Eagles-Commanders Film Review: Jalen Hurts played better as the offense’s design improved

Offensive analysis from Philadelphia’s NFC Championship Game win over Washington.

I’ve complained a lot about the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense recently. I will not be doing so today. This was an excellent performance! The design of the passing game against the Washington Commanders was SO much better and many of my wishes from last week came true!

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Offense

Well, is there a better way to start a game? What can I even say about Saquon Barkley anymore? He’s the best player on the field every single week. He’s having the best running back season I have ever witnessed. He’s possibly having the best season any running back has ever had. He’s a total superstar. The Eagles came up with an under center crack toss (and never ran it again... weirdly) with jet motion stressing the defense, which works perfectly. Most running backs pick up a first down on this play due to how well it is executed upfront. Saquon Barkley scores a touchdown because he is not just a typical running back. Running backs matter!

I can’t express how much I enjoyed the Eagles’ second drive. Saquon Barkley ran it in from 4 yards in, but every play before that was a pass. Every throw was on time. Jalen Hurts knew exactly where to go with the football. Every play was well-designed. The passing game was clearly connected to the run game. After the first incompletion to AJ Brown on the quick slant, the rest of the drive went like this...

• RPO Hurts rollout throw to flat 10 yards.
• DeVonta Smith deep comeback shot on time 20 yards.
• RPO (Counter Action) rollout to AJB 11 yards.
• So simple. Yet, so effective! The run game and pass game were linked! This was my favorite RPO because it’s linked to a Counter run action up front. This takes advantage of the Eagles’ dominant run game. NFL defenses are terrified of the Eagles’ Counter runs, so taking advantage of this is smart. I’ve been calling for this for a while! I said this a few weeks back...

So, why not build on that success and start running some Counter RPOs?! I’ll be watching the Eagles’ passing game this week to see if they start making things easier for Hurts and linking the passing game to the run game’s success. It should be an easy way of improving the efficiency of the passing game.

This was not the only Counter RPO that the Eagles ran.

Once again, what more do you want me to say about Barkley? He’s a superstar. The acceleration and burst here to ease past Frankie Luvu are...