The biggest play of Sunday's Eagles 25-20 win over the 49ers was a key fourth quarter, fourth down conversion to a fifth-round rookie receiver in John Hightower, who has just five catches in his NFL career.
"Who else did you want me to put over there?" Pederson said on Tuesday morning when asked by Angelo Cataldi if that was hard to call for such an inexperienced player.
The Eagles' wide receiving corp was decimated for the team's Week 4 game. Already without Alshon Jeffery and Jalen Reagor, DeSean Jackson and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside missed the game, as well as tight end Dallas Goedert. Carson Wentz was working with a limited group of weapons.
"I get the question," Pederson continued. "First of all, we put John Hightower in situations to help us win. I also knew in those 4th--and-3, 4th-and-4 situations San Francisco, on tape, has shown a lot of man coverage. We actually had Travis Folgam, our other young receiver, in the slot who ran a little interference for John — things we work on in practice — and it was well executed by two players and it was a great throw by Carson in that situation. And John made a heck of a catch, got the first down, and stayed on the field. So, these are things we're teaching our young players to do and the executed that play perfectly for us and got the first down."
The key play was a 4th-and-4 from the San Fran 36-yard line midway through the fourth quarter with the Eagles trailing by three points. Pederson had a tough decision with all three options — go for it, kick the field goal, and punt — as viable options. Thankfully, Pederson channeled his aggressive self that we've seen time and time again, and went for it.
John Hightower's critical 4th down catch came courtesy of a 'Rub Route' from the #Eagles offense
— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) October 5, 2020
Hightower led the Eagles in WR snaps on Sunday night. Good to see him come up with this one as the rookie continues to look more and more comfortable #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/7qZAykJSIB
