November 23, 2015
In the first quarter in the Eagles-Buccaneers game, in what was technically the Eagles' second drive of the game, Josh Huff caught a slant, ran away from the corner defending him, avoided a safety who took out the corner with a diving tackle attempt, dipped back behind another defensive back, darted up the field away from a linebacker, and then outran one last defensive back to the end zone. 7-0 Birds.
It was the type of explosive play the Eagles hoped Huff would give this offense when they drafted him in the third round in the 2014 NFL Draft. Here was that play:
Huff never saw the ball come his way again. In fact, on the afternoon, he played a measly 17 snaps. Conversely, Miles Austin had 30. On the season, among the wide receivers, Austin has the second-most snaps played on the team, behind Jordan Matthews. Here are the Eagles receivers' snap counts:
| Player | Snaps |
| Jordan Matthews | 591 |
| Miles Austin | 385 |
| Nelson Agholor | 368 |
| Riley Cooper | 343 |
| Josh Huff | 337 |
| Seyi Ajirotutu | 3 |
Miles Austin isn't good at football anymore, as hasn't been for some time. As we noted last week, when the Eagles signed him this offseason to a $2,250,000 deal, it made no sense, as Austin is old (31-years old, to be exact), he has severely declining skills, he's injury prone, and he doesn't play special teams. Austin has been targeted 29 times this season, and the Eagles have completed just 12 passes to him. On the misfires, Austin has either dropped passes, not been aware the quarterback was throwing to him, or a guy on the other team caught it instead. Against the Buccaneers, he was targeted once in garbage time, and he dropped the pass.
When asked if Huff was hurt, Chip Kelly said that the defense was dictating the lack of targets coming Huff's way. "They played a lot of Cover 2 against us, so they had guys up in the face of our outside receivers, two safeties high over the top," explained Kelly. "So obviously you're going to work the ball inside a little bit more against that coverage."
Kelly went on to explain that the Buccaneers were playing man coverage on the touchdown play, and they moved to Cover 2 looks thereafter.
"They were playing man coverage on him," said Kelly. "We didn't see much man after that; we saw a lot more Cover 2 after that, and I think maybe that was the reason for that. To make a concerted effort to throw a ball to an outside receiver in Cover 2 is not very smart. To say that, ‘They did that on that specific play,’ we caught them in man coverage; Josh ran over a good slant route; Mark put it on him, and we didn't see much man after that. We saw a ton of Cover 2 in that game, which, obviously by the score, I think people do that. They're going to play back a little bit; they're going to play more zones, try to keep the ball in front of them. And they did a very good job of doing it."
Kelly has willingly admitted that defenses dictate what the Eagles do offensively. Some (self included) would argue that good offenses make the defense adjust to them, not the other way around, but even if being a completely reactionary offense is the way to go, it doesn't explain why a borderline useless Miles Austin is playing over a guy who might actually make a play here and there.
When pressed on Huff's lack of playing time, Kelly said, "He was rotating with Nelson [Agholor] on the other side. Again, a lot of it is coverage dictated. So if you watch the tape, we didn't get much man free after that snap. Specifically, it was a lot more Cover 2 with two high safeties and guys rolled up on the outside receivers."
So if I'm understanding that correctly, Huff was rotating with Agholor, and Austin was rotating with Riley Cooper?
I have a radical idea, and please, hear me out on this one. How about if Huff and Agholor just, um, play. And then, Cooper and Austin, you know, don't.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
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