Sielski: Running backs a chief concern for Pederson – Philly.com

What else was he going to do? It was late May, during the Eagles’ organized team activities, and Doug Pederson had never been an NFL head coach before, which meant he had no game film of his own offense, which meant that he had to use the next best thing. So to introduce his players to the system’s formations and concepts, he showed them film of the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs. Pederson had been the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator under Andy Reid. It was close enough to what Pederson wanted to do with the Eagles. It’s turning out to be closer, actually, than the Eagles would like.

Pederson had entered last season with Jamaal Charles, one of the NFL’s best running backs and the most dynamic player on the Kansas City offense, healthy and at his disposal. In Week 5, though, Charles tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and missed the rest of the season, forcing Reid and Pederson to spread carries among the remaining backs – Charcandrick West, a second-year undrafted free agent, and Spencer Ware, a sixth-round pick in 2013, in particular.

The situation would seem to parallel the one that the Eagles face at running back, though asking them to roll off 11 straight victories – as the Chiefs did – seems a tad much. Already, they were counting on veterans Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles and hoping that rookie Wendell Smallwood would emerge as another viable option. But Mathews hasn’t practiced since spraining his ankle last week. (The adjective frequently used to describe Mathews is “oft-injured,” and though we can’t confirm it, his history suggests that his oft is probably sprained, too.) Sproles is 33 and has never averaged more than five carries a game in any of his 10 seasons in the league. And Smallwood left Monday’s practice early and sat out all of Wednesday’s with a quadriceps strain.

Still, Pederson has remained sanguine that the adjustment he, Reid, and the Chiefs had to make last season after Charles’ injury will help him deal with the Eagles’ lack of depth at running back this season. Kenjon Barner, for instance, has been practicing with the first team, and he has looked good catching the ball out of the backfield against the Eagles’ linebackers, who struggle to cover running backs who can catch the ball out of the backfield.

“Yeah, I’ve pulled a little bit from how we handled that situation,” Pederson said. “Even in training camp, when we didn’t let Jamaal take a lot of live snaps, we got our twos and threes and our fourth guy, really, a lot of time. This is valuable time. Hopefully, with Ryan coming back in the next couple of days and Wendell not practicing right now, it’s great for those guys to get so many reps and so many touches. It’s just going to help the overall balance of the football team.”

But there are other assets that the Chiefs possessed that helped the overall balance of their football team – assets that the Eagles, for all of their new head coach’s optimism, either won’t or aren’t likely to have. Perhaps their greatest was an excellent defense. The Chiefs last season ranked third in the NFL in points allowed, second in interceptions, third in scoring percentage, and fourth in sacks. They didn’t give up more than 22 points in any of their final 12 regular-season games, then shut out the Houston Texans, 30-0, in an AFC wild-card game. That sort of defensive performance can provide even a mediocre offense and a limited quarterback plenty of cover. (For evidence, see Feeley, A.J., Philadelphia Eagles, 2002.)

That said, the Chiefs’ subtler, less-appreciated asset was quarterback Alex Smith. For all the complaints about his average arm strength and the conservative nature of his play, Smith has two obvious and important strengths. First, he rarely commits turnovers. His interception percentage last season was 1.5, the worst it had been since 2012 – and it was still the fourth-lowest in the league.

Second, he’s mobile. Without Charles, Smith became a more frequent and productive runner in the Chiefs’ offense, which incorporated more read-option plays and concepts into Reid’s classic West Coast system. Over Kansas City’s 11-game winning streak, Smith carried the ball 61 times for 406 yards (an average of 6.7 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns. The Chiefs didn’t have to rely on West and Ware as much as they would have if another quarterback had been their starter. A quarterback who is slower on his feet and more inclined to stay in the pocket. A quarterback such as, say, Sam Bradford.

All of which is to say the obvious: Good luck with those film sessions, Doug.

[email protected]

@MikeSielski

Published: August 3, 2016 — 5:19 PM EDTThe Philadelphia Inquirer

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)