Have The Running Game And Short Passing Made The Eagles Unstoppable?

The Eagles have now displayed a potent running and short passing attack in the last two games against Washington and Dallas. Some of you probably said to yourself after the Redskins game “hey, it’s the Redskins, do that against a better defense.” Well guess what, the Eagles did it again and this time against a top ranked defense in Dallas. The eagles run game and short passing attack is the real deal. Combine it with an already existing deep threat and we have the makings of an unstoppable offense in Philadelphia.

If you didn’t know already you’re aware now, LeSean McCoy is a top running back in the NFL and I’ll go as far as saying right now he’s a top 3 back. If I’m a defensive coordinator playing this offense it’s now mandatory that a huge part of my game-plan involves stopping Shady McCoy. So far this season he’s racked up 754 yards on 135 carries with 8 touchdowns. Those numbers are legit and we’re only half way through the season. Breaking the 2000 yard mark is quite possible if coach Reid continues to use Shady the way he has.

After the Dallas win Andy Reid said about McCoy “Right now, he’s playing as well as any running back there is. That is a compliment to him and the guys blocking around him. The receivers had a couple of nice downfield blocks as well, so it was kind of a joint effort. LeSean is tough to bring down one-on-one. He has tremendous quickness and lateral mobility.” If you combine Shady’s already fantastic athletic ability with the blocking he’s getting from the offensive line and the wide outs down field this running attack is a nightmare for defensive coordinators.

The beauty of the rushing attack is that LeSean isn’t the only piece of the pie. Remember Mike Vick can pile up yards as well from the QB position. Although most of Vick’s runs aren’t planned the ability to take off at any moment is still a constant concern for defenses. Vick is second on the team in rushing yards with 422 and attempts with 52. The next back after Vick is Ronnie Brown with 14 attempts which is a far cry from the QB. Mike will without a doubt have a few more game breaking runs before the season is finished because that’s what he does. He’s a game changer and that element of speed at the QB position will kill defenses at any point in the game.

Say my defense is somehow containing the rushing attack and bottling up our deep threat receivers like DeSean. Not a problem for this offense because the last 2 games Andy Reid and Mike Vick have discovered the effectiveness of the 3 step drop and the short passing attack. Coach Reid stated a few encouraging things after the Dallas game that lead me to believe this aspect of the offense is something that will continue to be relied on going forward. Coach said “We did have some screens, and we were able to run some deep intermediate routes.

They are routes that aren’t quite intermediate and aren’t quite deep, but you’re still able to get off a 15-yard throw. We thought that was a good area to work on.” A good area to work on because this is what the defense gave you and instead of forcing throws down field and keeping the ball in the QB’s hand beyond a 3 step drop you took advantage of some prime real estate right in front of you. To all the defensive coordinators game planning against this offense go right ahead and stop the run and deep threat because the short pass game is proving to be another dimension for this offense to beat you and Andy and company know it.

Brent Celek is someone benefiting from this usage of the short passing attack. Regarding Brent coach Reid said post-game “I thought he had some nice catches. We tried to utilize him a little bit more, and I don’t think we were doing that enough early. He’s a good receiver and we have to continue to do that.”

Celek is a force to be reckoned with in the short passing game. We saw this a few years back towards the end of Donovan McNabb’s tenure but had to develop a rhythm with Celek. The Cincinnati product can still block and should block but he needs to be used as more of a chip blocker. If he can as much as throw a blitzer off his path just slightly as he makes his way out on a route that will give Mike Vick just enough time with the 3 step drop to get him the ball in open space on a short yardage play.

By the way let’s not forget Celek isn’t the only short yardage option. Jason Avant lives over the middle of the field and Shady McCoy has the ability to look very Brian Westbrook like with the screen pass if the blocking is there. All of these guys provide great options for Mike Vick when the pressure is on and they can all take it to the house.

We can’t forget the bread and butter of this offense and that’s the deep threat. If I’m a defensive coordinator focusing on the rushing game and short yardage attack for this offense I’m surely getting beat over the top by the speed of DeSean and Jeremy Maclin. Andy Reid isn’t all of a sudden changing his philosophy after all these years but based on the last 2 games he’s realizing he has other options. Living exclusively with the deep ball and the passing game isn’t what it’s all about. A balanced game is needed and this offense has the weapons to excel in all areas of a well balanced attack.

Overall this offense has just to many scary pieces to worry about. If you’re stopping the deep threat and the rushing attack then the short yardage attack is there. If you put all efforts on stopping the run the pass game will burn you. If you’re bringing pressure in the form of a blitz a short pass or a Vick scramble can burn the defense. Andy Reid and company showed everyone the past two games this offense can be unstoppable. To many dimensions exist on this offense and if the offensive line continues to block you can’t stop it. Best of luck to defensive coordinators around the NFL the rest of the season because the only way to successfully stop this offense is if they end up beating them self.