Eagles Film Room: Concept of the Week – QB Counter Bash

In addition to writing the All-22 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 the Eagles’ use of QB Counter Bash against the Bengals, which the Eagles ran on Jalen Hurts’ rushing touchdown.

QB Counter Bash

I’ve often discussed this concept, so I had to discuss this one. I’m a run game nerd, and this is my favorite run. It just looks awesome when it’s blocked well.

Counter bash is a variation of counter, so let’s talk about counter first!

Counter involves two players pulling across the formation and usually, this is the offensive tackle and guard. Teams will sometimes mix it up and use someone else to pull across the formation (such as a H-back or slot receiver), but the Eagles don’t have this issue, as they have extremely athletic offensive linemen. If you ever see it called something like ‘GT Counter’ that just means the guard and the tackle are the ones pulling. When looking at a counter run, I always focus on the two pullers first.

One of the pullers (usually the first) will try to move one of the defensive linemen toward the sideline in order to create a gap where the other puller can run through. The running back will then follow the second puller. The rest of the linemen will all be down blocking and therefore, the two pullers will be moving in the opposite direction to them, hence the term ‘counter’. The Eagles often pull the left tackle and left guard because Mecki Becton at right guard is unbelievable at down blocking. He is so big and you can use that size to create a huge lane and you don’t want him pulling too often.

Teams with a mobile quarterback often run counter read rather than standard counter. Counter read is a counter in which the quarterback reads the EDGE defender and keeps it himself if the EDGE crashes down on the running back. There’s almost no point running standard counter if you have a mobile quarterback. It will almost always be counter read.

Counter ‘bash’ is still counter read, but with a twist. Counter bash is where the quarterback and running back roles are reversed, with the quarterback following the pulling linemen instead. The word ‘bash’ means ‘back away’ because the running back runs away from the pulling lineman. This is what it looks like on the whiteboard!

It’s such a difficult play to stop because many linebackers are watching the running back and suddenly have to change direction completely. The Eagles used this a lot down the stretch last year, and it is no surprise that it is a fantastic play to run with a mobile quarterback. Here’s counter bash on Jalen Hurts touchdown this past week!

It really is a thing of beauty. The Eagles ran the same play later on, but this time, Jalen Hurts handed the ball off to Saquon Barkley. You can see why it is such a difficult concept for a defense to stop. Defensive players are often told to key on the pulling guards, so when the ball is handed off to the running back, it can catch them out. You need really good awareness as a linebacker to handle this play. You have to watch the back, the quarterback, and the pulling lineman. That’s tough.

Lastly, I am going to 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!