Eagles Film Room: Concept of the Week – Reed Blankenship’s interception

Breaking down what should’ve been a game-winning pick.

In addition to writing the All-22 offense and defense reviews after each Eagles game this year, I will also write this one called ‘Concept of the Week.’ I will break down a specific concept or play on offense and defense and explain the play in more detail. Hopefully, this will allow you to look out for that play in future weeks. This week, we will look at Reed Blankenship’s interception on a defensive concept known as Whip that should have won the Eagles the game.

Whip – Reed Blankenship’s Interception

I’m cheating a bit because I’ve already written about this concept, Whip, this year. However, I had to do it again because this rep against Washington was so perfect. I had to break it down further. I wish this had ended the game because it’s such a fantastic play.

In case you needed a reminder, this is how Whip plays out…

Whip is where you drop the EDGE defender away from the weakside linebacker and blitz the weakside linebacker through the B gap. Although Whip leaves 7 men in coverage, you don’t want to play a split-safety coverage. This would result in the EDGE defender having to get out to the flat immediately. It is better to run a fire zone coverage (3 deep and 3 under) with the EDGE defending being an extra dropper without any massive responsibility. This leaves the 3 deep defenders to play cover 3.

Here is how it looks on the whiteboard…

The first thing to note about this concept is how difficult it is to predict. Look at this play pre-snap. This is why Fangio wants to line up with a split-safety coverage. You can run basically anything out of this look, and it’s impossible to predict. Fangio could run any of his standard split-safety coverages from this look (Cover 4/6/8) or bring a safety down to play either single-high zone coverage (Cover 3) or single-high man coverage (Cover 1). The possibilities are endless.

The great thing about this play is that Washington moves the running back out of the backfield to try and get an idea of what the Eagles are running. The Eagles don’t give away anything. In fact, I would say this motion makes it harder for Washington as Nakobe Dean moves with the running back, meaning that it’s even harder for Washington to predict that he will blitz. Look at Dean moving with the back.

This is how it all plays out. Nolan Smith drops into coverage the Eagles play 3over2 on his side of the formation. Blankenship comes down quickly to fill the void left by Dean. Daniels could take the easy checkdown here, but Blankenship quickly fills the void. The outside cornerbacks, Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell, essentially play man coverage on the outside receivers.

Nakobe Dean nearly comes through untouched, but Washington does pick it up at the last minute. However, his rush creates traffic, which makes it easier for Josh Sweat to win his one-on-one. This concept is outstanding for the EDGE rusher on the weakside because he gets a one-on-one with loads of space to go inside or outside.

Daniels feels the rush and tries to make a heroic play, resulting in a disastrous decision. It’s funny to see how the media has spoken about Jayden Daniels this week. He was excellent and did have 5 touchdowns, so I’m not bitter, but if DeVonta Smith didn’t drop the ball on the next drive, he would be remembered for throwing the game away at the end!

Here is the final video of the play.

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