Dan Campbell Says Eagles Can Make You Look Silly
PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles are going to Detroit again.
Last year, in the days leading up to the game on Halloween, head coach Nick Sirianni had some horticultural tips for his team. He talked about watering and fertilizing, and the Delaware Valley had a big laugh at his expense.
The Eagles were 2-5 at that point, and it felt like a strange way to get a point across.
The messaging worked and the sad-sack Lions, on their way to a 3-13-1 record, played their part, too, rolling over in a 44-6 loss. The Eagles won seven of their final 10 games to make the playoffs.
The circumstances are a bit different this year when the two teams kick off the season on Sunday (1 p.m./FOX) in Detroit.
Both rosters are a bit different, too.
“We have more talent than we did this time last year,” said Detroit coach Dan Campbell on a conference call Wednesday afternoon. “We had a number of young guys that played for us and now they kind of got another six, seven months under their belt of development. I would say that’s probably the biggest difference to this point.”
Campbell acknowledged to his team that they better be ready.
“This is a team that can make you look silly because they did it to us last year,” said the Lions coach. “If we’re not on the details and we’re not playing with effort, we’ll get embarrassed because that’s what Philly’s capable of. That’s the big takeaway for us.”
The Eagles know they are walking into a potential buzzsaw at Ford Field, where a standing-room-only crowd is expected and the Lions are hopeful for a better season than last year.
“We’re never overconfident,” said CB Darius Slay. “This is a whole new year, a whole new team. Teams switch up every year. It’s never the same team as last year.
“They made improvements, we made improvements, so we have to go out and execute and be at a high level. This is a new season, new start for all of us, new fresh, clean face. We’re going out to compete and make sure we execute our job at a high level.”
While there are plenty of new pieces on defense, the offense has 10 returning starters, with WR A.J. Brown the lone addition to that side of the ball.
The defense has added LBs Haason Reddick and Kyzir White, CB James Bradberry, safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, and rookie DT Jordan Davis.
Asked how his team is preparing for a team with that many changes on defense, Campbell said: “We have a pretty good idea what they want to do. As far as the personnel, you just take what you’ve seen from last year then you take like Bradberry, over time, where he’s been previously.
"I’m familiar with Bradberry at New Orleans when he was at Carolina then certainly with the Giants. Then Chauncey we have a real good feel of who he is…he’s another helluva player."
Sirianni mentioned details when asked about the team’s approach after winning 44-6 last year.
“It doesn't matter what happened last time,” he said. “We know we have to come out there with our best game, or we know we can be beat, right? If we don't go out there and play the way we're supposed to play and if we don't pay attention to our detail and we don't take care of our business, they can beat us."
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
