The Chip Wagon

Everybody Blocks

The Eagles got the running game going again yesterday. I wish there was some new wrinkle or new scheme change they made that allowed them to jump start the running game. However, their success yesterday came down to one thing: Execution. Quite simply the Eagles did a much better job up front and as a result, McCoy looked a lot more like the 2013 version. In addition to great OL play in the run game, the Eagles receiving corps put forth an excellent day blocking downfield which lead to some of McCoy and Sproles' bigger runs. But by and large, this was the same scheme and same play calls. Inside zone, outside zone, sweep read and power play. Let's have a look at a few. 

Dissecting the Issues in the Ground Game

5 games in and by the far the most troubling thing concerning the 2014 Eagles is the complete collapse of their top rushing attack from 2013. Lesean McCoy headed into the 2014 season in the self-proclaimed best shape of his life primed to cement himself and the NFL's top back title over Adrian Peterson with his eyes on a 2,000 yard campaign. 5 games in and McCoy has amassed 273 yards rushing for a horrific 2.9 ypc. So what's going on with the running game and who is to blame or credit?

Inside the Helmet - The Inside Zone Part 6

Combination Blocking:

Almost all IZ plays begin with a combination block, where two linemen block one defender. Two on one, as Chip says, this is a power play, not a finesse play.

Going back to our base formation:

And we saw:

Here, the doubled defender is the NT. Kelce gets to the playside of the defender and blocks him - seals him - and Herremans, who was uncovered, comes free to block to his playside (his left) and the two drive the NT. Meanwhile, each of the other linemen go for their numbered targets, all of them going to their playside. Note that Todd ignores the guy coming to the spot he is vacating. Not his problem. It's Lane's problem. Todd, uncovered at the snap, blocks playside. That comes with coaching and trust.

The $27,000 Block

From Foxsports.com:

FS: Most memorable block of your NFL career?

EM: Hard to say, but I enjoyed my most recent block. The players on the winning Pro Bowl team get a $53,000 check, the losers get $26,000. We scored a touchdown on the last drive of the fourth quarter and we were down by 1. We elected to go for two and it was a handoff to Mike Tolbert right behind myself, Nick Mangold and Tyron Smith. I told myself it was a $27,000 block, Ndamukong Suh ended up on his back and we scored to win by 1.

Here's a look. Evan Mathis gets help from Tyron Smith on the double-team of Suh:

 

They open a nice hole:

We all know Evan's a sweetheart, but I think Suh would take $27,000 over that hug:

:)

#3- A Little Bit of Old School Mixed with the New School

At #3 in the ChipWagon Top 25 I am highlighting my absolute favorite play because it's a great mix of old school and new school football. I wanted to make this #1 but decided to keep my own biases aside. 

Today we are going to focus on the Sweep Read play that we run which is an absolutely gorgeous play to watch especially if you are a fan of OL on the move. Here we will highlight several variations of the old Lombardi sweep and the pin and pull outside zone blocking concept. The newer wrinkle is how Chip Kelly often added a read-option and packaged play component to this old school staple running play: