week Jack Stoll barely played! But, the Eagles threw the ball with ease and scored 31 points in regulation so I can hardly complain. However, the Eagles only had 6 snaps of 12 personnel and their biggest run came from 12 personnel. I think if the Eagles really want to commit to the run, even when they are throwing it well, they should probably use a bit more 12 personnel. But, this is just my opinion!

This is as good a throw as you will see a quarterback make this year. One of the things I really do not understand about the offense this year is the lack of 3-level stretch plays and intermediate out throws to Dallas Goedert. He is so good at these types of routes. He doesn’t actually get any separation here, but Hurts throws him open with an absolute dime.

Right, let’s talk about Hurts running the football. It’s a big talking point. There is absolutely no doubt that he is going down earlier and isn’t taking as many hits. As well as this, the Eagles are barely calling any designed QB runs for him currently. And this was the best part of their offense last year. The optimist in me still thinks the Eagles are just telling Hurts to avoid hits until the end of the season and we will see the Eagles unleash the QB run game in the big games this year and in the playoffs. This play shows me that Hurts is still an elite athlete and he hasn’t lost a step or anything, it just seems to be a choice not to use his athleticism as much this year. Because this play is pretty incredible and he moves extremely well.

I am pretty sure Hurts audibles to this play, right? If so… this is so cool. There was a lot of talk about this play and whether the Eagles should have just run it. To be honest, I am totally cool with the Eagles being aggressive and ruthless and scoring on teams like Washington. Now if this was against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl I probably would have a different opinion but… I can’t help but love this. This is such a good route by AJ Brown as well as absolutely ruined Forbes in this game. I saw a lot of stupid comments about AJ Brown due to the taunting penalty (which was dumb) but it was a very harsh penalty and he absolutely balled out in this game. He’s a truly elite superstar wide receiver 1.

I haven’t mentioned D’Andre Swift yet, so I have to shout him out here! He was still really good despite not posting the crazy numbers that he had the past few weeks. The difference between him and Kenny Gainwell is pretty obvious already (what happened in Week 1?) and I still wonder if the Eagles need to get Rashaad Penny or Boston Scott involved more as a change of pace back to keep Swift fresh.

Quick Notes

• Sue Opeta looked totally fine at right guard when he had to replace Cam Jurgens which is an excellent sign. However, he will have a tough test this weekend against this called Aaron Donald. I have heard he’s pretty good.
• I think the Eagles are proving that they can win on offense in a lot of different ways, which I imagine was a big priority for this coaching staff this off-season.
• I know I keep saying it (and I may be incredibly wrong here) but just wait until this team unleashes the QB running game again… I’m so ready for it.