In his press conference earlier in the week Doug Pederson said, as a team, "every week you go in and try to establish your run game." Last week, the Eagles did this by utilizing a zone run scheme.
The reason: The Chargers' defense under Anthony Lynn and Gus Bradley specializes in slanting defensive linemen one direction while the linebackers head the opposite direction to fill running lanes. A man-to-man blocking scheme against this type of scheme could mean a long day for the best of offensive lines. To lighten the load on his hogs up front, Pederson gave the Chargers defense a heavy dose of zone runs.
There are some keys in the zone-blocking scheme that the Eagles executed nicely in Week 4.
PIN AND PULL
Here, in the beginning of the second quarter, is an example of a zone run using the technique called pin and pull. The guard and tackle pin down their side of the line. On the backside, whichever player is uncovered with no defender in front of him will pull around the formation and block the first opposite color he sees.
Lane Johnson and Brandon Brooks (pointed out with black arrows) are your pin-down men. Chance Warmack is your pulling man with the yellow arrow.
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With Johnson squarely in front of his man, Brooks sealing off the defensive tackle and working to the second level and Warmack on the kick-out block, LeGarrette Blount is able to pick his running lane and go for 10 yards.
RAILROADING
With this zone scheme, you have to imagine a railroad laid down on the line of scrimmage going from sideline to sideline. Each blocker's job within the box is to move themselves and anyone in front of them left or right down the line of scrimmage depending on the play call. Here the play call is to the left.
You see that each blocker's first steps are to the left, where the play is headed. Each blocker is responsible for an area, not a man. The objective is to keep the defensive line moving, allowing the running back to pick a lane to hit.
Now, this particular play was a 5-yard loss, but it's good to show why keeping your shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage is important. Stefen Wisniewski turns his shoulders to seal off the defensive tackle, but that opens up a gap for a linebacker to shoot, resulting in a negative play for the Eagles.
DOUBLE TEAM
This, along with pin and pull, provided Pederson with his most running success Sunday. Here, on first down midway through the second quarter, the Chargers have both defensive tackles either shading one side of an Eagles' lineman or directly in a gap.
The Eagles do a great job of collapsing both defensive tackles, creating multiple lanes for Blount to run through.
