January 29, 2025   5 MIN READ

Peanut Punching

Behind the Eagles' Knack for Forcing Fumbles

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PHILADELPHIA – When seated inside the NovaCare Complex auditorium, all one has to do is look up at the ceiling above the stage to comprehend just how much the Eagles under head coach Nick Sirianni value turnover differential.

Two posters, aligned side by side, serve as the blueprint, a reminder of ways to win outside the margins.

But like any area of focus, it’s a philosophy – a DNA perhaps – that must be ingrained from the onset to become habitual.

And because the Eagles have drilled ball security in practice all season, it’s no surprise to see the details manifest on the field, where the Eagles have forced nine turnovers this postseason, four Sunday in the conference championship.

Zack Baun

GETTY IMAGES: Philadelphia Eagles LBs Zack Baun and Oren Burks have forced several fumbles on their way to the Super Bowl.

“First, the players going out there and being able to do it is incredible because you’re taking chances at times, too,” Sirianni said Tuesday.

“Because we’ve tackled well, too. I think sometimes you see in those scenarios that teams take chances there, but they don’t make tackles. Well, we’ve been in the top 10 of missed tackle percentage in the NFL, which we take a lot of pride in. Again, goes back to our details.

“But the players, when they go out there and execute that on the defensive side of the ball, that’s easier said than done. Just really proud of them of how they’ve been able to tackle well while also taking the football away. It’s something we emphasize an awful lot. We’ve always done a good job of emphasizing it on offense.”

But it’s the angles, technique and calculated approach in which the Eagles attack the football that’s become particularly notable.

The first of three forced fumbles against the Washington Commanders occurred in the first quarter of the Eagles’ 55-23 rout of their division rival, after Commanders quarterback connected with wide receiver Dyami Brown for six yards before linebacker Zack Baun urgently swarmed, delivering a well-placed punch to dislodge the football.

Safety Reed Blankenship pounced, returning possession to the Eagles at the Washington 48-yard line.

Baun’s “Peanut Punch” – termed after longtime Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman, a punch-out fumble specialist  –  didn’t come by accident.

It was a byproduct of film study and attention to detail, as Sirianni had compiled, with the help of team video director Patrick Dolan, and dissected each and every one of Tillman’s trademark “Peanut Punches” to use for coach tape.

“We watched that on a loop as coaches,” Sirianni said, “and then we showed that to the players as well.”

The next takeaway took place just before halftime, with the Commanders down eight.

Commanders kick returner Jeremy McNichols fielded the shallow kickoff and proceeded to get vertical before being stuck by a full-forced collision with rookie running back Will Shipley, who popped the ball out with his shoulder.

Fellow running back Kenny Gainwell came up with the loose football, setting the Eagles’ offense up at the Washington 24.

The sequence, in many ways, represented a turning point.

It also reinforced the physical, tenacious DNA that had been formed over the last several months in practice.

“It’s special,” Shipley said after the game. “It was a little bit of a weird play, because it was a missed play, it barely made it inside the 20.

“The guy that was supposed to be blocking me, he kind of froze. And I was like, ‘Let’s go, baby!’

“So, I got around him, and the off-returner, Luke McCaffrey, he came to block me, but I kind of shed him and then just got my nose in there – any way I could get him down.

“And I ended up getting a helmet or shoulder on the ball … I still don’t know what I did exactly. I know the ball got out, K.G. picked it up. So, it was a big play for our running back room, for sure.”

The final force-out, which all but poured cold water on any signs of life, happened in the waning moments of the third.

The Commanders, trailing by 11 and furnished with a fresh set of downs, went no huddle. Quarterback Jayden Daniels from shotgun connected on a short toss to the right to running back Austin Ekeler.

The gain would have been minimal, but Eagles linebacker Oren Burks quickly converged and delivered a strategic strike to knock the football loose, forcing his second turnover of the postseason that Baun would recover at the Philadelphia 49.

Turnovers are said to come in bunches, but when a passion becomes a habit, it isn’t happenstance.

“That’s the mindset we preach from practice to walkthroughs, everything, is just, ‘Find a way to get the ball away,'” Burks said. “If you do that as a defense, you have a good chance of winning.”

– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.

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