How the Eagles Defense Baited and Trapped Josh Allen

Josh Allen was tremendous against the Eagles in Week 12, throwing for 339 yards, running for 81, and accounting for 4 touchdowns. Unfortunately, his 4th-quarter interception played a large role in Buffalo coming up short in this one.

There are two sides to the coin on this interception. The first is that this was a throw and mistake that Allen has to be able to avoid. But the other side is that the Eagles did a great job of baiting Allen into this throw.

The Bills started this snap in a 3x1 formation with wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the backfield. Then they motioned him to the single-receiver side:

The Eagles kicked linebacker Christian Elliss over him in response:

No defense is matching up in man coverage with a linebacker on Diggs. That told Allen that this was some kind of zone coverage.

As Allen was changing the play at the line, you can see that Elliss, cornerback James Bradberry, and safety Reed Blankenship were all communicating:

They were anticipating Diggs running an out-route from the slot out of this look. If he did, they wanted to set a trap with Bradberry jumping the route. But all three players had to be on the same page. If Bradberry’s man on the outside (Gabe Davis) ran vertical, Blankenship would have to be ready to get over top of him late without giving away what the Eagles were trying to do: