Iggles Blog - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

Understanding the Run Game Problems

I think there's an understandable misconception among Eagles fans regarding the source of our team's problems running the football.  Despite a number of extremely high-profile short yardage rushing failures, the problem this year hasn't really been the first four yards.  It's been the next six.

To see what I mean, take a quick look at the official NFL rushing stats.  The first thing that will catch your eye of course is the team ranking: 24th.  The yards per carry stat is almost as bad.

But look over to the columns on the right that show the number of runs over more than 20 or 40 yards.  The Eagles have just two of the former and none of the latter (and one of those 20+ was a DeSean Jackson end around).  Last year the Eagles went 17 and 1 in those categories, giving them the third-most 20+ carries in the league. 

Another way of looking at the same numbers can be found here, on STATS Inc.'s table of "big play" rushes.  The Eagles have no one on that list. 

Finally, slide over to Football Outsiders for a minute, where their offensive line stats strip out the long runs to give a better sense of the first-level blocking.  Despite the debacles of the past couple weeks, the Eagles are actually middle of the pack on those numbers -- well above their performance in the traditional statistics.

So what's changed:

• Wide receivers -- Reggie Brown, Hank Baskett and Jason Avant are three of the toughest-blocking WRs in the league.  Curtis puts in the effort.  Brown's been out much of the year and replacements Jackson and Lewis don't have the size to really stay on guys.  This could have some effect on the margins.
• Fullback -- There's an idea that fullbacks only matter in short-yardage situations.  That's not true at all.  A good fullback can run a kick-out block on an end, which allows the tackle to either block down or immediately go to the linebackers.  On a typical lead play, the fullback can also be the one who makes the critical LB block that takes a run from a three-yard plop to an eight-yard gash.  We don't have a fullback.
• Shawn Andrews -- This is a biggie.  Andrews is bar none the best second-level blocker in the NFL.  I haven't seen anyone else around the league who is better at getting an immediate chip on a DT and then hopping to the next level to clear out the linebacker. 

So here's a quick-and-dirty sketch of how the Eagles typically would run something like this (in a play where the FB goes to an LB and only showing playside):

If the RG can't make that combo block on the MLB -- or if he makes it at, rather than past, the LOS -- and if the FB isn't strong enough to root that SLB out of the hole -- perhaps diving at his legs to chop him down but not creating space -- then everything compresses and there's much less space to break anything past the point of attack. 

Is this what we're seeing every play?  No, not at all, I just made that one up.  And you can't blame the fullback for all the plays we run out of one or split-back sets.  But there's no question that something in the run game is broken and despite a number of high-profile stuffs, it doesn't really seem to be primarily a first-level problem.

Does Booker Add Anything?

We're at that point in the offseason where every year we all try to convince ourselves that this will be the year the Eagles change the way they use their running backs.  We've all pretty much given up on having them run the ball more, which then leads to the next point -- using more than one of them at the same time.

We do this every single year.  New guy comes in, we talk about how the Eagles could create some mismatches by using them both at the same time ... then nothing changes, Westbrook carries the whole load, and the other guys only come out when Brian needs a breather.

Which is why I'm having a hard time believing that Lorenzo Booker is going to make this big an impact this year:

And the running backs -- all of them -- are going to be front and center in the equation. We don't know how many halfbacks the Eagles will keep -- Tony Hunt and Ryan Moats are still very definitely in the big picture right now. In one vision, the offense goes through the backs. How many times in a game will Westbrook and Booker play at the same time and force the defense to shift where it doesn't want to go?

Talk all you want about McNabb, or about the wide receivers and debate how effective this offense is going to be. Me, I'm staring at what could be a special situation at halfback.  

Let's look at the history there.  Have the Eagles at any point in the last few seasons really used two halfbacks at the same time as anything more than a gimmick?  Moats?  Nope.  Hunt?  Nope.  Buckhalter, the one guy they actually trust to put out there?  Rarely. 

It's gotten to the point where the Eagles so seldomly go to something like a split back formation that when they do it down near the end zone, the whole defense starts screaming: "Shovel shovel shovel!"

But maybe this is the year that changes.  What if the Eagles do decide to put Westbrook and Booker out there at the same time?  Well then someone else has to sit down.  And that someone else is going to be L.J. Smith, one of the receivers, or whoever wins the starting fullback job. 

You have to think that if it's the fullback, ok, that's an advantage in the passing game.  Although it does cut down on the number of blockers in the running game.  If it's L.J., maybe that's a net plus.  We'll just have to see how Booker compares to a finally-healthy-again Smith.  And if it's one of the receivers, well then either Booker is out of position -- if he lines up outside -- or we're talking about subbing him in for the #3 guy, whom we all hope at some point will be the explosive DeSean Jackson.  Not sure that's an advantage in either situation. 

So IF Booker plays at the same time as Westbrook and IF he's actually able to handle the blitz pickup responsibility that Buckhalter is so good at and IF he can function as a better receiver than LJ or DeSean, then maybe there's some net benefit there.  But it's hard to see it being that huge.

Of course, the other way Booker can get on the field is if Westbrook is on the sidelines.  But then he's not really adding anything, he's just replacing Westbrook's production.  And if Lorenzo isn't really much of a threat as a runner, how great is it having him out there?  Even if you're just going to use him as a pass-catcher, you're still looking at a significant dropoff from Westbrook not being in the game.

And if Westbrook gets hurt, God help us all, but most of all Donovan McNabb, who's going to be facing blitzes on 80 percent of the snaps each game.

All of which is to say that if Booker can play well enough to take a few touches a game away from Westbrook to try to keep the big guy fresh/healthy, then he's doing his job.  Anything beyond that is gravy.