Nick Sirianni's Directive Pushes Eagles to Top of the Turnover Heap
PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles were nondescript when it came to turnovers in the 2021 season, finishing dead even in the giveaway/takeaway dynamic and far off the big-play leaders, NFC East rival Dallas, which finished No. 1 in the NFL with a plus-14 differential.
In Jonathan Gannon's first season as defensive coordinator, Philadelphia forced just 16 turnovers - 12 interceptions and four fumble recoveries. Only four teams had fewer and the Eagles were less than half of the Cowboys' league-leading number of 34.
During Philadelphia's 4-0 start this season, the Eagles' defense has already forced 10 turnovers - five picks, and five fumble recoveries, the latter number already surpassing the 17-game total of 2021.
Overall, the Eagles lead the NFL with a plus-8 turnover differential.
Gannon admitted Tuesday that the topic was a big part of the offseason and the organization understood things needed to improve in what the coaching staff believes is one of two statistics (the other is explosive plays) that directly correlate to winning.
A directive from Nick Sirianni was issued.
"There is a skill set, a mentality, a feel for guys that take the ball away more than other guys, and I do think that we took a good hard look this offseason as a staff with how we were coaching things, how we were drilling things, how our language was with that, and the head coach made us change some things," Gannon explained to SI Eagles Today.
"You know, at first, change might be a little uncomfortable, but we said, ‘Look, we do have to change some of these things, and it starts with me. How are we coaching this? What is the language? Do the players understand? Are we drilling it the correct way?’"
Along with the change in coaching points of emphasis came improved personnel with players who have reputations for taking away the football.
Against Jacksonville in Week 4, two of the team's high-profile free agent signings delivered. Edge rusher Haason Reddick finished with two strip-sacks and was involved with three turnovers while veteran cornerback James Bradberry baited second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence into a game-changing, red-zone interception.
"So, then what you want to do is get as many guys as you can that have a knack for taking the ball away and then drill it and teach it better and hopefully it comes to fruition, which it has," said Gannon.
It's hard to count on turnovers as consistent stats but coaching the techniques that can cause turnovers is paramount.
Often you'll see T.J. Edwards punching at the football when a ball carrier is wrapped up while cornerbacks Darius Slay and Avonte Maddox were able to do the Bradberry-bait route earlier this season against a veteran QB in Kirk Cousins.
"I think the coaches have done a really good job with that as far as how we're teaching that and drilling it, and then we always keep it on their mind, and our guys know [turnovers are] a winning stat, so that's an important part of the game that we have to continue to excel at, and we can get better at it," Gannon said.
"There's a lot of plays out there that we show our guys, ‘Hey guys, look, there it is, right there. This is what we talk about it. It has to be on your mind. The ball has to be on your mind if you want to take it away.’"
Last week Sirianni turned up to his Friday press conference adorned in a “Turnover T-Shirt,” the brainchild of the defensive coaching staff in an effort to express how important the double-positive is when it comes to winning football games.
The version Sirianni had on was Maddox sinking into zone coverage and leaping in front of Adam Thielen to intercept a Cousins pass in Week 2.
After Jacksonville, the closest is quickly filling up.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
