Daily News | To blitz or not to blitz Jalen Hurts? Eagles coaches have the answer
Jalen Hurts has improved statistically in every passing category this season except for one: against the blitz.
But the Cardinals may have unlocked the door on how best to slow an offense that had been among the most explosive in the NFL. The Eagles entered last week’s game averaging 6.1 yards per play, but were held to a season-low 5 yards a pop in Arizona. Hurts has been blitzed at a near identical rate to 2020-21 , but the Cardinals sent extra rushers on half of the quarterback’s drops. He completed 13 of 18 passes for 118 yards, but he was also sacked twice on third down.
The Eagles knew Joseph liked to blitz on third down. They have built-in answers for any kind of pressure on any given play. But the solutions Nick Sirianni and his offensive assistants have given Hurts, certainly against the Cardinals, tended to be on the outside. Sirianni and his staff have been cognizant of not being overly predictable on offense. It’s likely Hurts made reads vs. the blitz that weren’t where the answers were provided. But too many screens, on top of too many outside answers, seemingly allowed for the Cardinals to get a jump on passes in that direction.
But the blitz, if utilized properly, and disguised well, can be an equalizer, as Kelce noted. The veteran center shoulders a lot of the burden on making the protection calls. But each player can discern pre-snap indicators and call them out, or at the least, help Hurts either by picking up blocks or adjusting routes.
Bowles’ pressures often forced the quarterback to his left, where he was reluctant to throw last season, and when he did he struggled. But that hasn’t been as much the case this season as Hurts is averaging 9.8 pass attempts to his left vs. last season’s 6.7.
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