The Eagles‘ first game with Nick Sirianni’s new offense was a resounding success. They stayed balanced, got their playmakers the ball, and put up 32 points on the Falcons.
Get Smith the ball
DeVonta Smith lead the Eagles receivers with eight targets and six receptions for 71 yards and a score. It was clear that Sirianni wanted Smith to touch the ball and impact the game. That’s exactly what he did. The threat of Smith helped open up space for Dallas Goedert to go to work and pulled attention away from the rest of the Eagles offense.
Clock management and aggressiveness
If there was any question about Sirianni’s preparedness as a head coach, he answered that on Sunday — at least the clock management portion. The Eagles were aggressive when they should have been, took chances and shots, and made the most of their opportunities.
Aggressive play can win football games and create buy-in from the players. Despite not converting on their 4th and 4 from the Atlanta 36 and their 4th and 2 from the Atlanta 20, taking those chances indicates a belief in his personnel on both sides of the ball.
Dagger Concept
Balance
Nick Sirianni and the Eagles were able to maintain balance and keep the Falcons defense off-balance. They ran the ball 34 times for 168 yards and one touchdown while passing 35 times for 264 yards and three touchdowns. Throw in the use of Jalen Hurts’ legs on scrambles and keepers and the defense has to defend every blade of grass and can’t key on run or pass.
Add in seven different players touching the ball in the pass game and we have an Eagle offense that looks — dare I say it — complete. The big three of Reagor, Smith, and Goedert all had at least five targets and a touchdown. Miles Sanders looked back to form and Kenneth Gainwell had some nice spot duty with 4.1 yards per carry.
Outside Zone
Coordinator-Quarterback relationship
The quarterback and coordinator relationship is an important one. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. We saw the damage a broken relationship can have last year. If those two men are clicking and believe in one-another, the rest of the team will follow.