PHILADELPHIA -- It's a staple at Eagles practice each week. It's been this way since Doug Pederson took over. On Fridays, in both film study and the meeting rooms, the Eagles go over situational football.
Sometimes it's a hypothetical moment. Others a play from the week prior, or a few weekends back. Whatever it is, the Eagles practice it, until they know what they to do when it happens.
And after last weekend's wild finish in Minnesota, no one over at 1 Novacare Way wonders why.
"In the playoffs, every game is going to come down to those little things," safety Rodney McLeod told NJ Advance Media. "You have to know what you're supposed to do."
The Eagles will play the Vikings this Sunday in the NFC Championship game. There are folks in New Orleans who still can't believe that. In the divisional round, the Saints held a 24-23 lead over the Vikings with 10 seconds left. Minnesota didn't have any timeouts, and with the ball at its own 39 yard line, all hope seemed lost.
Then quarterback Case Keenum threw a sideline prayer to receiver Stefon Diggs at the Saints 34. He caught the ball, rookie safety Marcus Williams whiffed horribly on the tackle, and Diggs raced to the end zone for a walk-off touchdown.
Vikings win. Saints lose. Just like that. McLeod, whose Eagles beat the Falcons on Saturday, watched the play live.
"I really don't know what (Williams) was doing on that play," McLeod said. "He looked like maybe he was trying to avoid a pass interference? Or thought he was going to land, and then wide-tackle him? I don't know.
"On a play like that, you have to know there are 10 seconds left on the clock. All you have to do is tackle them in bounds, and you're playing in the NFC Championship ... On that play, I would make the tackle, or make a play on the ball. If (Williams) did that, we're talking about the Saints right now, not the Vikings."
It's not hindsight aiding McLeod. He said the Eagles, well before Minnesota's miracle finish, went over that exact scenario. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz gives his team a yard line, score, and timeouts remaining, then tells them to go win the game.
When watching the Vikings' play live, all McLeod could think about was "don't let him get out of bounds, tackle him, game is ours."
"It's good to have coaches to keep reassuring you," McLeod said. "You can never have that enough. Even though we're professionals, everyone doesn't know. In (Williams') situation, he's a rookie. They should have pointed that out and made it a bigger point of emphasis: Just tackle him."
What Schwartz, Reich said about Vikings
McLeod and the Eagles' defense came out on the other end of things in their victory over Atlanta. Clinging to a five-point lead late in the fourth quarter, they held on for the win, despite Atlanta marching down to the nine yard line.
Cornerback Ronald Darby broke up a Matt Ryan fade route to Julio Jones on first and goal. The Eagles prevented a shovel pass from materializing on second, and stopped Jones short of the end zone on a slant on third down.
On fourth, corner Jalen Mills got physical with Jones, knocking him to ground in the end zone. While Jones got up, Mills stuck on him. A prayer pass from Ryan sailed high and incomplete.
The Eagles won, and advanced. Just as easily, it could have gone the other way. But they knew the situation.
"Anytime that ball is in the air, it's a 50-50 ball," Mills said. "You see both sides of it, the way the game can end, for sure."
Connor Hughes may be reached at chughes@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connor_J_Hughes. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.
Read Again http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2018/01/crazy_vikings_ending_gives_eagles_a_lesson_in_situ.htmlBagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Crazy Vikings' ending gives Eagles a lesson in situational football"
Post a Comment