How the Eagles Offense Creates Big Plays Through the Air

The Eagles offense is so tough because they constantly put defenders in conflict. They do this primarily with their use of RPOs and read-options. This is their constant form of offense, so it gets the most attention. However, they do similar things with their vertical passing game.

Few defenses are eager to play man coverage against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on a regular basis. The scrambling ability of Jalen Hurts is also a deterrent. Not to mention, man coverage can be more easily manipulated on RPOs and designed runs to create huge running lanes.

That means the Eagles see plenty of zone coverage. And they can expect to see plenty more of it against the Chiefs, who have played zone with higher frequency this season than in years past. They’ve played it even more over the last several weeks.

The good news for Eagles fans is that Philly is more than equipped to effectively attack zone for big plays. They finished 2nd in the NFL in completions of 20+ yards this season. And just like with their RPO’s, they do a great job in the vertical passing game of putting defenders into conflict.

4 is the Magic Number

Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen have numerous ways to break down zone coverages. However, their favorite approaches are to attack with an assortment of route concepts that overwhelm the defense with four routes to one side of the field, or to stretch the defense with the use of 4x1 formations.

On the below play, the Eagles were able to break down the Texans’ Cover-3 zone using the former. They started off in a closed 2x2 formation with the running back offset to the left, creating a 3-receiver side. The route combination is illustrated here:

To the 3-receiver side, the Texans would match up to the routes as shown below:

The cornerback to that side locked onto the curl thinking it was the only vertical threat that could attack his deep-third zone. He didn’t see the 4th receiver in the combination, A.J. Brown, running a deep-over route from the other side of the field:

Brown raced right into the area behind him for an easy touchdown:

The best way to win against zone is to target one area of the field or one defender with multiple routes. Since defenses know this is how offenses like to attack, it’s important to do this from formations that don’t give away where or how those routes are going to attack, as you saw above.

This next play is a great example as well. The Eagles were aligned in another 2x2 set against the Steelers. Pittsburgh would rotate down into a Cover-3 zone at the snap:

The Eagles would again finish with 4 routes targeting one side of the field, as illustrated below: