Eagles Need More X Plays

PHILADELPHIA - For the Eagles, winning the double positive is everything.

At the NovaCare Complex, two statistics matter: the turnover ratio and the explosive-play battle.

Things are humming along as usual when it comes to the former but the latter has been a struggle early in the season with the reigning Super Bowl champions extending to 2-0 with a bowling-shoe ugly 20-17 win at Kansas City that featured all of 92 net passing yards.

“You know, I think we talk a lot about winning our double positive, and that means for us, winning the explosive play battle and winning our turnover battle,” head coach Nick Sirianni said after topping the Chiefs for the third consecutive time, including in Super Bowl LIX. “So we’ve been able to win that turnover battle. I think that we need to be better in the explosive-play battle.

“There’s no doubt about it.”

During their 2-0 start, the Eagles won the turnover battle both times and lost in explosive plays to the Dallas Cowboys and the Chiefs.

Ball security is always a heavy emphasis at any Philadelphia practice with individual circuits that emphasize securing the football and creating turnovers. You'll see everything from teh skills players running through the car wash to having to deal with the heavy hands of Jemal Singleton with a boxing glove punching at the football.

On the other side, Sirianni might show off his arm by skipping the football to defenders and special teams players to get them used to scooping the ball off the turf, or linebackers coach Bobby King teaching the finer points of the peanut punch.

Turnover Success

Drew Mukuba — Sep 14, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba (24) intercepts a pass intended for Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) during the fourth quarter of the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Eagles have won 18 of their past 19 games dating back to last season, and have an amazing 39 turnovers vs. only 8 giveaways.

Conversely, in the Show Me State, Philadelphia generated one offensive play over 20 yards, a 28-yard 50/50 ball to DeVonta Smith on a zero blitz early in the fourth quarter that set up a Jalen Hurts tush push touchdown a few plays later to turn a precarious 13-10 advantage into a two-score game at 20-10.

Lacking those X plays is likely not sustainable in the long run, however.

“We have some thoughts and we’ll watch the tape go from there, but it’s been efficient,” Sirianni said of the offense. “The pass game’s been efficient. We just haven’t hit the chunks.

“... That’s going to open up everything. But what I would say is in a moment when we needed a chunk, we hit the chunk with DeVonta. … But, we haven’t created a lot of explosive plays in the past two weeks and you know, we’ll get better at that.”

A day after the struggle with the benefit of watching the film, an under-the-weather Sirianni had similar takes.

"I think we've been very efficient moving the ball forward as an offense," the coach said. "Now it's hard to consistently inch your way down the field so you want to hit explosives, you have to hit explosives.

"That's something, they come in all different shapes. ... But, we understand that to be what you want to be on offense, we have to be more explosive. ... So that's an element that we have to improve because you are always looking to win the explosive play battle. In the last two weeks, we haven't won it, but we've protected the football. So again, we have to get better at that phase of our game. ... What I love about our team is we're constantly in self-critical mode, open to everything and only for the attempts to get better, and that's an area that we can get better at."

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