Eagles film review: So far, Jalen Hurts and the offense show improvement against the blitz

Jalen Hurts’ seemingly annual meeting with Todd Bowles is once again upon us.

Aside from division rivals, Bowles’ Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the team that Hurts has seen the most since being named the Eagles’ starting quarterback in 2021, with shaky results. He’s 1-1 against the Bucs in the regular season and has faced them twice more in wild-card playoff losses in 2021 and 2023. In the four meetings, Hurts has completed just 59% of his passes and has been sacked eight times, with five interceptions and just four touchdown passes.

Glaring blitz protection problems were contributing factors in Hurts’ previous meetings with the Bucs, but new Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has brought significant changes to the way the offense handles such looks this season.

Sunday’s game at Raymond James Stadium will be an instructive test for the group, but there have been encouraging signs through the first three games. According to Pro Football Focus, Hurts has faced extra rushers on 38 of his dropbacks this season and is completing 72.7% of his passes while averaging 7.2 yards per attempt on those plays. He has been sacked just twice against the blitz this season as well.

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By comparison, he completed 63.1% of his passes against extra rushers last year while averaging 6.9 yards per attempt. He took sacks at a higher rate as well, finishing the year with 17 sacks on 268 dropbacks against the blitz.

So far this season, how have the Eagles changed their approach against the pressure looks Bowles is known to employ? Here’s what the film of each blitz the Eagles have faced this season reveals:

The most significant difference between Moore’s scheme and the one authored by former offensive coordinator Brian Johnson (along with head coach Nick Sirianni) has been the presence of underneath “hot” options for Hurts when the defense sends more rushers than the offensive line can handle.

There have been several examples this season of Hurts diagnosing the free rusher more effectively than he has in the past and getting the ball out of his hands quickly in response. On back-to-back plays in the Eagles’ season-opening win against the Green Bay Packers, Hurts anticipated an unblocked rusher closing in on his blind side and completed passes to A.J. Brown and Saquon Barkley on out-breaking routes to the other side of the field.

There have also been plays in which there hasn’t been a free rusher but the potential for one that have showcased Hurts’ ability to quickly get to a hot route before the rush can affect him.

Facing third-and-12 in the Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Hurts hit Dallas Goedert on a short comeback route after the Falcons walked six men up to the line of scrimmage and also blitzed their nickel cornerback from depth.

The Eagles picked up the six rushers the Falcons sent sufficiently, with the offensive line sliding toward the blitz and Barkley working across the formation to pick up the unaccounted rusher. Still, with the potential for an extra blitzer, Hurts did well to get the ball out of his hands for a 9-yard gain that set up a manageable fourth down.

The Eagles also have used a handful of max protection calls with seven or more blockers staying in for shot plays.

Against Atlanta, both tight end Grant Calcaterra and Barkley tacked onto the protection on a second-and-18 completion to Goedert. It was well-timed, with the Falcons calling a “simulated” pressure by blitzing a safety to the strong side and dropping an edge rusher on the weak side. Even against the extra rusher, Barkley and Calcaterra’s contribution to the pass protection resulted in a massive pocket for Hurts to operate out of and find Goedert.

Going through each of Hurts’ dropbacks against the blitz this season, it’s apparent just how often the Eagles offensive front has sorted out pressure looks effectively so far.

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Hurts has taken an expanded role in setting the protections this year after previously deferring to Jason Kelce at the line of scrimmage. The early results with Moore’s influence have contributed to Hurts’ increased production against extra rushers. Facing second-and-9 against the New Orleans Saints, Hurts correctly pointed out a nickel blitz that was accounted for by Lane Johnson in pass protection. He also took advantage of the space afforded by the blitzer, throwing a screen pass to Britain Covey for an 11-yard gain.

Perimeter screens aren’t always ideal hot routes, though, as illustrated a few plays later. The Eagles had a shot play called on second-and-1 when the Saints sent seven rushers against a six-man protection. With New Orleans in man coverage on the back end, Hurts drifted from the pocket and threw to Goedert as the lone short option, but well behind the line of scrimmage. The play resulted in a loss of 4 yards with Paulson Adebo closing in on Goedert as Hurts threw the pass.

There have been a few instances when Hurts and the offensive line have guessed wrong on where the extra rushers would come from.

Facing third-and-11 in the first quarter against the Saints, New Orleans walked eight men up to the line of scrimmage with the Eagles starting out in an empty formation. Hurts motioned Kenneth Gainwell into the backfield to his left, adding to the protection on his blind side. The Saints sent just five rushers against the Eagles’ six-man protection, but effectively overloaded Hurts’ front side opposite Gainwell, who was unable to cut off Saints defensive back Alontae Taylor’s rush after working across the formation.

The Saints had a similar pressure look during the Eagles’ game-winning drive, but the offense handled it significantly better with Barkley on Hurts’ front side this time. Barkley picked up Taylor’s blitz effectively and drew a penalty for illegal use of hands as a result, giving the Eagles a first down after facing second-and-5.

Such a change is an encouraging sign going into a game against a coach in Bowles who is bound to have surprises in each game plan.

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“Todd is always going to have his different flavors,” Moore said Tuesday. “He’s going to play us, there may be some stuff that falls back on that and there may be some new components that he’ll pull out and try to stress you in different ways because he knows you’ll be anticipating those.

“When I was at other places, we’ve played him multiple times and every game seems to be a different flavor,” Moore added. “It’s not necessarily whether he won or lost, it’s going to be a different flavor and different challenge each and every week. We have to do a good job of having our answers and understanding our tools and the adjustments that we may or may not need to make.”