The Eagles have a problem stopping the run. But only when it's quarterbacks doing the running.
Make sense?
Not really. But that's the reality facing the Eagles' defense.
Quarterbacks are killing the Eagles … running the ball.
The Eagles have already allowed 181 rushing yards to quarterbacks this year, which is third-most in the league behind the Jaguars (210) and Patriots (201).
Three of the four-leading rushers against the Eagles this year have been QBs - Cam Newton, Marcus Mariota and Blake Bortles, all with at least 40 rushing yards. Andrew Luck added 33 on just one run - a career-long.
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The only running back to rush for more than 42 yards against the Eagles the first half of the season was rookie Saquon Barkley, who was 13 for 130 in the Eagles' win over the Giants back in Week 6.
When you eliminate kneel-downs, quarterbacks are 33 for 181 rushing against the Eagles this year, a 5.5 average.
For the sake of comparison, running backs are just 108 for 415 against the Eagles, a 3.8 average.
Wide receivers are 6 for 61.
The Eagles have allowed 18 rushing plays of at least 10 yards this year and only half of them have been by running backs. Six of the 18 were by quarterbacks and three by receivers.
How many times have you seen the Eagles bottle up a quarterback, only to watch him start scrambling into the open field for a big gain?
It keeps happening.
And the Eagles need to find a way to stop it.
Here's what Jim Schwartz had to say about this:
Quarterback scrambles really fall into two categories that as a defensive coordinator you get concerned about. One is when they're scrambling for first downs, moving the sticks. We saw (Blake) Bortles do that, that was probably their best way to move the sticks. And then the other one is explosive plays, those plus-20 plays, and we've seen some of those. It's layered in so many different ways. If you blitz, sometimes there's air and there's room for those guys. That was probably more Andrew Luck. Other times you're playing zone and you're defending deeper routes and you're back and then you've got to close space. Each one is a little bit different. But I don't think it's a secret to say that that's one of the things we have to do a better job with. And really, in my mind, it falls in two ways: keeping them from scrambling for first downs, particularly third-down conversions, and then the long runs, take those off the board.
The good news is the Eagles have already faced three of the league's top six quarterbacks in terms of rushing yards in Newton, Bortles and Mariota.
But Deshaun Watson of the Texans, who the Eagles will see later this year, has 268 rushing yards - third-most this year among QBs - along with a 5.4 average through nine games.
Dak Prescott, who faces the Eagles Sunday night at the Linc and again next month, is also a capable runner. He's got 247 yards and a 5.8 average this year and 886 career yards with a 5.7 average in 2½ seasons. That's actually highest in Cowboys history among players with at least 150 attempts.
It's an unusual problem to have.
One of the Cowboys' biggest weapons is running back Ezekial Elliott. He's rushed for 199 yards in two games against the Eagles.
But the way this year is going?
The Eagles are going to have to be just as aware of Prescott taking off with the ball in his hands tonight as Elliott.
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