by Charles McDonald

After losing Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Wentz, the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl chances looked bleak. Wentz did a masterful job of bailing the Eagles out of third-and-long situations throughout the entire season; it was fair to wonder if Nick Foles could manage to fill the gaping hole in the production that left with Wentz's departure.

Foles has certainly exceeded expectations this postseason, posting 9.9 adjusted net yards per attempt and completing 77.8 percent of his passes. However, head coach Doug Pederson deserves a lot of credit for how has called plays and managed favorable situations in which Foles can thrive. Advancing to the Super Bowl while taking down the reigning NFC champions and lighting up arguably the best defense in football is no small feat. The difficulty of that task is magnified even further with a backup quarterback in the lineup.

In their NFC championship bout against the Minnesota Vikings, Pederson pulled all the stops to help Foles generate big plays down the field.

The Eagles used double moves to get open against Minnesota's aggressive secondary play. Since they were going against Foles, the Vikings were trying to be physical at the catch point and force Foles to make tight-window throws. To counteract that, Pederson called plays that allowed the Eagles' receivers to take advantage of the physical play by Minnesota's defensive backs.

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Alshon Jeffery is running a post-corner route at the bottom of the screen here. He's selling the post towards the middle of the field, but once Terence Newman bites on the post, he breaks back towards the sideline on a corner route. The Vikings are playing QQH (quarters-quarters-half, aka Cover-6) coverage on the play; once Jeffery pivots outside on the corner route, there's no one left to make a tackle. It's deep throw for Foles, but an easy one considering no one is within 50 miles of Jeffery after he breaks his route.

Philadelphia also used double-moves to beat man coverage looks by the Vikings defense. Zach Ertz's 36-yard gain against Harrison Smith to get the Eagles in field goal range to close the second quarter was a prime example.

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Minnesota rushed five on the play with single-high man coverage behind the blitz. Smith was tasked with covering Ertz on his short route towards the sideline at the top of the screen. This is where the Vikings' aggressive defensive back play hurt them. Smith's intentions on this play are to jump the route and have an easy pick-six against Foles. Look where his eyes are when Foles lets go of the ball.

When a defensive back has his eyes in the backfield, he is extremely susceptible to giving up big plays through the air. As Foles is letting go of the ball, Smith doesn't even realize Ertz has headed up the field behind him. Once Smith does notice, it's too late. This set up the Eagles to get three points heading into the half.

Pederson wasn't afraid to go into his bag of tricks to generate big plays either.

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This play was a lethal combination of clever play calling by Pederson, savvy wide receiver play by Torrey Smith, and an unbelievable throw by Foles. As the Eagles sell the initial run fake, watch Smith at the top of the play. He slows down as Foles hands the ball off, then accelerates down the field after Corey Clement throws the ball back to Foles.

The pause gives Smith a chance to race away from Trae Waynes, and Foles drops the ball right in the bucket to barely beat Smith coming over the top from his single-high spot.

The final score by the Eagles to lock in a trip to the Super Bowl was the perfect combination of execution between the coaching staff and the players to force the Vikings to play at a severe disadvantage on the goal line.

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When the Eagles broke the formation in a jumbo package, it forced the Vikings to prepare for a running play. Minnesota has one single-high safety, which is usually a sin in the red zone, but with the way the Eagles have been able to run the ball in the red zone this postseason, it makes sense to put another defender in the box.

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The Eagles motioned from a jumbo package to a 3x1 shotgun set, while the Vikings were trapped with heavy personnel on the field. The Eagles added one more wrinkle of confusion as they motioned from a 3x1 to a 2x2 set. Think about that. In a few seconds the Eagles were able to move from jumbo, to 3x1 spread, to a 2x2 set at the snap of the ball. That's utter chaos for any defense to cover, even a top-three defensive unit in the league.

Since Minnesota had been expecting a run up the middle they employed Cover-3, which is arguably the worst coverage to call in goal line situations. Jeffery runs a quick slant into space and makes a great adjustment on the ball to catch a pass that was thrown a bit high for the final score of the game.

If the Eagles are going to stop the Patriots' reign of terror in Super Bowl LII, then Pederson is going to have to call the game of his life. In terms of pure talent, the Eagles should be able to move the ball on the Patriots defense. However, we know Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia will be ready for whatever the Eagles throw at them, especially in the second half when the Eagles move off of their initial game script. It can be done, but the Eagles and Pederson are going to have to be picture perfect to come home with a Lombardi trophy.