PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles have been spectacular running the football in recent weeks and are now the No. 1 ranked ground game in the NFL, averaging 181.3 yards per game.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts has 11 rushing touchdowns in 10 games and star running back Saquon Barkley has turned into an MVP candidate with 1,137 rushing yards at 5.8 yards per clip.
All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson, along with linemates Landon Dickerson and Jordan Mailata, lobbied to get back to basics with physical football during the Eagles' bye week and the result has been six consecutive wins.
However, Johnson knows that for every action there’s a reaction on the horizon.
“I just think, you know, as we advance, people are going to try to stop the run,” Johnson said. “So we got to be able to adapt.”
Philadelphia Eagles On SI asked Johnson what’s taking so long for the adjustment.
In the Eagles’ Week 11 26-18 win over Washington, the final tally was 228 yards on the ground for Philadelphia with Barkley putting the punctuation on the win with touchdown runs of 23 and 39 yards in the fourth quarter.
“They're trying,” Johnson explained. “They're going to load the box. You know, [the Commanders] did some 6-1 (six-man fronts) stuff last week, which they haven't shown.
“So I expect a lot of that.”
If you peel back the onion a bit as well Washington actually did a good job stopping the run for three quarters before the dam broke in the fourth.
“I expect more teams to slant the front, you know, any type of zone schemes you're going to try to get a guy free with slanting or powering misdirection. So that's what I expect.”
Until then it’s status quo with the proper adjustments in the back pocket.
“So really, until somebody has a good game plan or they show you they will stop you, then other teams are gonna do that, Johnson said.
“It's really about the adjustments. You know, you can game plan a lot during the week but so much of what we do has to be changed right then and there after every series.”
