Behind the call: Breaking down all four of the Eagles touchdowns against Chicago

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The Eagles offense ran rampant in a 31-3 beatdown against the Chicago Bears. Carson Wentz now leads the league with 28 touchdowns, a number Tom Brady didn’t reach in a single season until his eighth season. To take a look at how the Eagles offense is moving so efficiently, it’s time once again to turn to the eye in the sky.

There are two ways to do this. Firstly, I have created a video below analyzing every aspect of each touchdown. If you’re still left wanting more, just scroll down!

Touchdown 1:

The first touchdown of the afternoon was the seventh for tight end Zach Ertz this season. The Stanford product has been absolutely lethal inside the red zone this year, as has the rest of the offense. The Eagles lined up Jeffery and Agholor to the left hand side of the field and had a simple comeback for Torrey Smith on the right. With the corner in off-coverage, he had plenty of space to work with. The Safety on that side had three potential threats. A running back, a receiver, and a tight end.

“Carson holding the safety in the middle of the field.” That’s what Zach Ertz put the success of this play down to. “We have Alshon on one side, me on the other side against that play. Carson did a great job with his eyes, kind of holding the safety backside. And I just was able to beat my guy one-on-one. Hopefully I get more opportunities like that. When I’m down there I feel like I can score, Alshon feels like he can score. So we have a really good offense right now and we are excited with where we’re at.”

Wentz looked over to his left to see Alshon streak vertically toward the end zone, but pressure forced his eyes back over the middle. The Safety back-pedalled one step too far and by the time Ertz had broken inside at the goal-line, it was all too late. Wentz got the ball out quick despite taking a hit and sealed a beautiful pass to his wide open tight end.

 

Touchdown 2:

This is my favorite touchdown of the afternoon as it showcases just how lethal the Eagles offense is. The nickel cornerback has his eyes planted in the backfield, preparing for the handoff. But again, the Eagles insane conversion percentage inside the red zone prevailed. As the nickel corner stormed inside, Nelson Agholor caught a screen and took it to the house with some extra help from Alshon Jeffery.

The way Wentz read the field so quickly is remarkable. in one swift motion, he saw the linebacker following the running back, turned his stance and threw a dart to Agholor, seeing the man coverage and realizing there’s a huge window. “The things that we saw in him looking at him before the draft or the things that we’re starting to see now, he’s such a competitor, and his will, his determination to make things right and the way he can elevate the play around him, meaning the guys around him, has just been incredible.” Doug Pederson said of his quarterback after throwing three touchdown passes. “He’s taking care of the football. He’s not turning the ball over and that’s a positive to the success of the team obviously.”

 

Touchdown 3:

Alshon Jeffery’s sixth touchdown of the year was as easy as 1-2-3. Wentz manipulated the safety and coverage linebacker to follow his eyes, completely forgetting about Alshon Jeffery who slid between the double coverage for a simple touchdown.

“The coverage dictated it.” Wentz said on his decision to make the throw. “I knew he was going to get behind that linebacker and I just wanted to give him a nice high ball to go get. He did the rest.” The play was a long time coming however according to the Eagles number one receiver. “It is something that we have been practicing and saving for a few weeks now.”

 

Touchdown 4:

The huge thing about Ajayi’s (almost) touchdown run was the blocking. As noted in the video, Brandon Brooks and Jason Kelce did an incredible job of opening the hole, but a fumble at the very end of the play almost negated that effort. Luckily, a selfless Nelson Agholor was just behind. “[Eagles RB] Jay [Ajayi] made a great run. He was trying to elude multiple defenders, tough run fighting off guys off.” Agholor said after the game. “He couldn’t see the second guy. I was trying to trail him and actually I wish I had gotten there early enough to knock the second guy off him so he could score. That’s my thought on that.”

 

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Mandatory Photo Credit: NFL/NFL Gamepass