Nick Sirianni had Eagles Prepared and Fun to Watch in Season Opener
ATLANTA - The fun was back for the Eagles.
After a slog through 16 weeks of the 2020 season, first-year coach Nick Sirianni and his troops were entertaining and worth the price of admission in Sunday’s season opener.
At least they were for Eagles fans, which were plentiful inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium like they always are in enemy stadiums.
For Falcons fans, not so much. Arthur Smith’s team was overmatched and looked woefully unprepared. And to think Smith interviewed for the Eagles job.
It was also fun for the players, especially the ones still around from the march to nowhere in Doug Pederson’s final season.
The locker room isn’t open anymore in this continuing pandemic, but you could hear the hoots and hollers walking past it in the bowels of the stadium.
Miles Sanders was the first to meet reporters and said he was eager to get back to the celebration.
“It was a party,” the RB said when asked about the atmosphere in the locker room. “It’s still a party in there. I’m trying to get back.
“I’ve been talking about it the whole time in the offseason, and I love the chemistry that we have going on. It feels like a real family in there. So, real excited. This is just the beginning. We have 17 games now, just taking it one week at a time. On to San Fran now.”
Yes, the 49ers come to town on Sunday for the home opener in what should be a far greater test than what the Falcons provided.
“Everyone’s excited,” said rookie DeVonta Smith. “We understand we can enjoy this for 24 hours, then it’s on to the next game.”
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Sirianni said the other day that he has a Saturday night speech lined up for every occasion. The one he gave was about having a dawg mentality, which means, Sirianni said, "no matter what happened on one play...play the next play; be in the moment."
Chances are, the Saturday night story prior to the opener was about his opening press conference, which he now famously flubbed and made everyone in the Delaware Valley wonder if owner Jeffrey Lurie hired the wrong person.
Sirianni has turned that into a teaching moment.
“You want to fight for him because he’s been the same guy since he got here,” said DE Brandon Graham. “He even joked the other day about his first time doing the media, and everyone ripped him, and how mad he was.
"But at the same time, he was like he had to shake it off and come back and do it again. You gotta make sure you had that next play, that dog mentality, and know that you’re here for a reason. You can do it. You’re going to make mistakes.”
Like that first press conference.
Sirianni shook it off and he won his first NFL game as a head coach.
“I had to stop before I went out and address the team (following the win),” said Sirianni. “I had a moment with myself and just, it meant a lot and so just thought about all the work that got me to this position. Again, the guys played together so well and the offense, the defense.”
It’s only one game in a slew of 17 of them, so one win in the opener does not make a season, but this win was eye-opening, to say the least, but Sirianni looked like he had been an NFL head coach for the last five years.
Nick Sirianni
USA Today
The best thing that can be said is he had his team prepared.
The Eagles didn’t commit a turnover. It wasn’t until Week 10 that they could say that in 2020, and they had just three games where they played turnover-free football last season.
The Eagles had a balanced offense, with 31 running plays and 35 passes from Jalen Hurts.
And, oh, Hurts? He looked like a completely different quarterback under the careful development of Sirianni and quarterback coach Brian Johnson.
Much was made about Sirianni’s ability to work with any style of a quarterback after having three of them in three years as the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts the previous three years: Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, and Philip Rivers.
All three have different skill sets, as does Hurts, Sirianni’s fourth quarterback in four years.
Not everybody can coach a player like Hurts, who has the ability to win with his feet and his arm, but he does have limitations.
RELATED: Nick Sirianni had Eagles Prepared and Fun to Watch in Season Opener
For now, Sirianni is operating a college-style offense, one that suits the players lining up for him right now.
The game was on Sunday in one of the nicest stadiums in the NFL, but it could have been any given Saturday on any one of 100 college campuses. The coach utilized an array of bubble screens and run-pass options.
That’s what it’s going to look like, folks, and you know what, it just might work until NFL defenses adjust.
Sirianni worked hard for this one, and he worked his team hard, too, even though it wasn’t always easy to see in those short training camp practices.
"We just wanted to go out there and play hard for him because he’s been the same guy since he got here," said Graham. "There’s no fakeness with this team. I think the energy is real. The sky’s the limit."
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
