Copyright phillyvoice
Looking for a cure for their season-long struggles to run the ball effectively, or even decently, the Eagles threw a few changeups into their playbook Sunday against the Vikings. Typically a shotgun-based offense, the Eagles went under center 16 times against Minnesota in non-Tush Push and non-victory formation snaps, with Jalen Hurts aligning right behind the center before taking the snap instead of his usual stance a few yards behind, in shotgun or pistol. The 16 under-center snaps were by far the most of the season, and the Eagles' first time in double digits for a game. On eight of those 16 snaps, the Eagles used reserve offensive tackle Fred Johnson on the line of scrimmage to get bigger up front and to theoretically create a stronger blocking presence for the run game. It's possible that starting center Cam Jurgens exiting after 15 snaps with a knee injury led to some of the increase of under center snaps, as Brett Toth replaced Jurgens and has struggled throughout his career with shotgun snapping. But the Eagles went under center on three of their first four plays from scrimmage on Sunday, when Jurgens was still in the game, so it appeared that plans were already in store to use this formation more in Week 7 against a light Vikings defensive front that ranked among the bottom half, or bottom third, in many rushing defense categories. Did the changeup work? The answer is yes and no. The results were a mixed bag, favoring the pass offense more than the rushing attack. The Eagles didn't run the ball with any impact from under center in their 28-22 win, as Saquon Barkley gained 22 yards on 12 carries, an average that's actually lower than his disappointing season average of 3.3 yards, which is amazingly down 2.5 yards from last year's average per carry. But the Eagles used that formation to set up some play-action passing later in the game, and it made a difference. Hurts completed all four passes from under center, including on the memorable touchdown bomb to DeVonta Smith that got the passing game going in the second half. The Vikings rushed six on that 2nd-and-5, leaving five in coverage. The Eagles had Fred Johnson in as an extra lineman and kept Barkley into block, giving them seven to block six. With no free rusher to worry about, Barkley helped Toth with a double team on iDL Jalen Redmond (61). The extra bodies up front led to perfect pass pro that gave Hurts plenty of time to connect with Smith, who put a sweet double move on Isaiah Rodgers (2) en route to the 79-yard TD catch. Hurts went 4-for-4 with 121 passing yards from under center, so perhaps just the threat of the run in those situations, or the extra protection from Johnson, helped ignite a passing game that has also been erratic all season, just not nearly as much as the run game. Head coach Nick Sirianni tried his hardest to downplay the impact of going under center. “We’ve obviously been in the gun for a long time in our offense," he said after the game. "It’s just a change of some of the things that we’ve done. We’ve been very successful in the gun and we’re just trying to find ways to get things going, different ways. Today it was, 'Hey, try to get under center some.' "We still want to be able to run the ball more effectively and more efficiently than we did today. But it gives you obviously something a little different. There's a time for it, and there’s also a time to be back in the gun and running from there, because we’ve made a lot of plays from there as well.” MORE EAGLESJalen Hurts and the highest single-game passer ratings in Eagles history3 trade deadline deals that make sense for the Eagles, 1.0Game ball, three stars, and snap count analysis: Week 7, Eagles at Vikings Here's a look at their game-by-game usage of under center formations – again, not counting Tush Push or the victory formation – for the entire season: Despite some early success running from under center against the Cowboys and Chiefs. the Eagles weren't able to sustain the momentum and really struggled from that formation for four straight weeks, although usage was modest. The first time Fred Johnson was used as an extra blocker was against the Chiefs, and Barkley gained nine yards from under center. The Eagles didn't use Johnson as a sixth lineman again until late in their game against the Giants, when Barkley ripped off a six-yard run on first down with the Eagles backed up at their own 7-yard line. Hurts' 79-yard touchdown pass and two other completions to Smith – a 21-yarder and 19-yarder – all came from under center, and Fred Johnson was on the field for two of those three passes. So maybe the Eagles didn't get the desired result for their rushing offense, but instead they found something else positive. SIGN UP HERE to receive PhillyVoice's Sports newsletters. Follow Geoff on Twitter/X: @geoffpmosher
