31 replies to this topic

[matchew88]

The NFL is a touchdown and field goal league

[AceofSpades]

Eaglesdude55, on 06 December 2012 - 05:13 AM, said:

That is why the eagles need to run the ball as much as they can in 2013 and onward.

The NFL is a cyclical league: the offense finds a new way to exploit the defense or vise versa. Once the other side figures out a way to stop what the other side is doing, the original side finds a new way to exploit that. And that cycle just keeps going and going pretty much.

By the mid 2000's, offenses realized that passing was the way to go by beating the run stopping, big-bodied defenses of the past. What did that force the defenses to do? Get faster and smaller to be able to cover the extra WR/TE on the field.

So where does that leave us? The start of a new cycle. How do you beat fast, small athletic defensives? How do you keep the likes of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Peyton Manning off the field so they don't light you up? Line the defense up wide and run all over them to control the clock. Chip Kelly is getting famous for running this offense in Oregon these days.

Granted, I could be completely wrong in my assessment, but doesn't it just make sense for the eagles to play to their strengths and run ball?

Most people think that a passing league only means pass, pass, pass. It doesn't mean that at all. People don't understand or maybe even refuse to accept that running the ball opens up everything else offensively. How can you expect anybody to bite on play action with no threat of the running game? How can you continue to try deep passes when the opportunities aren't there because the running game isn't drawing the defense close to the line of scrimmage? I'm not saying they have to go to a 80-20 run-pass ratio but they have to balance it out and keep the defenses guessing. They have to be able to dictate the pace of the game based on that. When you allow yourself to become 1 dimensional you make the defense's job a lot easier. Andy Reid has done that for years.