The Eagles' once swaggy offense has become milquetoast beta ball

[time2rock]

The Eagles' once swaggy offense has become milquetoast beta ball

The once unstoppable Eagles offense under Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni has lost all of its punch.

BY JIMMY KEMPSKI
PhillyVoice Staff

KIM KLEMENT NEITZEL/USA TODAY SPORTS

Nick Sirianni loves him some 3rd and long runs.

Remember when the Philadelphia Eagles' offense was an unstoppable powerhouse and they knew it? That swagger and confidence is gone right now, as evidenced by a few extraordinarily passive play calls in high leverage situations against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football.

Let's start with the Eagles' third drive of the game, which resulted in a field goal. The Eagles faced a 3rd and 6 from the Seahawks' 20 yard line, and they called a designed run for Jalen Hurts that got two yards. 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey, who appeared on the Manning brothers' telecast, correctly predicted the play call. 

The Eagles went for it on fourth down and completed a 6-yard pass to Julio Jones for the first down.

Later on that drive, again facing a 3rd and 6, this time from the Seahawks' 8 yard line, the Eagles called another run play, this time to D'Andre Swift, which was stopped for no gain. The Eagles then settled for a field goal.

Two 3rd and 6 situations, two ineffective runs.

Because McCaffrey diagnosed the play from afar, Sirianni was asked on Wednesday about the predictability of his offense. He dismissed that the play was predictable, citing that the offense hadn't run that play from that formation this season. However, his reasoning for calling a run in that situation was more alarming.  

"That play was designed to put us in fourth and short or to get the first down," he said. "We accomplished the goal from that play. Got ourselves in fourth and short and ended up getting a first down from that."

To begin, they didn't even get half the yards they needed for a first down, and left themselves with a 4th and 4. Sure, they converted, but I don't think anyone would consider a 2-yard run on 3rd and 6 a successful play.

Of course, the Eagles do have one of the most successful plays in the NFL in the Brotherly Shove, which is nearly automatic from 1 or fewer yards out. However, that should be a play that the Eagles can utilize when they find themselves in those situations. They shouldn't hope to be in them, with a few exceptions. "A run and a shove" is logical on, like, 3rd and 2. On 3rd and 6, aspiring to just get a shorter distance on 4th down is a lack of trust in your outstanding QB-WR1-WR2-TE1 foursome to simply make a play and avoid the 4th down altogether.

Another highly questionable call from the Eagles' loss was the deep ball down the field from Hurts to A.J. Brown, which was intercepted by Seattle safety Julian Love. On the surface, the play call — a deep shot to the alpha receiver — seemed to be aggressive. Here it is, as a reminder.

As it turns out, it really wasn't aggressive at all. The Eagles' aim on the play was to have the Seahawks and/or the officials bail them out with a pass interference call, as opposed to just making a play themselves.

"At times there we've seen you can get a pass interference there," Sirianni said. "It was what it was on that particular play, but if you get a pass interference call there and if a team is giving you a one-on-one shot... We had a one-on-one shot against the Rams, and you can get a pass interference, and now you're in position to kick it. So, we have some of the best receivers in the NFL outside. So, there are times where you're going to do that. We felt like in that situation we had an opportunity to. Hey, it didn't work out that particular time.

"But we've done it at other times in two-minute drills, and it's worked. In that particular time, it didn't work, so we understand the criticism, but not only could you get a pass interference, but also A.J. has a tremendous ability to come down with the football in one-on-one situations."

Beyond the "Let's hope the other team does bad" aspect of the play call, it was also a low percentage call.

The Eagles had the ball with 13 seconds left at their own 45 with two timeouts. Somehow they felt that one chance at a pass interference call plus a medium-range field goal gave them a better chance to win than two shots at getting 15-20 yards and a 50+ yarder from their star kicker who consistently drills pressure kicks. (Yes, it was a rainy game, but there was virtually no wind.)

The Eagles have arguably the best offensive line in the NFL, a quarterback who nearly won the MVP a season ago, and star receivers, and they are choosing to play milquetoast beta ball.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/nick-sirianni-eagles-swaggy-offense-has-become-milquetoast-beta-ball/

[UK_EaglesFan89]

They don’t run when they should. They do run when they shouldn’t. It’s all just a mess and the problem is it isn’t changing. 

[time2rock]

6 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

They don’t run when they should. They do run when they shouldn’t. It’s all just a mess and the problem is it isn’t changing. 

Steichen's situational playcalling was excellent.  The offense was leagues better when he took over playcalling duties from Sirianni.  He leaves and we're left with the guy who was far worse at it and a completely inexperienced coach that was promoted to fill the role (instead of adding another seasoned coach that had significant experience in that area like we did when we hired Steichen) and this is what you have.  Sirianni's arrogance is going to cost us another legitimate shot at a championship.  

[UK_EaglesFan89]

11 hours ago, time2rock said:

Steichen's situational playcalling was excellent.  The offense was leagues better when he took over playcalling duties from Sirianni.  He leaves and we're left with the guy who was far worse at it and a completely inexperienced coach that was promoted to fill the role (instead of adding another seasoned coach that had significant experience in that area like we did when we hired Steichen) and this is what you have.  Sirianni's arrogance is going to cost us another legitimate shot at a championship.  

Completely agree with you. This offense has been able to produce based on the talent it has and the ability Hurts has to come up with huge plays in big spots. This is not an offense operating close to last years levels when you actually watch them.

[time2rock]

5 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Completely agree with you. This offense has been able to produce based on the talent it has and the ability Hurts has to come up with huge plays in big spots. This is not an offense operating close to last years levels when you actually watch them.

Exactly ... on all of those points.  It has been noticeable pretty much all season and I've been pointing those out during the entire time.  

[UK_EaglesFan89]

19 hours ago, time2rock said:

Exactly ... on all of those points.  It has been noticeable pretty much all season and I've been pointing those out during the entire time.  

There’s times when this offense just looks broken and shot. Then they pull it out with a bit of magic. Like that 3rd and 20 play on Monday. But that’s not a sustainable recipe for success.

[weko]

The offensive coaches are using a high school scheme and doing it poorly

[PoconoDon]

The whole team is going soft as butter on a hot day. That's culture and that's the head coach. Sirianni is soft. 

[weko]

13 hours ago, PoconoDon said:

The whole team is going soft as butter on a hot day. That's culture and that's the head coach. Sirianni is soft. 

Yes Nick has to go and after we lose our next 2 games badly it wouldn't surprise me if Lurie cleans house