Colts A Man Short Vs Hurts QB Draw
The Philadelphia Eagles got back on the winning side of things this week against the Indianapolis Colts. They didn’t take the lead until late in the game, but as we all know, that’s the way many NFL games go. The All 22 play we want to look at today is the Jalen Hurts QB draw that turned out to be the winning score.
It wasn’t just that the Eagles found a way to get the ball in the end zone. It was also that Hurts practically skipped in the end zone untouched. That does not happen on plays from the 7 yard line very much in the NFL. What made it even stranger is that the Eagles had been determined to let Hurts win or lose the game with his legs on the previous several plays.
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Maybe the Colts were thinking that the Eagles would finally go to the air on this critical 3rd & goal play. There was only 1:24 on the game clock so this was it for the Eagles. If they did not score a touchdown, the game was over. They were down 16-10 at the point when Philly dialed up this Hurts QB draw.
The ball was in the middle of the field and Philly came out in a 3×1 formation to the left. At this point all defenses have to defend the fade ball to either number one or number two. They counted for this by playing man coverage. The single receiver side corner may have had inside help from the safety, but if so, he didn’t have much.
3 Interesting Things About This Jalen Hurts QB Draw For the Win
Here are three things that happened inside on the defense. The first is that the Colts elected to bracket the tight end #89 for the Eagles. The two defenders, #32 and #44 played the tight end in and out. This of course took #44’s eyes off of Hurts and the QB draw.
The second thing is that although the eagles had shown they wanted to let Hurts run the ball, there was no twist inside by the defensive line. All four rushed up field and stayed in their lanes which left a huge hole in the middle of the defense vs Hurts QB draw.
Finally, the Eagles did an excellent job of setting up the weak side safety #26 and linebacker #58. When the ball was snapped the back #35 started outside first. This widened the linebacker because he had him in man coverage. Because the linebacker widened, it made the fold block by the Eagles’ center much easier. It also allowed the back to bend inside late to lead Hurts to paydirt.
