Doug Pederson

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson constructed a game plan based on misdirection for Sunday's win over the Steelers. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

(Charles Rex Arbogast)

PHILADELPHIA -- Darren Sproles' most dazzling play of the Philadelphia Eagles' 34-3 win over the Steelers on Sunday might have been pure improvisation -- and thanks to the internet, you can watch him sneak by the defense for that 73-yard score here -- but the rest of his productive performance was a product of a detailed game plan.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson knew Pittsburgh's 3-4 defense would be aggressive. It always is. Blitzes and speedy linebackers have long been a staple of the franchise. So Pederson figured he could keep the Steelers off balance by implementing fakes and screens that would move the defense from one sideline to the other.

That's why it's no coincidence Sproles, a running back, finished with a team-best six catches for 128 yards. And it's also not happenstance that the rest of a successful passing game included short throws to a variety of receivers.

"Number one, We hadn't shown any [screens] the first two games," Pederson said as he explained his offensive strategy in a postgame news conference. "Secondly, it was an opportunity to put the ball in Sproles' hands. This is a fast flow defense and a speed defense. We showed a little misdirection."

Sproles' first catch, a 40-yard screen play on the Eagles' opening drive, presents a deeper look at what Pederson was thinking.

In the Eagles' first two games, they ran several end-arounds to wide receivers. But on this play, quarterback Carson Wentz faked a handoff up the middle to Sproles and then faked another to wide receiver Nelson Agholor, who was sprinting from the left side of the formation to the right.

That movement caused Pittsburgh's defense to shift to the right in pursuit of Agholor, just as Sproles and three offensive linemen leaked out to the left unnoticed.

Wentz spun around and dropped a short pass into 33-year-old's arms, leaving Sproles with plenty of room ahead. Watch below. Center Jason Kelce is able to run 20 yards past the line of scrimmage before he finds someone to block.

A closer look at the play shows that the Steelers were jumping to cut off Agholor even before Wentz faked the handoff. Check out the screenshot below that depicts the defense just before Wentz throws the pass to Sproles.

Linebacker Lawrence Timmons and safety Mike Mitchell, tasked with covering the middle of the field, were both sprinting away from Sproles and toward Agholor's path.

Sproles was the beneficiary of the trickery on that big play early on, but at other times, the Eagles used him as a decoy. And the shifty running back proved just as effective in that role.

On a third and 11 late in the second quarter, Wentz sent Sproles in motion to his right and turned as if he was going to throw a swing pass in that direction. It's a play the Eagles use often, one many teams turn to on third and long situations.

But again, this was a fake. Pederson hoped Steelers defenders would move to cut off Sproles before Wentz release the ball. And they did. That left Trey Burton open to Wentz's left with three blockers in front and only one Pittsburgh player -- cornerback William Gay -- there to stop his path to a first down.

Again, you can watch below. Notice how Jarvis Jones (No. 95) slips by Burton and then slows down because he thinks Wentz already threw the ball to Sproles, creating space for the rookie to flip a pass to his tight end.

These play calls served several purposes in Philly's dominant win over the Steelers. The screens produced big gains, sure, and that's the obvious intended result. But they also helped the offense settle into a rhythm despite a stagnant early running game, gave Wentz a few easy completions to build momentum and forced the Steelers' defense to reel back its aggression as the game wore on.

Pederson, three games into his career, has mixed and matched play calls well. Sunday's victory marked the latest example of how his schemes helped the Eagles jump out to a 3-0 start, while igniting nationwide buzz over Wentz's play.

And if the Birds offense continues to churn as smoothly as it did against Pittsburgh on Sunday, Pederson will have a tougher and tougher time deflecting praise away from his own success as a first-year coach.

-- @AaronKazreports