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From the opening possession Sunday, the Eagles made one point clear crystal: Despite their failure to spring the run game from under center against the Vikings, they were willing to try that formation again. And, wow, what a difference. Let's get the obvious out of the way first: the Giants' defense wasn't, and isn't, very good. They've got some Grade A pass rushers, but overall, they're not a good defense, and missing two starters in the secondary didn't help. But the Eagles, who showcased 16 snaps of under center in Week 7 against the Vikings but only averaged 1.3 yards per carry from that formation, weren't done trying. On the second play from scrimmage against the Giants, with Fred Johnson aligned as an extra offensive lineman, Saquon Barkley took the handoff from Jalen Hurts, saw daylight on the left side thanks to an outstanding combo block from Brett Toth and Landon Dickerson that drove back a defensive tackle into a linebacker along with an edge seal block by Jordan Mailata and downfield block from DeVonta Smith, and scampered 65 yards untouched to the end zone. Seven weeks of pent-up frustration suddenly vented as Barkley, who had been hit at or behind the line of scrimmage as much as any NFL running back this year, had ripped off one of those runs that came to define his landmark 2024 season. The Eagles went under center 20 more times against the Giants, a 36-percent rate, the highest percentage of under center in the Nick Sirianni era, breaking the previous high of 16 snaps (32 percent) set the week before against Minnesota. This time, going under center helped awaken the dormant run game, as the Eagles racked up 160 total rushing yards on 16 carries from that formation, with both Barkley and Tank Bigsby finding wide holes to run through. Barkley ran for 116 yards on eight carries from under center, an average of almost 15 yards per carry. Bigsby added 48 yards on six carries, going for eight yards a pop. It was quite the reversal from the prior week, when the Eagles managed just 16 rushing yards on 12 carries against the Vikings from the same formation, but Hurts was 4-for-4 passing for 121 yards, including a perfect 79-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith off play action – proof, as many NFL coaches often say, that you don't need an impactful run game to execute play action. MORE EAGLESThe Eagles needed Tank Bigsby, and he trucked straight through the Giants3 trade deadline deals that make sense for the Eagles, 2.0The Eagles are terrible on third down Against the Giants, Hurts didn't have nearly the same success throwing from under center despite the breakout run game. Hurts dropped back three times from under center, with an incompletion on his first attempt followed by a 16-yard sack on the next. Later, he connected with Smith for 26 yards on a well-executed deep over. "I enjoy being under center and being able to complement things within our run game and find a flow," Hurts said after the game. "But ultimately I think it's about finding a flow and what you do. It's not necessarily that you stick a guy under the center or you're playing from the shotgun or you're in a pistol. It's about what you’re doing when you're under center. How we’re leveraging what we do. How we’re leveraging the guys. What spots are we putting guys in when we're in these different positions?" In other words, it's less about the formation itself and more about the execution within the scheme. Dickerson echoed Hurts' sentiment. After the game, he said going under center "makes defenses act differently than being in shotgun or pistol" but added that there's a "time and place" for the formation and that one of the side benefits is that defenses have something else to prepare for during the week. So as the Eagles enter the bye, what's the future of going under center? As Hurts and others suggested, the formation itself isn't singularly responsible for the run game breakout against the Giants. The Eagles averaged 8.1 yards per carry from the shotgun or non-under center formations, and ripped off plenty of big plays without Hurts being aligned directly behind center, including Bigsby's 29-yard run on 2nd-and-26. Going under center also presents some downsides that could be exploited if the Eagles lean too heavily on it, especially with Johnson as the extra linemen. Johnson's presence as the eligible third tight end takes away an outlet in the pass game. Under center formations also limit the versatility of the Eagles' pass offense, including RPOs and other mobile quarterback options. The quarterback sees a clearer picture of the entire field from the gun for his pre-snap read and typically has more time in his drop back from the gun. Shotgun also offers more run play diversity in terms of run direction and blocking scheme. The Eagles have more overall offensive diversity when they're in the shotgun, which is why it's been their predominant formation and continues to be even, with the recent uptick in under center. If going under center for a few games helped the offensive line get in sync and correct its mistakes, maybe it's mission accomplished for coordinator Kevin Patullo and the offense, and now they can return to being shotgun-centric. The hunch here is that under center sticks around coming out of the bye, but gradually decreases as the season goes on, and the Eagles get back to being a shotgun-dominant offense. Jihaad Campbell's snaps decrease By all accounts, rookie first-round pick Jihaad Campbell has played exceedingly well at off-ball linebacker. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has spoken highly of the 31st overall pick, and Fangio isn't known to lightly toss around compliments. But actions speak louder, and Campbell played just 21 snaps against the Giants, by far the fewest of his season and a major drop-off from his season average. Campbell split time as an off-ball linebacker alongside Zack Baun and on the edge, but only on the edge in the team's base 5-2 front, which they only put on the field nine times. Campbell didn't play any edge snaps in nickel. On the snaps when Nakobe Dean played next to Baun in the team's 4-2 nickel front – which was their predominant personnel grouping – Campbell actually came off the field instead of moving down to the line, despite the team's depth issue at edge. Before Dean's return to the defense Week 7, Campbell hadn't played fewer than 90 percent of the defensive snaps in a single game. Campbell played 87 percent of the defense against the Vikings and just 40 percent against the Giants. Right now, Fangio clearly doesn't see Campbell as a natural edge defender in his scheme and isn't force-feeding the rookie into that role despite the Eagles being thin at that position. Jalyx Hunt played 71 percent of defensive snaps against the Giants, his third-highest usage of the season, and Josh Uche played almost 60 percent of the defense, his highest of the season by 12 percent. Patrick Johnson played a season-most 50 percent of the snaps. In his Tuesday press conference, Fangio said Campbell has practiced and is learning how to play "nickel end" when the Eagles are in a 4-2 front but isn't there yet. "His week last week was choppy from a mental standpoint in that learning a new position and learning new assignments he hasn't been exposed to before because of our lack of guys at that position," Fangio said. Campbell is still the starter at off-ball linebacker, but with Dean back and playing well, Campbell's playing time is clearly a question moving forward. With edge defenders Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham expected to rejoin the team soon after the bye week, it's unlikely that Campbell will continue to see work at the edge. Fangio will have to decide how to divvy his off-ball linebacker snaps between Campbell and Dean. "Overall," Fangio added, "it's a good problem." Other Notes • Jalen Hurts has seven TD passes in his past two games, giving him 15 through eight games, pacing him for 32 TD passes for the season. That would be the most of his career, by a mile. His most so far is the 23 he threw in 2023. That year, he had 13 TD passes through his first 8 games. Hurts' 114.4 passer rating is also way above his career 95.6 mark. Could Hurts eventually get into the MVP discussion? • Even Fangio wasn't totally impressed by the five-sack effort from his defense, as Giants QB Jaxson Dart ran himself into a few of them. Only one sack from an edge rusher, which is the area that could be upgraded at the trade deadline. "Even though we did have five sacks, our rush could've been better," Fangio said. • It'll be interesting to see if GM/EVP Howie Roseman and S Reed Blankenship come to an agreement on an extension during the bye. The Eagles typically give long-term extensions to pillar players a year before their contract is set to expire. Blankenship's case is a little different, as he was undrafted in 2022 and got a one-year extension in 2024 that added in the 2025 season. He's set to become a free agent in March. The Eagles could've have extended Blankenship during the offseason, when they typically do their deals, but nothing has happened for the third-year starter and Super Bowl champion. Fangio said Blankenship's impact is widespread as the secondary's signal caller and while playing alongside a rookie in Drew Mukuba. SIGN UP HERE to receive PhillyVoice's Sports newsletters. Follow Geoff on Twitter/X: @geoffpmosher
