Eagles Film Room: Concept of the Week – Mesh

In addition to writing the All22 offense and defense reviews after each Eagles game this year, I will also write this one called ‘Concept of the Week.’ I will break down a specific concept or play on offense and defense and explain the play in more detail. Hopefully, this will allow you to look out for that play in future weeks. This week, we will look at Mesh. If you’ve ever played Madden, you know about Mesh!

Mesh

The Eagles had three big passing plays this week from calling Mesh. Mesh is a very easy passing play to explain, as it is essentially two drag routes from opposite sides of the formation. It is commonly used to defeat man coverage as the two routes are supposed to run as close to each other as possible without running into each other! One drag is supposed to go under, and one should go over. The underneath drag route is the target, and the idea is that the cornerback in coverage with that receiver will end up running into the other receiver or the cornerback trailing him. It is a nightmare play to deal with in man coverage.

Here’s a really simple example of Mesh from Madden; just look at the two drag routes.

However, the reason I love Mesh is the number of different ways you can run it. Let’s look at 3 examples from this past Sunday’s game. Kellen Moore did a great job dressing up this call from different looks.

Play 1 – 21 Yard Completion

Mesh Wheel: A Chip Kelly special! This play combines the Mesh concept with a wheel route out of the backfield, which is perfect as the running back creates even more space for the drag route coming from the other side of the formation. Kellen Moore also does a good job shifting DeVonta Smith just before the snap, which totally confuses the Saints’ defensive backs. The nickel cornerback covers Smith, but he is late off the snap due to the shift, which leaves Smith wide open. This is great!

Play 2 – 30 Yard Completion

The Eagles run Mesh again, this time aiming to get the ball to Dallas Goedert. At this point in the game, the Saints were bracketing Goedert as DeVonta Smith was no longer in the game. The drag route is a great play to call against a bracket because the cornerback outside will just let the receiver run inside and expect the deep defender (in this case, the safety) to pick up the drag route. However, the safety still has to get through all that traffic in the middle of the field, especially if you line up opposite trips, so this is a great call to get Goedert the ball.

Play 3 – 61 Yard Completion

This is the exact same play, run from the other side. The Saints try to bracket Goedert again, but Kellen Moore predicts it and makes the perfect play call. Dallas Goedert does a really nice job here running up the field slightly rather than running the drag route immediately. This gives the receivers opposite him more time to create traffic that the safety has to run through. Jahan Dotson deserves huge credit for running the other drag route and getting out the way of the cornerback on both the last two plays. It is amazing how often receivers run this route wrong which leads to pass interference.

Both of these final plays were Mesh Drive which is where you have another receiver running an in route over the top of the Mesh concept. This creates a great high-low read for the quarterback against zone coverage. Mesh gives you answers against all coverages!

It turns out this play was also an audible called by Hurts, which is awesome

Lastly, I will be doing the same segment on my podcast weekly, so if you want to check out a video explanation in addition to the article, you can do so here! Although it is just Shane flying solo this week as I have been ill and couldn’t record the podcast this week.