In the Philadelphia Eagles' win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, edge defender Jalyx Hunt dropped into coverage on a 3rd and 5, picked off Carson Wentz, and returned it for a touchdown. Let's try to figure out what happened on that play.
At the top of the screen, Adoree' Jackson is on Jalen Nailor (red line), and Cooper DeJean is on Jordan Addison in the slot (orange line). At the bottom of the screen, Quinyon Mitchell is on TE T.J. Hockenson (purple line). Justin Jefferson is in the slot (circled in yellow), and is the only receiver who doesn't have a DB right in front of him.
OK, so what is this coverage? Mitchell lining up against the TE might indicate zone. But, it's not.
The Vikings try to give Carson Wentz a clue. They send Addison in motion. The pre-snap motion prompts the following actions from the Eagles:
- DeJean follows Addison (orange line).
- Jackson walks up into a press position on Nailor (red line).
- Mitchell stays put (purple line).
- Andrew Mukuba (circled in yellow), the safety at the bottom of the screen, creeps up into the slot.
Wentz likely identified that it was man coverage, and if so, getting Jefferson lined up in the slot against a rookie safety in Mukuba is a win.
And it was mostly man. Jackson is playing man coverage on Nailor, DeJean is in man on Addison, and Mitchell is in man on Hockenson.
However, Jefferson is more or less being bracketed by Mukuba and Jalyx Hunt. Mukuba mans up on Jefferson, but seems to be overplaying any sort of out route. Meanwhile, Hunt is dropping from his edge defender spot into the middle of the field, designed to take away any inside throw to Jefferson. And then Reed Blankenship is providing help over the top.
When it appears that Jefferson has smoked the seemingly overmatched Mukuba to the inside, Wentz lets it rip under heavy pressure by Jalen Carter, likely having never seen Hunt. And, well, GOT EEM…
Of course, Hunt has experience as a defensive back, having played safety in college.
"I'm way more comfortable than I'd say a lot of outside linebackers, especially in space," Hunt said of his coverage ability. "I understand what routes might be going on behind me, especially with the rushes that we have. And I have a better understanding of where the rushers are, where the rush lanes are, what they're doing up front, and I can understand where the ball is coming out, how fast it's going to come out, things like that, from my safety knowledge."
During his Tuesday morning press conference, Vic Fangio was asked (a) if it was a man look, and (b) if the design was to have Hunt drop into a spot on the field where the quarterback might find a favorable matchup.
"Yeah," Fangio reluctantly confirmed.
"I let Vic be the mad scientist up there," Hunt said of the scheme on the play after the game. "I just run the plays, and be in the right spot when I need to be in the right spot."
Fangio passed off credit on the play to Carter and Hunt.
"The whole key to the play was Jalen Carter," Fangio said. "He beat the center quickly, got into the quarterback's face, hit him just like we teach them to hit him. He caused the interception, and Jalyx made a great catch."
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader