Feed ‘Em

Eagles RBs had 29 touches on Sunday. The team scored 25 points, (sadly) its second highest total of the season. In the first Giants game, RBs had 33 touches and the Eagles scored 34 points, their highest total of the season.

This isn’t an accident.

You must feed your RBs. Notice I’m not harping on the run game, but rather talking about touches. Just running the ball doesn’t guarantee anything. The NFL is a passing league. If you want to score points, you must be able to throw the ball.

RBs are the key to the offense. Any offense. When you run the ball, you let the OL go pound on the defense. You establish a sense of physicality. It can make your play-action game even more effective.

There is also a lot of value in throwing to the RBs. Most have good RAC ability and can make something happen with the ball in their hands. They are usually high-percentage throws. Sometimes you can get real mismatches in the pass game, with a LB on a RB in space. Screen passes are a great weapon for the offense. If you call that against the right look and have good blocking, you’ve got a chance for a big play.

Feed the RBs.

Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Duce Staley breaks down the film on the #Eagles' rushing attack and shows how they were so successful on Sunday.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Be1VRxLu0J

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 28, 2018

Really cool video, with Duce showing you what Josh Adams and Corey Clement did well. He also gave plenty of credit to the OL. Those guys were terrific on Sunday.

Adams is peaking right now. He’s healthy and starting to really understand how to play in the NFL. Clement is starting to look like he did last year, showing some actual burst. Clement and Adams combined for 4 plays of 15 yards or more. There was also a 52-yard run by Adams that was negated by a penalty.

Doug Pederson and Mike Groh need to keep feeding these guys the ball.

*****

I wrote a piece on the Giants game for PE.com.

The Eagles and Giants always play wild games. Last year the Eagles led 14-0 heading into the fourth quarter. The Giants scored three quick TDs and led 21-14. They led 24-21 late in the game, but the Eagles hit a pair of last minute FGs to steal the game.

In the rematch, the Eagles trailed 20-7 before going on a 24-3 run and eventually winning 34-29.

Sunday’s comeback was just another chapter in a crazy rivalry.

*****

NEWS: The Eagles were the only team to contact Tampa police about Reuben Foster's latest arrest before Redskins claimed linebacker, source tells @usatodaysports. https://t.co/mQoIWvdjXQ

— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) November 28, 2018

Interesting.

Does this mean the Eagles had interest in Foster? Maybe.

It is my understanding that the team had character concerns with Foster coming out of Alabama. His time in the NFL could have only heightened those concerns. If true, why check out the story?

The Eagles are very thorough when it comes to researching players. They might consider Foster an option at some point in the future. Digging into the incident may help them to decide this is a player they don’t ever want to touch.

There is no question that Foster is very talented. There is also no question that he is a major headache off the field. The more information the team has, the better informed of a decision they can make.

Foster is with the Skins now. We’ll have to wait and see what happens down the road. That said, I don’t anticipate the Eagles ever taking a chance on him.

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