When the Cowboys take the field this week and host their archrival, the Eagles, at AT&T Stadium, they will be greeted by a familiar face. On the other side would be Kellen Moore, the longtime Cowboys coach and current Eagles offensive coordinator.
Moore’s signing in Philadelphia came about via an actual vote of no confidence in Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. While Sirianni was not fired last year after his team lost five of its final six games and bounced out of the playoffs, there was a general assessment that his preferred offensive scheme was a poor fit for quarterback Jalen Hurts. This mismatch also contributed to a not-so-quiet rift between the quarterback and head coach. As a result, offensive coordinator Brian Johnson (who was Dak Prescott’s quarterbacks coach in college) was fired and replaced by Moore, who also used to coach Prescott.
While Moore was not expected to eliminate every part of the Eagles’ offensive identity from the past three years, he was reportedly given complete autonomy on offense, thus reducing Sirianni’s involvement on that side of the ball.
However, midway through the year, the Eagles offense didn’t look like Kellen Moore’s offense. If anything, it feels like Nick Sirianni’s offense runs the plays you find in Kellen Moore’s offense. The two biggest structural complaints about the offense last year were a stubborn lack of movement and an over-reliance on shotgun formations. Moore’s hiring was expected to solve both, as he generally makes heavy use of movement and often places his quarterback under center, mostly to build his own play packages off of.
So far, the Eagles are still stagnant before the snap, ranking just 19th in pre-snap movement. They also put Hurts in the shotgun nearly five times as often as they do under center, one of the biggest disparities in the NFL. Unsurprisingly, the Eagles also rank 20th in field play rate.
But the restrictions imposed on Moore didn’t seem to hurt the offense. The Eagles rank 10th in yards per game, 11th in points per game, eighth in EPA/play, and 13th in offensive DVOA. Nothing jumped out at you, but the attack was powerful. Hurts also plays at marginal top-10 levels as well, between 8th and 12th in completion rate, yards per attempt, air yards per attempt, and EPA per dropback. He also leads the league in completion percentage than expected.
However, where the team really shines is in its running game. This shouldn’t be a huge surprise, given the offensive line and free agent Saquon Barkley. Only the Ravens are averaging more per game and the Eagles also rank second in EPA/rushing. They also rank fourth in rushing DVOA. Despite Moore’s true style, the Eagles primarily run up the middle and have one of the highest box-heavy run rates in the league.
One interesting trend in this running game is the fact that it ranks 4th in yards before contact per attempt but 24th in yards after contact per attempt. In other words, the offensive line keeps Barkley clean more often than not, but doesn’t make much happen once he gets past them.
Barkley is certainly drooling this week, as the Cowboys have the worst defense in the league by far. Not only are they giving up the most EPA/rushing, they are allowing the sixth-most yards after contact per rush and are fifth in missed tackles per game.
The Eagles may be stuck in an identity crisis between Sirianni and Moore, but they were largely able to put up points nonetheless. And the thing they do best — running the football — is something almost everyone does well against the Dallas defense. To that point, Moore should be able to enjoy a nice return to the team where he started his coaching career and pick up a win over his former boss.
