It’s over, it is finally over. The four-game losing streak has been put to bed and the Eagles are back to their winning ways. Despite the fact they allowed a team to comeback after being dominant in the early stages, again, there are a lot of positives to take away from this division win against the Redskins, none more important than Eagles offensive play-calling.
On Sunday, and in the first half in particular, the Eagles played in a style that not only was smart and efficient, but in a way that also protected their quarterback while also taking advantage of his best qualities.
Against the Redskins it looked as if the Eagles had basically decided that play quick and simple and then choose their spots for the big plays. At times, it was a plan that worked to perfection.
The Redskins entered this game having allowed just 16 plays of 20 yards or more on defense. On Sunday, the Eagles brought that number to 24 as they were able to find the big play on several occasions.
Philadelphia moved the pocket, used slip screens (Celek scored on one), called “sprint draws” (i.e. Vick was moving toward the edge before handing ball off towards McCoy), and most importantly they took advantage of Vick’s legs and laser arm, by allowing him to make quick throws while moving him around in a way that set up LeSean McCoy 
to have a big day on a defense which looked like they were starting every play frozen instead of ready to jump at Vick.
What may be more impressive though is that the Eagles did not go out and try to play small, they just knew when they were going big and when they were not. On several occasions, you could tell that the Eagles had designated a certain play for Vick to have free reign and let it fly. On those plays they committed themselves to good pass protection, with tight-ends and backs helping hold off the pass rush, allowing Vick to work with 2 and 3 man routes, a situation in which he and his fast wide-outs are more than capable of succeeding in.
Though this strategy worked on a good number of occasions, Philadelphia did not get carried away with it, but still allowed their offense to keep a flow that did not feel as if they were restricting Michael Vick at all, simply using him in the right way, a style that saw Vick take less hits and add more accuracy to his game.
However, having said this, there are still problems to pick at when it comes to the Eagles. Vick again threw a costly interception while he also failed to expose the Redskins D on the numerous occasions that they stacked the line and had zero coverage in their safety areas, leaving space for crossing routes should the captain had found it to be worth the audible.
All in all, it looks like Philadelphia has finally found a consistent way to use Vick in a system that is conducive to his very unique skills. The Eagles will have to keep work at it, and commit to making themselves better at using the type of offense. The rollouts, the draws, and the many sorts of plays that essentially led to Michael Vick bluffing on many occasions are the types of things that will have to be repeated and re-done over the next few weeks.
As for now though, it looks like Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg are on track to run their offense in a smarter, efficient, and yet still explosive way. What a good sign for a team heading towards a revival.
Notice how good the D looked playing less of the wide 9? Allen has looked really good the past 2 games. I hope the Eagles see n learn what a balance O does for this team, we have to learn how to play 4 quarters like we did the 1st quarter yesterday, i felt the game slipping away in the 4th and if we played against a decent QB we might have lost but overall we played alot better and hopefully we can keep improving an take this division which is up for grabs.
I like this Joseph Milford guy — lets keep him around.
Don’t want to praise an offense that scored zero points in the 2nd half. Sorry.
Look what happens when we Run the ball. We control time of possession and you keep your defense fresh. Since then Defense only play 22 minutes they look good and aggressive. If we can take one game at a time and win these next three at home we can get back in this race. If the Birds want to make the playoffs we must win the division. Only one time will probably come out of the NFC East and I hope is us. If we can make the most of out these two weeks and get our key guys back healthy this will help us for the three hope Guys. Last week when I have the Birds winning this game someone tease me I wonder how they feel today!! I know its only we game, however, yesterday we actually look like a real NFL Team!!!!!!!!
And the fans have been asking for this how long?
I hope they stick with this and fine tune it.
Well can you find it in your heart of hearts to praise an offense that scores enough to WIN…I mean that is what we all wanted. Isn’t it ?
i will say- i like the balance but… i was not crazy about much of what they did the second half. examples….
1) I hate the way we leave Vick’s back to the D on our playactions. I really dont understand why we do that. its not like other teams-watch it. By the time he turns around.. there are 2 defenders there and he is seeing the D in their spots for the first time.
2) im glad we ran but lets try and run a sweep or something where there is ( guys jammed at the line. Ive said this before but there were some running plays the falcons did when vick was there that were crazy…. we should put in 1 of those packages.
3) I said to my bro- “they should spread it out… do quick hits and draws to McCoy”- it was like Andy heard me…. they did that for 3 plays in the 4th…. had great success….. and then…. back to HB Dives against 9 in the box again.
i cant believe im going to write these words but… thank God for this D today because Andys playcalling was terrible.
but…… we did control the clock…. we did keep the skins off the field much of the !st half….. and we did WIN A FRIGGIN GAME!!!!
Stevo –
1) it sells the fake better – if he is always looking up field – the fake is useless
2) not sure what you mean
3) I think McCoy dances too much – I like that Lewis cat – not that McCoy can’t get through a hole, I think sometimes he should get the 2 or three yards, – isn’t Duce Staley the RB coach?
What was terrible about Reids playcoalling, probably the most balanced attack the eagles have had – moved the ball well —-
Hey bugsy – if the Eagles win a superbowl (don’t focus on this year, I just mean anytime in the future) and they only score points in the first half, will you be satisfied? I will
How bout Greenbay – is their offense bad because they didn’t score in the second half yesterday?
Basically, you made a stupid point. I can’t praise a fan who doesn’t get that winning is the bottom line.
Navy-
1) no it does not. not the way philly runs them.
2) im not sure how to break this down any eaiser…. whe there is 9 guys right in front of you…. call the play to the outside.
3)most of th “dance” plays are when he was hit 3 yeards deep and broke away.
What was bad?? how many points did we score in the second half?
im not being negative because I thought we looked pretty good but we almost blew the lead again….. lets not make it sound like we killed them.
Paulman’s Rankings of the NFC Confereince after Week #6
#1) Packers 6-0
#2) 49ers 5-1
#3) Lions 5-1
#4) TB Bucs 4-2
#5) NO Saints 4-2 (lost head to head with Bucs)
#6) NY Giants 4-2
#7) Redskins 3-2
#8) Bears 3-3 (beat Falcons head to head)
#9) Falcons 3-3 (beat Eagles head to head)
#10) Cowboys 2-3 (inconsistent, played well vs Pats)
#11) Seahawks 2-3
#12) Eagles 2-4 (still have 4 losses)
#13) Cardinals 1-4
#14) Panthers 1-5 (the mosting exciting 1-5 team in the history of the NFL)
#15) Vikings 1-5 – (bench McNabb and begin the QB C Ponder era)
#16) Rams 0-5
navy- just to be clear… im not saying playaction is bad…. i get it and think it can be a great tool.But,,,,, im not crazy about the way we SOMETIMES run it. When Mcnabb was here he admitted that some of the PA calls they ran were timing plays. That they would do it even when they were not trying to fake the run…. but because they liked the routes. Its in THOSE times that it does not make sense to me. I would assue they still do that under Vick.
pman- did you watch the game yet? btw- i was so happy this week when you said the birds woould be killed. I smiled and told my wife…. Birds win for sure this week.
Stevo –
1) That’s not the question you asked – you asked why do that do it –
2) The nine wide were pushing up the field immediatley knowing that one guy wouldn’t be blocked, sweeping wide would be difficult becuase the surge wide was setting the edge – I disagree sweeping (and they tried long pitches) would have worked
3) Again disagree – teams are keeping a LB or safety backside for the last two weeks to specifically watch for the cutback – as teams get used to this he is going to have to adjust, many times he could ‘sacrfice’ for two or three yards vice one time breaking off ten yards – even onhis long run down to the 9 – he looked like he had room to run, he cut back – hard to argue with success, just trying to see som eimprovement for short yardage –
Oh – so we were basing the ENTIRE games playcalling performance on # of points scored in second half – then I agree – terrible
Stevo – no worries – I replied before I saw your add on – I admit I was ‘nervous’ those last two minutes as well (5 trips to red zone 2 TDs, 2 FG and 1 turnover)
THere was improvement – would have liked it to be 28-0 going into half – It will be a while before I think any lead is safe –
Stevo,
No I think NFL is replaying the game Tuesday and will watch/tape it to view..
It was not on reguler TV down here and I was out all Sunday..
I will predict the Eagles to lose all 10 games if this makes the Eagles win…
if you read it- you will see that i said “its not like other teams”. meaning…. the way other teams run it.
not going to waste my time on the other points in the middle but…. your last point…..
im not saying the birds are bad…. they played a tough D this week. All im saying is that they still have work to do. They still need to get this O clicking… im not sure they are plying to their level. If you disagree.. thats fine… but i think they can do better on O than they did this week.
Gotta- come on. They lose that game to probably any other QB in the league besides Grossman.
Schiller- don’t be dramatic or patronizing. The offense flat out stank in the 2nd half which is very concerning to me. They continue to be shut out in the final 30 minutes. You aren’t concerned about that?
bugsy – first, “they lose that game to probably any other QB in the league besides Grossman” – dude, you’re playing ‘what ifs’. First, Beck played and he didn’t beat the birds. Second, man once you change the context, you throw out any credibility. If they were playing a different QB, it would be a different game. They would be gameplanning for a different QB. There most likely would be a different defense so who knows what the O would be doing.
Stick to what happened. I say ‘what ifs’ are useless. Their job wasn’t to play good enough to make every fan comfortable about ‘what if’ scenarios versus hypothetical other players. Their job was to beat the team in front of them to win the game.
bugsy – I’m not concerned about ‘that’ because I’m a bottom line guy, and a context guy. I’m not looking for perfection or even a complete game here. I was looking for 2 things this week – a win and improvement. I saw both – and in the context of injuries on the Oline and again, no Trent Cole. Safety, Linebacker and O line improvement, with continued great play from Shady and enough to get it down from Vick – I’ll take it.
Bugsy – They have the bye week now. If against Dallas, they play poorly in the second half and lose the game, I’ll be concerned. If against Dallas they do similarly – play strong enough in the first half and on D to afford less production in the second half and pull out the win – I’ll be happy going into the week after that. This was a crazy tough offseason with all the transition/reduced practices. And then a rough start. I’m taking it one game at a time (as I always do) and hoping for improvement and wins as we go forward.