Sirianni’s game plan also a rush for the injured Sanders
Nick Sirianni was so excited Monday about his team’s unusual groundand-pound 44-6 trampling of the Lions the previous day, he decided to hold an unscripted spelling session with the media.
This happened when the Eagles’ head coach was asked if injured running back Miles Sanders had anything to say to him after the usually pass-first (second and third) Eagles offense rolled out 46 rushing attempts (to the Lions’ 18), good for 236 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
And by the way, that would be two TDs each for running backs Boston Scott and Jordan Howard, respectively … one guy who didn’t get a carry until the previous week, the other who was on the practice team until just before the club left for Detroit.
“Actually, he texted me, ‘HELL YEA, COACH’ with all caps,” Sirianni said of the sidelined Sanders. “Miles was obviously super excited for his teammates. Miles is a great teammate. He’s a great person, a great teammate, a great player. Sure glad we have him on the team. Obviously, we’re missing him right now and looking forward to when he gets back.”
Not only did Scott and Howard combine to help produce the Eagles’ most lopsided road victory since Dick Vermeil was on the sidelines crying for more in a 42-point win over the Cardinals in 1981, it all also produced a few key questions, as in…
1. How the hell are the Lions this bad?
2. In what year will the Lions next win a game?
3. So … maybe the Eagles should have tried this running game thing before?
The hypothesis about question three was that Sanders, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday after injuring his ankle during the previous Sunday’s loss to the Raiders in Las Vegas, might have been wondering the same thing when he fired off a post-game text to Sirianni.
But again, just to clarify, Sirianni referenced Sanders’ text and said, “That was … in all caps … H-E-L-L, space, Y-E-A. So that was his — with an exclamation point after that.”
And considering the circumstances, who the h worries about forgetting an H?
The point was that for at least one week, the unlikely combination of Scott and Howard, along with some correctly conservative playcalling and a whole lot of Detroit defensive incompetence, allowed the Eagles to forget all about Sanders not being there. At least for one week.
“We had some good success early on running the football, being able to continue with what was working,” Sirianni said. “But obviously we want to be able to be balanced in our attack and with running the football and setting up some playactions from that. The game allowed for that in the situation that happened yesterday.
“Then again, we see that we can run the ball pretty well, and so we want to repeat the things that we do well also. That doesn’t always mean it’s the style of runs we ran. Each style of runs is going to depend on what the defense is doing and what their defensive ends and defensive lineman and their front seven guys (are doing).”
The Lions apparently weren’t doing a whole lot very well.
Naturally, quarterback Jalen Hurts was at the forefront of the Eagles’ rushing efforts. He sort of scrambled seven times for 71 yards, a cool 10-plus not-so hard yards per carry.
Though they’re two entirely different style of back, Scott (12 rushes, 60 yards) and Howard (12 rushes, 57 yards) reeled off almost identical production lines, most importantly those two ground TDs each.
The question remains, of course, can this kind of ground game carry into the future against teams not as generous as the Lions? At least for now, Sirianni seems to be hoping it can.
“There is no doubt that we want to be able to run it, because that will only help our play-action game and help Jalen moving forward,” Sirianni said.
••• Something more remarkable about the Eagles’ success with the running game Sunday was the fact that there were two impactful injuries for them early in the game. First right guard Jack Driscoll went out with a hand injury. Then receiver Jalen Reagor went down with an ankle, needing to be carted to the locker room.
Neither returned, though Monday Sirianni wasn’t ready to rule either out for the upcoming home game against the Chargers.
“We’ll see what happens this week,” Sirianni said.
Before he departed, Reagor actually tried his hands at running the ball, getting two rushes for 21 yards.
•••
Veteran red-zone runner Jordan Howard comes off the practice squad and has quite a day for himself. Think that would earn him a regular spot back in the lineup where he was under Doug Pederson a couple of seasons ago?
Well…?
“As far as Jordan, with the practice squad bringing him up, obviously we are in constant communication with all these things,” Sirianni said. “We want to be able to keep all our good players. If you brought Jordan up, then you have to put somebody down.
“We know how important Jordan was to the win yesterday and that we need him on this football team. … Obviously, that’s something we don’t have to do at this particular moment, but we’ll keep talking through it as we go.”