Birds had to fly high to beat Motor City Roar, 38-35

 

Game 1 thoughts…

If anyone thinks the HBO show “Hard Knocks” has run its course after 20+ seasons, reference a raucous sold-out home crowd in the Motor City’s game 1 Eagle affair after being dead last in attendance last year!  The show was a credit to what the Lions are doing in building what will eventually be a winner, and it showed!

The defense had 4 consecutive series that went- 3-and-out, 3-and-out, 3-and-out, Interception returned for TD.  Aside from those series, the defense was horrible, both before and after.  A combination of poor game planning, sloppy tackling, scheme deficiencies and poor coaching were to blame.

Poor game planning: The strength of the Lions offense is their offensive line, and, commensurate with that, they indicated confidence in their terrific starting running back (D’Andre Swift).  Gannon’s defense played an attacking 4 man front that took the Eagles good quality defensive linemen out of position against the equally talented blockers on the other side of the ball, and underutilized their best run defender (Jordan Davis played less than 1/3 of the defensive snaps, and almost none early).

Sloppy Tackling: The back 7 did a poor job of filling the holes as their compatriots up front were lured out of position when attacking the Lion’s sly, well coached blockers. DB’s Epps, Gardner-Johnson and Maddux along with Linebackers White & Edwards accounted for 12 of the teams 15 missed tackles.

Scheme Deficiencies/Poor coaching: Have we over-rated the talent on this defense, or just the coordinator?  It doesn’t take much to see that defensive players, from the start, were not put in an optimal position to succeed.  Per Jeff Maclane of the Philly Inquirer: “It was clear on the second play from scrimmage, when Lions running back D’Andre Swift went off left tackle for 50 yards, that the Eagles’ run fits weren’t sound... the Lions were able to gash the defense on the ground for 181 yards, but it looked more like a schematic issue than one based on personnel. By going with more four-man fronts than five, Gannon opted to keep an additional defender in the back seven.”

For the second straight year, the Eagles lose a defensive end that was going to get a lot of snaps.  After losing Brandon Graham in game 2 last year, I was as unhappy as many with Derek Barnett’s silly penalties, but unlike many Eagle faithful believed he’d clean them up this year while contributing to what I saw as a winning rotation of Defensive Ends along with Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat. Barnett was entering his prime as a prior first round pick who was popular with both his coaches and teammates.  With his ACL tear, Barnett will likely be replaced by Tarron Jackson, who  will now have to step up and fill that void.

Already mentioned above, but with the NFL being a pass happy league, why couldn’t Jonathan Gannon play Jordan Davis more (only 22 snaps).  Davis was a monster vs. the run, a difference maker, as the Lions got 2.9 yards per carry while he was in the game (10.0 when he was not!).  Against a Lion team clearly emphasizing their run game, Davis could have made more of an impact.  What is Gannon thinking?

Last season, I was very disappointed the Eagles pass rush recorded only 29 sacks, next to last in the NFL.  Secondary statistics, though, suggested the line was getting there but opposing QB’s emphasized a hyper quick release vs the Birds (<2.3 seconds).  Yes, the Eagles had lost Brandon Graham for the year to injury in game 2, but I felt the combination of Hargrave/Cox/Williams at DT plus Josh Sweat and Derek Barnett at DE was not a #31 D-Line.  The additions of Hasson Reddick and Jordan Davis along with the return of Graham carried a great deal of promise, but, again as Jeff Maclane of the Philly Inquirer points out: “The Eagles’ pass rush still lacks teeth… They hit him only 6 times. That’s just not enough, and when the Eagles’ low sack numbers from last season are factored into the equation, it’s a concern. GM  Roseman made improving the pass rush one of his chief objectives in the offseason, and the very early returns are not encouraging.”

All-in-all, a bad performance by the defense that would have bordered on nightmarish if not for 2 things- The Eagles won the game, and they had 4 consecutive series in the first half where they showed thy can get it done. The challenge will be leveled, though, vs. the Vikings in game 2, a team far superior offensively to the Lions.

Jalen Hurts… 17 carries, 90 yards, a bunch of 3^rd down conversions, 243 yards passing and 31 offensive points. The man has magic legs.  And he is tough.  And he is smart (Most impressive were some balls thrown away to avoid big losses). He has only started a few games past 1 season’s worth, and at 24 has far from peeked (His 2.75 seconds per play in the pocket was a big improvement over last years 3.12… Nextgen stats).  He is not Patrick Mahomes or Justin Hebert, or even Lamar Jackson.  But he brings his unique combination of solid improving passing skills, great leadership, extreme perseverance, and intellect that suggests his floor will eventually be a top half of the league QB, with a much higher ceiling.

Miles Sanders led the Birds in rushing with 96 yards on 13 carries (7.4 per carry). He has the 7^th highest average yards per carry in NFL history for running backs with 500+ carries, moving past Gale Sayers Sunday vs. Detroit.  His 5.5 ypc average since 2020 is 2^nd in the NFL to Nick Chubb.  He’s 1 of only 7 running backs EVER to start their careers with 3 seasons of 750+ yard and 4.5 ypc.  He is the first Eagle with 2500+ scrimmage yards in his 1^st 29 games.  He’s tough- Since he returned from injury last season, Sanders is 6^th in the NFL in yards after contact (3.82). And, again per Reuben Frank, if he exceeds 750 yards and 4.6 ypc this year he’ll be only the 4^th player in NFL history to do so (alongside Jim Brown, Nick Chubb and Gale Sayers).  Finally, the knock on Sanders is his health.  That is fair, but since he’s entered the league, only 10 running backs have more starts. 

It's only 1 game, but AJ Brown sure did justify his cost.  With 155 yds on 10 catches (in 13 targets), he and Hurts “have a thing.”  This is great, but as teams shift their focus increasingly on Brown, Hurts is fortunate to have equally talented targets in both Devonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.  He’ll need to prove the chemistry there too.

The offensive line was good, but scheme-wise Detroit’s overload packages forced Hurts to scramble too much. The Eagles will need a combination of quick hit check down's, and route combinations hitting vacated zones to supplement Hurt’s legs in these scenarios.   

Special Teams were good.  Jake Elliot remains reliable, Arryn Siposs was good with a 45+ punting average, and a shout out to Britain Covey who was more than adequate after fears manifested on punt returning this year.  Covey had 1 good return, and a couple fair catches, including one that should have been a fumble after teammate Zach Pascal  inadvertently bumped him as he was making the fair catch.  The sure handed Covey made the catch look easy anyway. 

Dallas is in real trouble.  Their offensive line is a shambles, they’ve lost their starting QB for 6-8 games, and their defense will regress from an insane turnover ratio last year that cannot be statistically maintained.  The Eagles need to capitalize. 

Carson Wentz and the Commanders will be the real NFC East threat this year.  They have a good defense, a good receiving corps, a good Tight End and while inconsistent with accuracy issues, Wentz can be explosive.  Meanwhile, playing the Giants will mean 1 thing… shut down a rejuvenated Saquan Barkley. 

Eagle Lesson: I do not know if Jonathan Gannon can effectively close all the foibles and mistakes the Lions exposed on his defense in game 1.  If the Vikings continue to reveal Gannon for what he appears to be, an imposter, then the Eagles are in for a long year as their defense attempts to achieve what their talent says they can be, but what their coordinator cannot deliver.