Eagles and coach still have plenty to prove
The Eagles got to the starting line under Nick Sirianni healthy, connected and above all, anonymous.
Sirianni didn’t name the starting quarterback and left tackle until the week of the opener. He wouldn’t give up even a morsel of information about his schemes or which personnel would play, holding the starters out for all but a couple handfuls of preseason plays. He did suggest that just about everybody who suited up would play in the first game.
All 47 Eagles who were active participated in the 32-6 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Even Andre Dillard, who lost his job to Jordan Mailata.
The all-inclusive snap counts weren’t the primary reason the Eagles prevailed beyond, of course, how brutally inept the Falcons are.
The Eagles triumphed because they followed a simple, effective game plan that played to their strengths. And it was a plan nobody knew much about, including some of the players. That won’t be the case the rest of September when the Eagles oppose the San Francisco 49ers (Lincoln Financial Field) and Dallas Cowboys (AT&T Stadium).
By October, when the Eagles take on elite game-planners like Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs (Linc), Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Linc) and Jon Gruden and the Las Vegas Raiders (Allegiant Stadium), there will be no surprises.
There will be enough film of the Eagles, their schemes and tendencies for the opposition to realize that if you get off to a good start, as they did against the Falcons, the Eagles are going to have a tough time playing catchup. Why? They’re so new to each other they haven’t had time to figure out how to climb out of the inevitable holes they’re sure to find against better opposition. They were fortunate in the opener. The Jets are the only team left on the Eagles schedule that’s worse than the Falcons.
The party atmosphere running back Miles Sanders spoke of in the locker room following the victory over Atlanta was well deserved. You’ve got to enjoy the highs and try to forget about the lows. Jeffrey Lurie presented Sirianni the game ball.
Sirianni, full of emotion, described how rewarding it is to celebrate with a team where the players have connected, as he feels the Eagles have. Connecting, as he certainly realizes, isn’t a one-week thing. That’s going to be a challenge.
How many times can Sirianni ask players to shake hands with each other for 15 minutes to promote unity at a team meeting before a game, as Lane Johnson revealed? It worked against the Falcons.
Those clips of Sirianni playing basketball in high school, the ones he showed to illustrate perseverance are going to get old, too. But it worked against the Falcons.
Asking the guys to rally behind him because the media portrayed him as a knucklehead at his first news conference, was brilliant. It isn’t the kind of thing you can count on week in and week out. Particularly not if you’re winning. Then the guys are going to think the media is correct.
Then again, the brilliance of Sirianni’s thinking is in the simplicity. The Eagles ran the same plays in the opener that everybody runs. What made them so effective was the group effort. Minimal mistakes, even on the do-overs because of penalties. Impeccable timing. Players laying it all out because the guys next to them are doing the same thing. That’s Eagles football at its best.
The Eagles got the job done in the opener. They lead the NFC East, the other teams going a collective 0-3. However, all of the division teams have something the Eagles don’t - they’ve been through adversity together with their quarterbacks and their coaches.
When October rolls around, the Eagles will be who we thought they were, which is young squad full of energy. But there will be no more secrets. They’ll need their connection to keep fighting their way into the light.
When October arrives, and teams have figured out who the Eagles are it’s going to be up to the coaching staff to reinvent itself while playing to the strengths of whatever the roster is at that point. And that could change, possibly for the better.
In a few weeks the offensive line that dominated the Falcons will have enough depth to weather a storm to a starter because secondround draft pick Landon Dickerson should be ready, and he’s a flatout bully on the football field.
Sirianni also is going to have to figure out ways to keep Jalen Hurts healthy, which he did a masterful job of in the first game, judging by the big game the underrated quarterback delivered. Almost all of the opponents from here through October have legitimate pass rushes, and they’ll have film. We’ll know a lot more about Sirianni after he’s had some adversity.
Critical as it was to burst out of the gate with a victory, Sirianni would validate it with an upset of the 49ers in the home opener Sunday. The Niners can score points. They’re so beat up in the secondary they might bring Richard Sherman back.
If Sirianni is interested in the crash course about what it’s really like being a head coach in Philly, we can help. We’ll leave Nick with this largerthan-life revelation by Reid, the winningest Eagles coach over.
Prior to hosting and beating the Eagles in 2017, Big Red made these remarks to media covering the Eagles during a conference call:
“The thing you love about Philadelphia, you guys included, is you’re all in when we’re winning,” Reid said, “and when we stink, you’re going to let the people know.”
The room erupted in laughter because truer words were never spoken.
Sirianni might want to think about that.