Sirianni getting in the spirit of Dallas week
To remind the players what time it was, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni issued them “Beat Dallas” T-shirts Thursday.
Another custom Dallas T-shirt was issued as well although Sirianni didn’t reveal what it said. More on that in a few moments from Lane Johnson.
Much as Sirianni and his coaching staff try to get the feel of Dallas week from the Philly perspective it’s next to impossible without actually playing the game.
It’s not Mount Union versus John Carroll, which Sirianni was accustomed to him during his college career with the Purple Raiders. To Eagles Nation, it’s much bigger than Colts-Patriots or Chargers-Raiders, rivals of two of the teams he coached with.
But Sirianni deserves credit for stepping up and taking his visual swings, including a video Thursday of the series through the years.
“We watched a pretty good clip of the history this morning on TV, the past 40 years or so of playing each other,” Johnson said before describing the T-shirts. “Everyone got one. It says, ‘Dallas Sucks’ on them, I’m pretty sure. ‘Beat Dallas’ or ‘Dallas Sucks,’ one of them. I can’t remember.”
Sirianni wore the “Beat Dallas” tee to his Thursday presser. He’s not concerned photos of him sporting the rah-rah look will become bulletin board material. But he’d be surprised if someone didn’t try to spin it that way to stir emotions.
“Yeah, I’m sure they’re going to have the picture of this shirt on there,” Sirianni said. “And that’s fine. This is about a great rivalry. And that means a lot to this city, that means a lot to our building.
And it’s a division game. And with the rivalry and it being a division game, I don’t know if anyone needs – our side, their side – any more bulletin board material or if it’s even going to help. Because we know how big the rivalry is and how much it means to both sides.”
That quiet confidence has endeared Sirianni to his players, who are 4-point underdogs according to Draft Kings, for the Monday night showdown at AT&T Stadium. The Eagles are at a disadvantage in that rookie Landon Dickerson, not injured veteran Brandon Brooks will line up at right guard against a Cowboys pass rush that while missing DeMarcus Lawrence, got a big-time effort last week from Micah Parsons. The rookie out of Penn State had one sack, one tackle for loss and four hurries of Justin Herbert in a 20-17 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn likely is going to use blitzes and stunts to disturb the communication between Dickerson and Johnson. The Eagles might want to get the early lead and run the ball right at the Cowboys, rather than try to turn the corner on the speedy defense.
The worries aren’t about Johnson, who has the length and strength to steer Parsons or Randy Gregory toward the sideline. It’s what happens to Dickerson in space if he has to pick up a stunt or a blitz. Dickerson is going to have enough difficulty getting off the ball on the silent count. He didn’t practice or play in the preseason. And he had problems stepping in for Brooks last week.
“I won’t go into detail on that but I just didn’t feel like my play was satisfactory when it comes to expectations we’ve set on the team and in the offensive line room,” Dickerson said. “There’s a lot of things I need to work on.”
Back to Parsons, who the Eagles knew the Cowboys would draft last spring when they exchanged places with them to jump ahead of the New York Giants and select wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Parsons is killing it.
Parsons was incredibly disruptive in the second half when the Chargers were playing catchup. Herbert was just 14 of 21 passing with one interception after a first half in which he completed 16 straight throws, the streak ended by – you’ve got it – pressure by Parsons.
“I can’t say enough about Micah and what he’s done on the field,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said on a conference call. “He’s been flexible in the way we’ve been able to play him. His positional flexibility and impact were really good and he’s off to a really good start just after two games. I love the way he plays, his physicality and his explosiveness. Football comes pretty damn natural to him.”
With Parsons on an edge, it condenses the amount of field Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts can use on that side beyond screen passes. It could mean the tight end or running back has to help block Parsons. It would help if Zach Ertz – on the reserve-COVID list – tested negative twice in a 48-hour period to get back in uniform. After Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll is all the Eagles really have at the position.
The Eagles have no choice to work through this development. The same with the Cowboys rivalry.
“I just know how heated the rivalry is,” Sirianni said. “It’s the rivalry that feels to me like, since I’ve been in the NFL the past 14 years, this is the one that feels most like the college rivalries, and that’s pretty special. There are always games in college that are legendary games. They play those clips – thinking Ole Miss, Mississippi – they play those clips over and over again. It’s the same thing here. You make plays in this game and they’re going to be shown for a long time. I’ve seen so many plays from this game, the highlights from the Cowboys or the highlights from the Eagles being played a bunch when I grew up, too.”
If the Eagles make enough plays to win Monday, Sirianni will be good to go for a long time with Eagles fans, as well.