Doug Pederson Review

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Let’s start with the stats:

Points per game- 30.7 (2nd in NFL)

Yards per game- 369.7 (13th in NFL)

Passing yards per game- 250.3 (18th in NFL)

Rushing yards per game- 119.3 (9th in NFL)

I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t ecstatic when the Eagles hired Dougie P this past offseason. I couldn’t help but remember the  Doug Pederson who, during the  1999 season, quaterbacked our Eagles to a  5-11 record. Needless to say my opinion of him wasn’t very high. Then, former Eagles coach (not to mention most successful coach in team history), Andy Reid hired him on his staff from 2009-2012. I didn’t think much of it at the time so when the Eagles fired Andy in 2012 he brought Doug with him to the Kansas City Chiefs to be his offensive coordinator. I didn’t lose an ounce of sleep over it. Kansas City did some nice things offensively while Doug was there but most people thought he was just Andy Reid’s puppet. Basically doing what he was told and having very minimal input. Those people, including myself, were wrong. Coach Pederson has been everything I wanted in a coach plus some.  For one, he’s the anti Chip Kelly. He has no ego, listens to his players and coaches, and more importantly he understands the fans and the city of Philadelphia. He doesn’t try to hide information from the fans. He doesn’t think he’s smarter than anyone. He’s very humble, but is certainly not a pushover. Doug is a players coach and this team is responding to his style. He seems to genuinely care about the fans and the people of this city, along with his players. He has totally changed the culture within this team and the organization is very reminiscent of the Andy Reid glory days we’ve all been missing so much.

Scheme

Doug has brought in what he calls a “hybrid west coast system”. I don’t care what he calls it, as long as he keeps up with the stats above I’ll be happy. Carson Wentz seems to be a perfect quarterback for this scheme through three games. If you watched any Kansas City Chiefs games the last three  years you can get a good sense of what this offense has to offer. Upon his arrival to Philly though, Doug has brought in some new wrinkles that have showed promise so far, culminating with big plays. Along with running backs coach Duce Staley, who is in charge of rotating the running backs, they are both doing a great job of getting them involved in the running and passing game. The way Doug and Duce have utilized running back Darren Sproles so far this season has exceeded my expectations. It’s a running back by committee led by Ryan Mathews and has so far been a successful recipe. Rookie Wendell Smallwood played tremendous against the Steelers recording a touchdown and so did other running back Kenjon Barner. This combination of backs is proving a nightmare for any defense facing the birds this year. This team is coming at you from all angles and the credit goes to Doug and Duce Staley with this group. If you asked what the weakest part of our team was before the season, many of you would have said the WR group. Through three games, it looks like they heard the criticism and are playing with a hell of a chip on their shoulders. You’re seeing flashes of Dorial Green-Beckham, Nelson Agholor and of course the always steady play of Jordan Matthews. Along with the explosive Josh Huff, I believe this group is on their way. Doug has constructed plays to get our guys open and he’s helping them reach their potential. I absolutely love the way he’s using our tight ends as well. Zach Ertz had a great first game before getting hurt. Brent Celek is looking solid as ever even in his older years and Trey Burton is coming on and becoming a guy who is very reliable in tight spaces. We will finally get a chance to see how he plans on using his 3 tight end sets since everyone is now healthy. I am excited to watch this group take on a 1-3 Lions team this Sunday in Detroit.

For the first time this season, the Philadelphia are healthy as a team, and i couldn’t be more excited about it. Coach Pederson will be able to construct the offense the way he wants to and really open up the playbook. Expect some new plays that we haven’t seen yet. It’s hump day, and I’m already fired up. Kickoff is rapidly approaching.

Up next tomorrow: Previewing and Predictions for the Detroit Lions