Film Study: Evaluating the Performance of the Eagles’ Running Backs vs. the Steelers

As Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson continues to limit Ryan Mathews’ workload, others are beginning make their presence felt.

And they each bring something different to the table.

Wendell Smallwood is a one-cut, downhill runner, Kenjon Barner likes to run outside of the tackles and Darren Sproles is almost like another wide receiver.

Mathews might be the most talented back the Eagles have, but Sunday proved that this trio can help the Eagles win games because they each bring something different to the table.

Smallwood benefitted the most during the Eagles’ 34-3 blowout win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, carrying the ball 17 times for 79 yards and a touchdown. Barner added eight totes for 42 yards, while Sproles caught a 73-yard touchdown pass and a 40-yarder en route to 128 yards receiving on six grabs.

Mathews gained minus-five yards on those two runs.

It would’ve helped had Matt Tobin did anything on that first play. What the hell was he doing there?

The Eagles ran the ball just eight times for 32 yards in the first half as Pederson let the rookie Carson Wentz attempt 26 passes. With a lead throughout the second half, however, Philadelphia upped the rushing attempts to 22 and picked up 97 yards.

Here’s some of Smallwood’s downhill, one-cut running. He’s very decisive and gets downhill quickly. He runs through holes with balanced pad level, which allows him to spin off would-be tacklers as evidenced by the second run in this clip.

Smallwood isn’t flashy or creative when he runs. You’re not going to see him beat a lot of defenders in the open field. He didn’t make it difficult for the safety to make the tackle on this occasion.

We didn’t see it in the Pittsburgh game, but Smallwood’s best attribute might be his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. I’ve seen Pederson line him out wide and run quick outs in the preseason.

But speaking of receivers, let’s get to Sproles’ 73-yarder, which was so smart of the diminutive back to dart down the right sideline once he saw Wentz escape the pocket. And once Sproles got into the open field it was game over for the Steelers.

I don’t think Sproles is built to carry the ball over 10 times, which he did against Chicago, he needs to be a weapon in the passing game as he was Sunday.

Barner likes to bounce runs to the outside and has a second gear once he turns the corner. Here’s some of Barner from Sunday, as you’ll see, he looks a lot more comfortable attacking outside on the boundary as opposed to inside. He also has some good patience on those outside runs and waiting for his blocks to develop before darting through the creases. That was also a nice cut back to the inside on the touchdown run.

As a group, I think the trio of Smallwood, Barner and Sproles could hold up if Mathews were to miss an extensive period of time down the line. It’s because each has a different skill set. I also saw the way the Kansas City Chiefs’ running game last year was undeterred with Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware sharing duties after filling in for the injured Jamaal Charles. Pederson has experience utilizing different combinations at running back.

He’s making it work so far.