Reid Has The Eagles Focusing On Their Red Zone Attack

My policy with the Eagles is listen to what they say but look more intently at what they do.  Andy Reid runs very structured practices and everything they spend consistent time on is for a good reason.

With that in mind, the Eagles believe they’ve got a serious problem to solve in the red zone and I think they’re right.¬† Notice that in the last two years, they’ve drafted two receivers, tight end Cornelius Ingram in 2009 and wide receiver Riley Cooper this year, who have the potential to be quality targets in the red zone.

Both Ingram and Cooper are in the 6’4″ range.¬† Ingram is listed as weighing 250 pounds while Cooper is listed at 225.¬† They will be tough match-ups near the goalline.

If you look at the Birds top receivers, only tight end Brent Celek has been a potent weapon in the red zone.¬† Despite being one of the most dangerous weapons in the league, the diminutive DeSean Jackson isn’t a great option in the red zone.¬† Jeremy Maclin is bigger now than he was a year ago, so he may become more of a red zone threat.¬† Jason Avant is fairly effective because he will make tough catches in a crowd.

Hank Baskett has made a catch or two on the fade in the red zone but it hasn’t been consistently.

I remember the Eagles being stuck on the door step too many times a year ago.¬† Donovan McNabb would be reluctant to try to fit a throw into a tight window and risk an interception.¬† I expect Kevin Kolb to take more shots in the end zone, but he can’t throw interceptions.¬† They’ve gone out and acquired some big receivers, who could be effective in that area.

In their first practice at Lehigh this year, they immediately started working on the red zone offense.¬† They’re working on fade routes by getting the tight end or wide receivers split out in a man-to-man situation.

The late walkout guarantees he’ll be matched in a man-to-man situation. With Cooper that might have him start out in the slot then shift outside.

From there, the receiver is running either a slant or a fade.¬† This makes it difficult on the defender.¬† He’s got to either move inside to take away the slant or play him head-up and jam him to take away the fade.

Many times the exact route won’t be known until the play starts or they’ll make up their mind at the line of scrimmage then signal it to each other.¬† The receiver and quarterback will go with the fade if the defender takes away the fade or they’ll go to the slant if the receiver can get inside.

Kevin Kolb has the ability to throw touch passes but this is a specific pass on the short fade route in the red zone, while the slant is something Kolb already throws well.   The fade route throw is delicate because you have to put some air under the ball, but not too much.

If the receiver and quarterback execute properly the defender is in a no-win situation.  Whichever way he chooses will be wrong.

They’re getting better but Ingram and Cooper have to get more physical with the defender.¬† I believe in the Michael Irvin technique which is if you don’t get a couple of offensive pass interference penalties then you’re not get physical enough with the defender.

They should almost try to throw the defender to the ground because NFL refs rarely call offensive pass interference.  The receivers must take advantage of that.  Cooper has been the more aggressive and more impressive of the two red zone receivers, so far.

The Birds are trying to emulate the connection between Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his tight end Jermichael Finley. Finley caught five touchdowns last year and nearly all of them were on this check with me, option play on the goalline.

In addition to the touchdowns, Finley induced the defenders to get pass interference penalties which set up first and goals from the one.

So far they haven’t been able to get the timing down to consistently connect, but they’re working on it in each practice.¬† It’s one of their priorites in this training camp.¬† It seems that they want to establish three or four pass plays that are nearly impossible to stop.