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Come Sunday, the Eagles Have to Look to Run First

Posted on 21. Sep, 2010 by Mike Burke in Eagles Related

I hate to even talk about this subject, because it seems like too much to ask for with Andy Reid and his coaching staff. However, the way the Eagles ran the ball last week really opened up some eyes. We all knew LeSean McCoy had it in him, and he was able to shine when given the chance against the Lions.

The Eagles have never been a run first team, and I don’t expect them to be any different this week against the Jaguars. It’s really sad, because this week more than ever they should look to run first.

Kevin Kolb will be back on the field for the Eagles this week. This means the team will lose the mobility from that position that they get when Michael Vick is on the field. They want to throw the ball with Kolb, but we’ve seen that their shaky line play has been making this an issue.

Enter the run game. When a team establishes a run game early, it opens things up through the air. With the way McCoy ran last week, and the fact that Jacksonville hasn’t been great against the run so far this year, the Eagles should look to run the ball first.

If they can get McCoy going early, it should open up the play action. Whether or not you believe in Kolb, he should be able to pick teams apart with his arm if he’s given at least a little time to do so.

If the Jaguars come in expecting the Eagles to throw all game and the Eagles end up doing this, they’re just going to blitz Kolb over and over again. This will make it a rough day for Kolb and probably turn into an early exit.

You would think that with the success of last weeks running attack, that the Eagles would go back to it this week. However, we’ve seen Reid abandon the run after having success many times before. I’m hoping this trend doesn’t continue.

Tags: kevin kolb, lesean mccoy, michael vick