The Philadelphia Eagles don’t have many weapons on offense, but that may not matter in Doug Pederson’s slow, methodical offense. Since taking over as head coach in January, Pederson has described his offense as a “hybrid-type system”.
“You say `West Coast’ -- I think that has kind of gone by the wayside just a touch,” Pederson said during his introductory press conference. “I’ll tell you this: the core values of the offense, the core principles, some of the core plays are West Coast-ish. We have developed a hybrid-type system. We utilize our players' and quarterback's strengths with the offensive system.”
Pederson spent the last three seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs' offensive coordinator under Andy Reid, who coached the Eagles from 1999-2012.
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The Chiefs, on the other hand, ran just 955 plays. Considering the average NFL offense ran around 64 plays per game last season, the Eagles offense played roughly two more games than the Chiefs offense last season in terms of plays.
“A big reason for that is the pace: The Eagles ran a play every 22.1 seconds last season, quickest in NFL. The Chiefs ran a play every 29.94 seconds, 31st in NFL.
“The result? The Chiefs held the ball an average of 30:54 minutes per game last season, meaning on average, they won the time-of-possession battle. The Eagles held the ball an average of 26:05 minutes last
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That was very evident when he parted with the likes of DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, Nick Foles and Evan Mathis. After a sizzling 2013 season when Kelly's tempo and play calling took the league by storm, the Eagles' offense regressed.
Slowing It Down
Pederson will likely take advantage of personnel matchups. To help with an easy release off of the line of scrimmage, wide receivers will often go in motion, while personnel groupings will change from play-to-play with running backs lining up in a variety of spots. Also, the quarterback is the general in Pederson’s offense, regularly equipped with the ability to make line adjustments and audibles at the line of scrimmage.
Last year, after Jamaal Charles tore his ACL five games into the 2015 season, Pederson guided the Chiefs’ offense to the playoffs with the likes of Alex Smith, Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce. Pederson was able to help the Chiefs win despite none of the aforementioned players putting up eye-popping numbers.
The personnel in Philadelphia — Sam Bradford, Ryan Mathews, Zach Ertz and Jordan Matthews — is similar to what Pederson worked with in Kansas City. For Pederson’s offense to have success, Bradford needs to limit turnovers, and Ertz needs to become more of a threat in the red