Eagles Film Room: Concept of the Week

In addition to writing the All22 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 GH Counter that the Eagles ran this week.

If you’ve read my work for a while, you know nothing gets me going more than gap scheme runs. There is something beautiful about this Eagles’ offensive line running a gap scheme play. The Eagles have the heaviest yet extremely athletic group of offensive linemen, which allows them to excel in gap scheme runs. As a quick reminder, in zone runs, the offensive linemen move into space and block whoever enters their zones. On gap scheme runs, it is predetermined based on the alignment who the offensive lineman will be blocking.

The Eagles almost always run ‘counter read,’ a variation of the classic counter play that they can run because they have a mobile quarterback. The ‘read’ element allows the quarterback to keep the ball if the end comes crashing down.

Counter involves two players pulling across the formation. The run play is named after who is pulling. For example, GH Counter (the guard and H-back pull) is essentially the same as GT Counter (the guard and tackle pull). When looking at a counter run, I always focus on the two pullers first. One of the pullers (usually the first) will try to move one of the defensive linemen toward the sideline to create a gap where the other puller can run through. The running back will then follow the second puller. The rest of the linemen will all be down blocking and therefore, the two pullers will be moving in the opposite direction to them, hence the term ‘counter’.

Here’s a simple diagram of GH Counter from Casey Sully.

The running back usually has to take slow steps (sometimes called counter steps) because they cannot beat the second-pulling lineman to the hole, or the play won’t work. They also have to follow their blocks carefully and not bounce it outside. Counter is often a great play against teams that like to run a lot of 5-man fronts because there is less of a need for offensive linemen to get to the second level.

This week, the Eagles ran GH Counter, with the H-back coming across after a short motion. We see this a lot around the league, so I was excited when I saw this play run. It feels like Kellen Moore is the kind of offensive coordinator who looks around the league at what other teams are running. Here’s the play!

There are a few cool things to look out for. I particularly love watching Mekhi Becton toss the defensive lineman out the way to create a gap. He has been exceptionally good at this type of down block this year as he has the strength to move big defensive lineman without the help of another lineman. And there is nothing cooler than seeing Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson combing for a pancake. Lastly, I think Saquon Barkley has looked really good in gap scheme runs, as they can remove the need to read his blocks, which allows him to focus on making defenders miss.

I have a feeling we may see the Eagles run another version of GH counter over the next few weeks, where the H-back comes in motion and then stops and turns back the way he came. This is something we have started to see around the league the past two weeks and it’s an excellent variation of the standard GH Counter, especially if teams begin to predict a counter play when they see the H-back in motion. Keep an eye out for this play, as well as different forms of counter over the next few weeks!

Lastly, I will be doing the same segment on my podcast weekly, so if you want to check out a video explanation in addition to the article, you can do so here! I also spoke about the Eagles use of Jalen Hurts on counter, which is something else I hope to see more of.