• 0 Posts
  • 26 Comments
Joined 10 months ago
cake
Cake day: October 25th, 2023

help-circle
  • Part of it is modern defenses are not built to stop every play. They have a certain amount of bend to then to not give up bigger plays.

    So, what you’ll often see from the Eagles, is they take those 3-5 yard buffer plays (a quick checkdown to Smith, a run up the middle). Then on third downs, defenses usually play the sticks, trying to force a punt. The Eagles push this to take the easy yards and come up short on 3rd down, specifically knowing how common 4th-1s can be.

    What you saw in the Jets game (and early on against Kansas City and Buffalo to a degree), was the defense selling out to stop those little plays - extra pressure on first down, right coverage combined with blitzes. The goal was to set up 4th and long, rather than just 4th down.