Eagles' honorary tight end adds crucial wrinkle to offense, helping Saquon Barkley and run game get going

PHILADELPHIA -- On a day where tight ends were celebrated across the league, Dallas Goedert wanted to add another name to the party list. This player is not listed as a tight end, nor caught a pass.

Yet he had as significant of an impact as Goedert did in the Eagles' blowout win over the Giants, and Goedert caught two touchdowns in the victory. 

Fred Johnson -- the honorary tight end -- as Goedert calls him. The Eagles' backup tackle, who already filled in once this season to win the Eagles a game, played a crucial role in Sunday's win. This time Johnson didn't fill in for anyone, but was part of the game plan to get the Eagles run game going. 

The Eagles used Johnson as a sixth offensive lineman on 12 of the Eagles' 33 run plays using the jumbo formation, which was hinted at in the NovaCare Complex building throughout the week. On those 12 snaps, the Eagles rushed for 159 yards -- an average of 13.3 yards per carry. 

This is the same Eagles run offense that was 30th in rushing yards per game (88.1), 31st in yards per carry (3.3), and 23rd in yards before contact per rush entering Week 8. On Sunday, the Eagles rushed for 276 yards, averaged 8.4 yards per carry, and had 4.18 yards per contact per rush. 

The tush push didn't die in a meeting room; it died on a Sunday in Philadelphia

Jonathan Jones

Johnson played a massive role in the Eagles getting back to what made them so successful last year. 

"The big formations with Big Fred, Big Freddy. They don't know if we're running the ball," said Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata. "We talked about how teams are going to 6-1, and what that essentially does is puts everyone on a 1-on-1 block and the margin of error decreases. Now that we have Fred in there, that kind of lessens the overload."

The Eagles were using Johnson in the jumbo formation the week prior against the Vikings, but the run game wasn't dictated as much based on the Vikings playing mostly man-to-man coverage, opening up the passing game for Jalen Hurts to go downfield. The Giants played more zone coverage and loaded up the box, as the Eagles faced an 8-man box 30.3% of the time on Sunday. 

With Johnson as the sixth lineman on the field, that leveled the playing field. Not only did teh Eagles have six blockers to counter the Giants, but they were the more physical team in the trenches as well. 

"Execution fuels emotion, and that's something we were lacking," Mailata said. "I think execution today was the factor. That played into the win today. We just executed a lot more. The message this week was victory favors the team that makes the least mistakes. For the most part, everyone was on point, everyone executed when we needed to." 

Barkley finally was Barkley again

The struggles of the Eagles offensive line significantly impacted Barkley's ability to make plays. Prior to Sunday, the longest run of Saquon Barkley's season was 18 yards -- twice against the Giants in the blowout loss just 17 days ago. Barkley had averaged just 3.3 yards per carry and averaged 52.7 rushing yards a game. 

That wasn't an issue on Sunday, as Barkley finished with 14 carries for 150 yards and averaged 10.7 yards per carry. He had his longest run of the season, a 65-yard touchdown on the Eagles' second offensive play. The Eagles run game never looked back at that point. 

"I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't like, finally," Barkley said on his touchdown run. "But yeah, I loved it, one, because it starts up front. Go back and watch the film and see how the O-line blocked on that play. It was amazing. And I just continue to stick with my routine. 

"You guys see it (in practice), I'm working on my speed. That's important. When stuff's not going your way, you can't lose focus on that. You gotta stay detailed on that, continue to stay with your routine and following the process. I had an opportunity today."

This wasn't a case of Barkley losing a step, but the Eagles finding ways to get their All-Pro running back going. All of a sudden Barkley is 10th in the NFL in rushing yards (519) and the yards per carry average jumped from 3.3 to 4.1. The Eagles are now averaging 111.6 rushing yards per game, jumping from 30th in the league to 19th in one week. 

Philadelphia was looking for ways to get Barkley and the run game going. They found the equalizer with Johnson as the sixth offensive lineman, creating the lanes for Barkley to do what he does best. No surprise Barkley had two of his longest runs of the season (65 and 28 yards) thanks to the Eagles adding an advantage to what is supposed to be the biggest strength of their team. 

If the Eagles found the formula, there will be more performances like Sunday's in store for Barkley in the second half of the season. He didn't lose a step.

"He's a f---ing dog. He hasn't changed," Mailata said. "I told him I was proud of him ... I'm not shocked the player who he is today is the same player he was last year. Nothing's changed. He's the same player he was last year. 

"He's not satisfied and he will not let the standard drop. That's why we got that run game going. he's the voice in the back of all the meetings, the most positive voice ever."