Results Over Credit

Posted: May 19th, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

The 2017 Eagles were an incredibly selfless team. No runner had 1,000 yards. No receiver had 1,000 yards. No pass rusher got 10 sacks. The ball was spread around on offense and snaps were spread around on defense. The Eagles really were a team, not just a group of individuals.

I thought about this when I saw a quote on Twitter recently.

Doug Pederson really sets the tone in this regard. He openly acknowledges taking ideas from all over. In the clip below, Pederson talks about the Eagles using a RB technique that Duce Staley got from Chip Kelly.

There is another video where Pederson explains that he adjusted a play based on the fact Sam Bradford preferred the way that Chip Kelly ran that play. When Bradford told Pederson about the different version, Pederson embraced it and the Eagles still do that now.

So many coaches would have been “My way or the highway” with situations like that. Not Doug. He puts his ego aside and genuinely wants whatever is best for the team. I can’t tell you how rare that is.

Look how similar this play from the Super Bowl is to one from Arizona’s 2011 college season.

That isn’t to say Doug got that directly from Arizona, but the idea almost certainly came from some college offense.

Andy Reid ran the West Coast Offense in Philly. He opened some things up with Michael Vick, but it was still very much the WCO. That changed when Reid got to Kansas City, where Doug Pederson was the offensive coordinator. I’d love to know if Reid opened up because of the change in scenery or if Pederson was able to convince him to do that.

I do know that Reid and Pederson embraced ideas from QB Alex Smith’s college days. Smith played for some guy you may have heard of…Urban Meyer. Now KC has one of the most creative offenses in the league. So do the Eagles.

I don’t know if Pederson influenced Reid or vice-versa, but what ever happened, it was a good thing. Reid has had an excellent second act in KC and Pederson is off to an amazing start in Philly. He’s already won a Super Bowl and established himself as one of the most important offensive coaches in the league.

Keeping an open mind has helped Pederson build a great offense. Defenses will adjust, but the beauty of this is that Pederson can import new ideas that will keep his offense fresh and defenses off-balance. They’ll be trying to stop the 2017 Eagles, but facing the 2018 team.

Advantage Eagles.

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One of the reasons Pederson has such a creative offense is that he’s got all kinds of influences.

His first NFL coach was Don Shula. Miami had somewhat of an old school offense and threw the ball downfield. Pederson played for Mike Holmgren, who ran the purest version of the WCO this side of Bill Walsh. Then Pederson played for Reid, who ran a slightly different version of the WCO. Pederson then played for Mike Sherman on his return to Green Bay. Sherman ran the WCO, but his focus was the run game.

Pederson also had some non-NFL influences. He played for the architect of the Run ‘n Shoot.

Buddy Ryan hated that offense and called it the “chuck and duck”. Funny comment, but the offense has been highly influential over the years. Teams now embrace three and four-receiver sets. Teams use some of the passing concepts and option routes that made the Run ‘n Shoot so tough to stop.

You can bet Pederson’s time coaching high school football has also influenced him. Some of the most innovative offenses in football are at the high school level.

Pederson loves good ideas. He doesn’t care where they come from or who gets credit. He just wants the best plays he can find.

That mindset helped the Eagles win it all last year. It will be interesting to see how things play out this year and into the future.

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One Comment on “Results Over Credit”

  1. 1 The Linc - ‘Carson’ has suddenly become a very popular baby name in Pennsylvania said at 5:29 PM on May 20th, 2018:

    […] Results Over Credit – Iggles BlitzThere is another video where Pederson explains that he adjusted a play based on the fact Sam Bradford preferred the way that Chip Kelly ran that play. When Bradford told Pederson about the different version, Pederson embraced it and the Eagles still do that now. So many coaches would have been “My way or the highway” with situations like that. Not Doug. He puts his ego aside and genuinely wants whatever is best for the team. I can’t tell you how rare that is. […]