Up Your Game
49ers present much more of a challenge for Eagles in Week 2
PHILADELPHIA » It can’t be easy for the Eagles to dismiss all the gratuitous praise received for crushing a helpless opponent in their season opener.
But this is a new week and a legitimate opponent in the San Francisco 49ers, who have been training and bonding in West Virginia to lessen the impact of the time change when they oppose the Eagles at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field (FOX TV, WIP-94.1 FM).
The 49ers arrive with two quarterbacks, not just one with a pulse in Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, the first round pick out of North Dakota State, Carson Wentz’s alma mater.
They check in with the best tight end in the league in George Kittle, one of the top edge players anywhere in Nick Bosa, an all-world offensive tackle in Trent Williams, a throwback playmaking linebacker in Fred Warner and a head coach in Kyle Shanahan who, despite a below average 33-36 career record is 25-9 when Garoppolo starts, the likely scenario this week.
The 49ers probably played their subs a bit early in a 41-33 season opening win over the Detroit Lions, whose quarterback, former Rams passer Jared Goff, was very
familiar with their personnel.
Of course, those are all excuses. The Eagles humiliated the Atlanta Falcons and rookie head coach Arthur Smith, 32-6, on opening day, validating at least for a week Nick Sirianni’s philosophy of getting to the starting line healthy. Everyone who suited up for the Eagles played with the exception of backup quarterback Joe Flacco.
No one should be surprised if the Eagles are faced with adversity this week, something that didn’t happen in the first game unless you count the penalty that wiped out an Eagles touchdown. Jalen Hurts fixed that by throwing a scoring pass to Dallas Goedert on the next play.
“We had a talk about adversity and when adversity hits,” Sirianni said. “Because it’s going to hit, right? And it’s how you handle that. What are the things that you really believe in that you double down on when adversity hits? Well, it’s the same thing when you have success. It’s got to be the same mindset. So, my message to them was, if you stick to the things that you really believe in and you double down on the things that you really believe in … no matter if you win or if you lose, you’re going to set yourself up to be in good shape because we know those are the things that help you win and lose games.”
Unlike the first game the Eagles’ schemes under Sirianni and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon are on film. Shanahan and his staff, including defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, the long-ago Eagles
linebacker, have had a lot of ‘me’ time to go over the XX’s and Os from their temporary headquarters this week.
Last week the Eagles used the no-huddle to limit defensive substitutions and get the matchups they wanted. Their run-pass options helped get players in space with bubble screens and crossing routes. All of it was a refined version of the Chip Kelly offense. This week? The hunch here is you’ll see some of the same jet sweeps the Niners kill opponents with.
“Teams are going to be adjusting,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said. “We’re going to have to see how teams defend it moving forward. This is when it really gets fun. How do we adapt? How do we still execute?”
Defensively, with a little bit of help from the Falcons the Eagles didn’t give up a play longer than 20 yards. Kittle, however, has the skills set that can erase the streak on one play. Defending him is critical.
“It’s going to be a damn, for sure, team effort,” cornerback Darius Sklay said. “We’ve got to attack him and not let him attack us. He’s probably the best tight end in run after the catch in the league right now. Mean stiff arm. We’ve got to be on very, very high alert for him.”
The 49ers could have another wrinkle in their package of plays for Lance, who threw a scoring pass in the opener. The mobile Lance reminds Slay of former Niners quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith.
“We can get the job done,” Slay said. “We’ve been there before. I’ve played against two quarterbacks before.”
The 49ers haven’t seen everything in Sirianni’s playbook, either the coach saying much more will be revealed. The difficult part is balancing those basic plays the Eagles did so well last week with the new wrinkles.
“Just knowing your tendencies and knowing the things that you do and being able to balance those off and marry things together from that really is the most important thing,” Sirianni said. “You’re getting ready for a certain style of defense, and then you’re going to get ready for a different style of defense. So, there’s still only one game, but we’ve always got to make sure that we know what our tendencies are with a lot of different things because we know the defensive coordinators in this league are really good and they look at a lot of different things as well.”
The Eagles are happy to be home, and with the stadium at full capacity. How long that lasts due to COVID, no one knows for sure. With limited or no fans last year, it often was depressing.
“I’m so ready. I love to hear people yelling and all kind of stuff. It was kind of boring last year.
“I couldn’t tell when the ball was coming, none of that,” Slay said. “I didn’t hear any oohs, no ahs, none of that. But now my adrenaline will get up high faster and quicker. Sometimes I felt last year that it took me a long time to understand we were really playing another team. But now as soon as I step in the building, I’ll feel the energy.”