Eagles Happy With a Win but Critics are Already Circling Jonathan Gannon
DETROIT - The problem with expectations is the real-world effect of what they are accompanied by - actual expectations.
That explains the disconnect between the Eagles' postgame happiness and the way a 38-35 win over the supposedly hapless Detroit Lions team went over in some quarters.
You see the Eagles weren't just supposed to beat the Lions, they were supposed to beat up Detroit in a similar vein to the 44-6 drubbing on Halloween of last year.
That was never going to happen, however. Not in the home opener where over 67,537 showed up and prevented Philadelphia fans from taking over.
In a small, dome-filled stadium where the noise had no place to go, the Eagles couldn't hear themselves think, never mind communicate effectively.
"It was loud," Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni told SI.com's Eagles Today. "Yeah, and you know what? The Lions, the people of Detroit, they came out for this game, and we obviously knew it was going to be like that.
"We practiced – we knew about the sell-out, and we knew it was going to be like that."
Practice didn't make perfect in this instance, however.
"We practiced the crowd noise. I’ll see if I can get the equipment guys to turn it up even louder, but it was rocking in there, and that’s what you want," said Sirianni.
"Obviously, you don’t want that as a visiting team, but everybody wants that. To play in front of the entire world and play in front of a rocking crowd like that on the road and be able to come out with a victory is big.”
As WR A.J. Brown said, "playing music (at practice) is totally different than fans screaming."
The lack of practice this summer also didn't seem to help the defense which struggled as the game wore on
The positive end result was not emphatic enough to keep the target off defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon's back.
Already not the most popular person back in Philadelphia due to his perceived lack of aggression, Gannon was taking the lion's (get it) share of the blame for allowing 386 yards to Jared Goff and Co., including 181 on the ground.
The third downs were particularly bad in the second half with the Eagles allowing Detroit to convert 7-of-8. No doubt, fatigue contributed there.
"We left some plays out there, but at the end of the day, they made some plays," defensive end Brandon Graham said. "When we were up, we should’ve kept the 17-point lead."
Sirianni was brushed back off the plate by one reporter, asking who made it tougher on his offensive in the second half - the Detroit D or his own?
The coach didn't like the question but did address the defensive failings.
"We just needed a stop in a certain area, and so I’ll look at the tape and see what was going on, but it was just – they made some good plays," Sirianni said of the Lions. "... that’s offensively, defensively, and special teams, but we were able to get a win. And in this league, on the road, on your first game, we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
Now a CEO coach, Sirianni constantly stresses that everything in Philadelphia's ecosystem has his name on it.
"I’ll talk to him about situational things here and there," Sirianni said of Gannon. "[The defense are] the ones that studied it all week though, right? And we talk early in the week, and I talk to him early in the week about things that are – as an offensive coach – it’s not my expertise.
"But offense is. So, I’ll talk to him about what’s tough for the offense and this and that, and they’re the ones that studied it all week. I’m the head coach, and my name’s on everything.
"I’ll just talk to him over there and see what’s going on and see what we need to do to adjust. More asking questions, pose, ‘Just what are we going to adjust this and that.’ So, that’s more of the extent to it.”
In some ways, getting a win you can complain about is the sweet spot for a coach.
"It’s always better to be able to clean it up obviously after a win, and it feels like you can even be a little bit harder after a win, and to make sure that those don’t happen again," Sirianni said.
With Minnesota on deck with difference-makers at receiver and in the backfield, it's about small steps moving forward.
"We have to make sure we clean up running the ball because (181 yards) is not acceptable," Graham said. "We know what we need to work on. They ran some stuff that the first game of the season, you want to see what they’re trying to do.
"Now we have some film. Now we can see what other guys are going to try to do for the next game. As you keep going in this league, people start showing what they’re trying to do, seeing new stuff they’re running."
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
