Last week we wrote about how the Eagles defense would get a big test against the Seahawks dynamic read-option. Billy Davis commented that the Eagles would be well prepared for the read-option given the number of college coaches on the staff who had seen it all and based on the fact that the Eagles defense faces that look every day in practice. We also talked about some of the keys to stopping the read option.
As expected, the Seahawks brought their read-option attack with them to Philadelphia and while the Eagles defense did a good job for the most part, one big play stood out about the rest.
On the Seahawks opening drive against 3rd and long the Seahawks ran their inside zone read. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Eagles like to often line up their OLBs in the wide 9 alignment. Note Trent Cole on the backside in the wide 9. This is useful because it allows the OLB to easily set the edge and protect from the Wilson keeper:
Of course the disadvange of Cole's alignment is that it essentially takes him from defending the run against Lynch going to the playside because there is a lot of ground to cover, especially since his job is to hesitate through the mesh point to ensure Wilson doesn't keep. As a result, the key is for Connor Barwin, Fletcher Cox, and Vinny Curry to win up front. Off the snap, they can't do this. Connor Barwin gets blown 5 yards off the ball on the initial double team and the Seahawks OL is then able to peel off to the second level to get on Kendricks:
The result is a nice hole for Lynch and Cole is too far out of the play to chase him down. Lynch is able to convert a 3rd and 14 to move the chains:
You'll note on the play above that the space in the middle of the field was created by the Seahawks using another concept familiar to Chip Kelly fans. On the top of the screen they package the inside zone read with a bubble screen which pulls the slot receiver to the outside creating more space:
As I mentioned above, the key to busting up this play is for your DL to beat the blocks. Fletcher Cox did a phenomeonal job of this all game long. Here's the first instance. Same play as before only flipped. Connor Barwin stays wide and as a result of that read Wilson will hand off to Lynch. Once again he has a nice tandem block in front of him:
But watch Fletcher Cox shed his block and bring Lynch down for a minimal gain:
But here comes the back breaker. We showed in the first play how Cole stayed wide on Wilson and Lynch was able to convert a 3rd and long on the run. The Seahawks go back to the play again a bit later. First and foremost note the double stack formation that we've seen Chip use. The idea here is to stretch the field and open up lanes in the slots. They also get 7 defenders in the box. The Seahawks have 5 blockers but hope to gain at least more by "blocking" the edge defender:
Billy Davis took the blame on this one, but this is clearly all on Trent Cole. He needs to know the situation. He's seen the double stack before, he knows the read-option concept, and he knows that keeping contain on Wilson is his job. He's the read and if he bites he's going to give Wilson a lot of room to run. At the mesh point you see the natural space the double stack formation creates. Cole needs to stay wide and leave it up to his 6 teammates to stop Lynch:
Instead Cole bites hard and crashes down on Lynch:
Given how much attention the Eagles likely spent watching and planning for the read-option, this is completely inexcusable. Cole simply cannot make that mistake:
Unfortunately, that was not Trent Cole's only mistake. While this next one isn't the read option, it's another example of Trent losing contain. This came after the Eagles just scored on a Zach Ertz TD and made it a 17-14 game. They then made a terrific play on STs to bury the Seahawks deep in their own territory. The Eagles had momentum. But on the first play of that drive, the Seahawks ran a naked bootleg that they have run all year long on other teams and I am sure the defense saw it on film. The Seahawks line up in the I formation and appear to be running the ball to the right. Off the snap Cole and Kendricks bit hard on the run to Lynch:
Wilson keeps on the naked bootleg and Cole has once again, miserably lost contain:
Wilson executes a really nice fake and it's also a nice design with the WR on the bottom running on outside route. As a result as Wilson rolls out Cary Williams has his back to the ball. He proceeds to push his man out of bounds, not realizing that the WR is letting him do this. And as Wilson runs in the open field, Cole is still trying to chase down Lynch:
The very next play was the bogus PI call on Bradley Fletcher and the momentum and field position the Eagles just gained is completely erased. Key turning point of the game.
As bad as Trent Cole was on those two plays, he didn't make the same mistakes twice. Here he is keeping contain wide as Fletcher Cox blows up this inside zone:
Wilson keeps and Cole is there to make the TFL:
The Seahawks tried to fool Cole again on the naked bootleg. It didn't work this time as he kept contain and stopped Wilson again:
In addition to good play along the DL, Billy Davis mixed in some nice scheme elements to thwart the Seahawks zone read. Here he runs his own version of the nut stunt that the Giants used against the Eagles inside zone read last year. Here he stunts Brandon Bair and Beau Allen while Vinny Curry explodes off the snap to attack the playside A gap:
and Curry absolutely demolishes Marshawn Lynch:
Billy also mixed in the scrape exchange, and it works to perfection on this one. Cole crashes down to defend against Lynch while Kendricks loops outside to protect against the Wilson keeper:
It's a shame because this post really outlines that Billy Davis had a good gameplan in place to hande the Seahawks zone read, but it stresses the importance of execution. If one player makes a bad decision, it puts the whole defense at risk. In this case it was Trent Cole and the Seahawks made him pay dearly.
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