Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is coming off a monster Week 1 against the Falcons. Slowing Hurts and the Philadelphia offense down won’t be easy for the 49ers, but there’s an interesting trend that shows an aggressive approach to getting after the quarterback may not be the best way to affect Hurts.
Overall in Week 1, Hurts completed 27-of-35 throws for 264 yards and three touchdowns. There weren’t many areas where he was particularly bad, but there’s a sizable discrepancy in his efficiency when he’s blitzed vs. when he’s not.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Falcons blitzed Hurts on 38.5 percent of his drop backs. Here’s how he fared in those snaps vs when he wasn’t facing additional rushers.
Blitzed: 10-13, 138 yards, 2 TDs, 10.6 YPA
Not blitzed: 17-22, 126 yards, TD, 5.7 YPA
Hurts saw a massive dip in efficiency when the Falcons sat back in coverage and forced the Eagles’ QB to throw into a crowded second or third level.
Most of what Philadelphia wanted to do in Week 1 was reminiscent of the 49ers’ game plans last season when Jimmy Garoppolo retuned from injury.
There were a lot of underneath throws with only two passes traveling 20-plus yards down the field. The average depth of target (how far beyond the line of scrimmage a player is when a pass is thrown to them) for tight end Zach Ertz was 14.5 yards — a team-high. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith was at 8.6, and tight end Dallas Goedert finished at 7.6 yards. After that the next highest ADOT belongs to wide receiver Jalen Reagor at 1.2 yards. Fellow wide receiver Quez Watkins finished at negative-2.3 yards.
The Eagles were set on getting the ball to their playmakers at or behind the line of scrimmage, save for the rare couple of down-field throw. The 49ers can negate this by keeping eight players in coverage, rallying to short throws to limit yards after the catch, and then making Hurts push the ball down the field to pick up any real chunks of yardage.
Perhaps the second-year quarterback is equal to the task, but he was much less efficient when he wasn’t blitzed in Week 1, and that’s a trend San Francisco should try hard to exploit Sunday in Philadelphia.