PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles’ run game wasn’t very effective in Sunday’s 30-17 Week 1 win over the Washington Redskins.
They were held to just 58 yards on 24 carries by the Redskins. They had just one rushing first down and no carries longer than seven yards. They averaged just 2.71 yards per carry on first down, which led to a lot of second- and third-and-longs.
LeGarrette Blount, who was brought in as a short-yardage and goal-line weapon, was ineffective in short-yardage situations. He converted just one of four of three yards or less.
He lost two yards on a third-and-1 in the first quarter, picked up two yards on a first-and-goal from the 2-yard line in the second quarter and was held to two yards on a critical third-and-3 in the fourth quarter when the Eagles were clinging to a two-point lead.
“At the end of the day, it’s not good enough; the running game is not good enough,” head coach Doug Pederson said. “We pride ourselves on running the football here and we’ve got backs and linemen and tight ends that can help us do that.
“Watching the film, we’re close. We’re close. We just have to finish blocks, sustain blocks. There were a couple – and this always happens going into Week 1 – there are always a few unscouted defensive looks that they present that gave us some problems early. (We) made the corrections during the game, and had some success later in the game on some of the same runs.”
It’s not clear what success “later in the game” he was talking about since the Eagles rushed for just 19 yards on 11 carries in the second half.
It certainly didn’t help that they lost their nine-time Pro-Bowl left tackle, Jason Peters, to a groin injury late in the second quarter. Peters insists he’ll be ready, willing and able to play Sunday when the Eagles travel to Kansas City for a tough battle against the 1-0 Chiefs.
The Eagles were 17th in run percentage last season, running the ball on just 40.6 percent of their 1,080 offensive plays. Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz threw the ball 607 times, which was the league’s fifth most attempts.
Pederson talked all offseason about the need for more run-pass balance this season. Then, in the first game of the season, they ran the ball on just 36.9 percent of their offensive plays.
Blount played 23 snaps Sunday. He touched the ball on 15 of them (besides his 14 carries, he also had a 1-yard touchdown catch), which kind of tips off the defense that when he’s in the game, he’s probably going to get the ball.
“We just have to make sure, it just gives us more things to track,” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. “But it’s our job. With a guy like LeGarrette, when I look at the defense and their tendencies, if it’s a 70-percent tendency or more, then I’m starting to notice it. If it’s in the 60s, we’re just playing ball.
“If, when LeGarrette is in the game, once that gets in the low, mid-or high 70s, it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got to do something to address this.’ If it’s in the 60s, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”