Eagles Offense Missing Opportunities with Mark Sanchez at Quarterback
The fact that Philadelphia Eagles backup signal-caller Mark Sanchez struggled mightily against the Seattle Seahawks wasn’t altogether surprising. Better passers than Sanchez have tried and failed to crack the vaunted Legion of Boom secondary.
The problem is it’s not as if Sanchez didn’t have anybody open in Sunday’s 24-14 loss to the defending world champions. As it turns out, there were a number of plays where receivers were running free through Seattle’s secondary. The quarterback simply missed them.
Sanchez had as much trouble going against the NFL’s No. 1 defense as one would expect. Going into the contest, I thought he would have trouble throwing for 100 yards against the likes of Pro Bowl defensive backs Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.
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It was every bit as bad as expected. Sanchez completed 10 of 20 passes for 96 yards—a 4.8 average—with two touchdowns and one interception, while Philadelphia’s offense as a whole racked up 139 yards total.
The game wasn’t even as close as the final score would indicate, because the Eagles simply couldn’t move the ball.
But the opportunities were there, and in bunches I might add. It’s one thing when a quarterback misses an open receiver or two, and as a disclaimer, we don’t necessarily know what the progressions are on a given play.
That being said, not seeing the field was an epidemic for Sanchez on Sunday, and to make matters worse, some of the reads should’ve been quite obvious.
Part of the issue was Sanchez’s seeming lack of interest of throwing downfield early in the game. It’s admirable from a ball-security standpoint against one the most aggressive secondaries in the league, but it’s not doing a whole lot of good on 3rd-and-long.
Here we are at 3rd-and-9 in the second quarter with the score tied at seven. Slot receiver Jordan Matthews comes in motion to the top of the screen, where he’s going to run a little move underneath wideout Jeremy Maclin and tight end Zach Ertz.
You can plainly see the coverage is tight here—the defensive back still has his hands on Matthews, legally, within five yards. Sanchez is locked on to his first read, though, and zips the ball in there anyway. The pass is batted away.
Now let’s pause the play a moment later. This is just man coverage across the board, and Maclin has a step on the corner. Meanwhile, the safety is reacting to the throw, so he wouldn’t necessarily be spinning the wrong way, but at least he can’t put his hands all over Ertz when he breaks for the sideline.
In Sanchez’s defense, the pocket is closing in around him. Also, at midfield in a close game against this opponent especially, playing it safe and pinning the Seahawks in their own end with a punt isn’t exactly the worst-case scenario.
Unfortunately, this would play out throughout the day, in various situations.
This is a much more manageable 3rd-and-6 on the next series. The defense sends an extra rusher here, something it didn’t do a lot of, but the protection picks him up.
Riley Cooper is going to come in motion from the outside and run a shallow cross underneath Ertz, who’s going to cut off his route once he gets to the sticks.
Cooper catches the ball for a four-yard gain, but he isn’t able to escape tight coverage and falls short of the marker. Meanwhile, Ertz is sitting in the middle of the field with a nice cushion on his man, who’s obviously watched tape of the Eagles running verticals down the middle of the field all season. This could’ve been an easy first down.
This isn’t even a complicated read. Both targets are running their route in the same window. Cooper barely has a step on the corner. Ertz is about to shake his defender. Sanchez’s eye level stays low, and the Eagles fail to convert.
There are little examples like those two, and then there is the backbreaker in the fourth quarter.
Philadelphia has just taken over possession trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, and by this point, Sanchez is looking downfield more often. Every receiver and tight end is running a route past the sticks on this play, including Cooper—vertical—and Matthews—wheel.
It’s a busted coverage. The Seahawks forget about Matthews, and there’s no one within 10 yards. Apparently, Sanchez doesn’t see him, either. Instead, he goes deep to Cooper, who’s in the same general area but well-covered, with a safety over the top for good measure.
Sanchez throws on the run, and the ball winds up woefully short behind Cooper. Matthews can only watch as Philadelphia’s hopes are dashed.
Again, we don’t know what Sanchez’s progressions are on any given play. However, this took a long time to develop, and he clearly never looked Matthews’ way, because he’s wide open the entire time. And it’s not as if the quarterback isn’t reading that part of the field—he threw the ball to the same side.
Sanchez simply wasn’t seeing things develop clearly on Sunday, which happens from time to time. It’s not as if Nick Foles didn’t miss open receivers this season. Here’s a quick clip from our film review following a Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The problem is Sanchez’s vision is one of the reasons why he’s thrown only two more touchdowns than interceptions over his six-year NFL career.
He’s been better in Philly, surrounded by far more talent and a top-notch coaching staff, but his problems clearly weren’t solved overnight.
Sanchez was only part of the problem for the Eagles in the loss to the Seahawks, but it’s difficult to argue he gave his team a legitimate shot to win. It’s not as if the opportunities weren’t there—he just missed them.
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