IN my last article I showed you the hidden culprit behind why our Offense isn’t nearly as lethal or as machine-like as it was last year. Most fans want to chalk it up to injuries on the Offensive Line and look no further than that. That is a mistake.
It’s true that the Offensive Line being beat-up affects what kind of holes RB LeSean McCoy gets to run through, and the time that QB Nick Foles gets in the pocket. However when McCoy breaks the line of scrimmage and STILL can’t get himself free like he could last year, that’s not the O-line. When Foles steps into a pass that sails too high, or too long, that’s not the O-line. In fact who do you “blame” for Foles holding the ball too long? And the O-line has nothing to do with WR Riley Cooper going off a cliff.
What all these things have in common is the absence of DeSean Jackson. He was shown the door and no one bothered to replace him. By replacing him I don’t just mean getting a fast WR. We don’t need to replace what he could do, we needed to replace what he caused to happen.
Teams didn’t line up their FS 15-20 yards deep just because of his 4.4 speed. He also could change direction in a flash, has fairly reliable hands, and unlike a lot of 4.4 guys, can run the NFL route tree. As a result, teams warped their defenses to try to compensate and not make scoring TD’s too easy for Jackson
While we don’t have anyone on the roster with Jackson’s individual abilities, we do have a guy who can warp a defense: RB Darren Sproles. He’s every bit as dangerous in space a Jackson was, break tackles better, and can run most NFL routes from the WR position.
Put in motion to the slot, you can bet your ass a Safety would follow him out there. It’s not like you can cover Sproles with a Linebacker. Instead of a Safety playing extra deep, you have one playing extra shallow. And it’s still a warped defense isn’t it? And you know…when that Safety comes down, someone on the outside has a 1-on-1. That leaves a lot of options for Foles to place a ball.
You could do this in multiple formations, with multiple packages…It doesn’t have to be a restrictive number of plays at all.
So that’s it. You motion Sproles out like he used to do in New Orleans. (Man do they miss HIM!) That’s how you create space for McCoy and Cooper. That’s how you give Foles wider windows to throw to. That’s how you solve the DeSean Jackson problem.
Tomorrow I’ll talk about problem #2.
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 
Not a bad idea but his short arms might make the window even smaller for Foles although I agree no one can cover the guy. Dont want to risk injury with Sproles. I wouldnt mind seeing some Chris Polk at this point.
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Polk is doing what he always does Hollywood. He’s mending an injury in the sidelines. He barely played and yet he somehow tweaked his hammy again. Big backs stay getting hurt.
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I get the feeling more sets with Sproles and Shady will be on the way. However it happens I don’t think it’s wise to just line Sproles up in the slot. He isn’t an advantage against a slot corner. Motioning him to the outside could work better. The actually ran a play with him on the outside. Just seemed like a bad idea and the ball didn’t go to him. Unless they are trying one of those WR screens they love to run so much.
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I have to agree with you EZ. A linebacker is match yes. A safety – maybe. A corner – not at all.
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I like Sproles, but some people seem to think you can line him up against anyone in the NFL and he’s suddenly a mismatch. I don’t see it. I think he’s best against someone he can outrun.
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I would even say its his quick step that makes someone turn the wrong way and he creates space. But its hard to tell because he accelerates so fast and sometimes he looks like he is outrunning everyone. I wouldn’t underestimate what he can do. But was he brought here for that expanded role?
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The Eagles pretty much made the adjustment I wanted them to make. The only time Foles got into trouble in this game. Was when he decided to look for the deep ball. It wasn’t there and he threw two bad picks instead of taking what the defense gave him. Shady hit the holes and showed a burst again. The makeshift line seems to be jelling and Molk seemed much better thanks to Foles being under center. Chip ran a pro style single back offense in this game. It was like he made them a completely different team and protected his defense with a ball controlling, chain moving offense.
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