Constantly, throughout the game they split out their NT from the 0 or/and 1 technique out to the 3 technique. While keeping the other DT in same position on the other side. Thus, both DT were lined up over the guards and shaded outside. DE were split out wider than usual. Nobody was close to the Center.
That's why they were able to run at them so well. At one point Big Ben even called an audible and just run right up the gut with the C pulling in front of him, I guess even he/they were tired of it, they wanted the Eagles to come in more of a traditional look. I don't think they are going to run this alignment in a regular season game. Besides obvious passing downs, especially on 3rd downs.
It did put some good pressure on the QB at times, but at time it also failed more than not. The good thing about it was that the NT was never doubled by the C/G in the initial part of the pass rush, which means he was able to get downfield and push the pocket so deep (Usually he is stopped immediately at the LOS by the double team). I guess what they wanted was to help their DE's in that way, to push the guards up the field so much. The bad thing, as I saw it yesterday, was that the C on other hand was more free to roam and help out on both sides (both G's) if needed later during the protection. This created good pass protection. The geometry of the pocket was definitely much different because of this, but i'm not sure if it was a success.
This is a good game to try things like these. It's experimental on both sides of football. Lebeau tested many different blitz packages while some of the best stuff, he would never show. While the Eagles didn't blitz as much, they tested this unusual alignment of the D-Line and whether it would help the rush but be somewhat acceptable against the run. They would never do this once the regular season starts on every down basis. Maybe, Steelers would call one or two of these blitzes from yesterday, especially those that worked out against a given alignment.
I guess there are many stuff they would never call in a preseason game, the stuff that they are sure about works well in practice and that they feel confident about will work just as well in a real game. What they can't evaluate so well in practice, they need to test in preseason, even though they reveal it for all other teams.
Also, that's why the Eagles LB's looked "bad", especially inside LB. This was all due to Center being unblocked most of the game.
