Secret Sauce to the Eagles' Success is in Continued Search for Complete Game
PHILADELPHIA - There are plenty of on-field metrics to champion when it comes to the Eagles and their success during a 7-0 start, but the secret sauce to Philadelphia unveils itself when one of its big stars talks to the media.
A.J. Brown led off Sunday after a 35-13 blowout win over the reeling Pittsburgh Steelers in which the WR1 popped off a career-high 156 receiving yards on six receptions with three touchdowns, each over 27 yards.
Instead of basking in that glory, however, Brown was talking about the plays he didn’t make.
“I’m kind of upset at myself because I know the opportunity late in the game, even though it was a flag, I know I could have caught that ball,” Brown said of a potential missed TD.
“Another opportunity there was a ball I had dropped, but I let the sun dictate my whole – everything. I couldn’t see the ball. I’m really kind of upset right now because I know I had a big day, but I could have had an even bigger day if I made the most of those opportunities so there’s definitely room for improvement.”
Quarterback Jalen Hurts also set a career-high with four TD passes but defaulted to the meat left on the bone.
“I feel like I could have done more,” he said. “You look at the third quarter, I think there was an opportunity to make some plays. [We] had some negative plays there before halftime, took some sacks I feel like I could’ve avoided and probably [could have] gotten the ball out.
“... I think we kept focused on playing to the standard and chasing that.”
Coach Nick Sirianni had warned the Eagles during the bye week of teams who had good starts only to lay an egg against perceived lesser foes while losing focus.
"We have great leaders," he said. "We have great leaders that are making sure - I don't know who wrote it earlier today, but I got an update on my phone. It was like, [DE] Robert Quinn, Fletch [DT Fletcher Cox] went right up to him and said, ‘Hey, we practice hard here.’ Robert Quinn said, ‘That's all I needed to hear.’
"How awesome is that? The best teams that I've been around practice hard. They just picked up the process of what we've done each and every week and just picked it up. They got their rest and came back ready to go. That doesn't happen unless you have great people and great leadership on your team."
“I think it’s the way that we conduct meetings with practice and everything we do," Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Jonson said. "With every play, whoever didn’t execute very well, they put their number on the board. So, it’s how we conduct practices, it’s how we conduct games.
"Doesn’t matter what player you are or who you are. Everybody’s held accountable. I think whenever that happens, they see very good players make mistakes and get criticized and build from it. I think it teaches the younger guys [the same thing].”
The Eagles have won games running the football, throwing it, and with stifling defense but are still looking for the elusive 60-minute game.
“We weren’t perfect out there," said Brown. "The score may say something, but we wasn’t perfect. We know we got stuff to clean up … It’s a lot of work to be done. We still have not played a complete game. I promise you, everybody in this room is going to know when we play a complete game because we believe in each other. Once we do that, the whole world will know that.”
Hurts, though, finally opened up about the standard and the secret behind it – it’s never attainable.
“I think the great players are eager to be the best and be the best all the time,” Hurts said. “When you look at the opportunities that you didn’t take advantage of, you can go out there and have a statistically perfect game but there’s always something, there’s always something and enough is never enough.
“And we just strive for that. We just strive for something that we may never get. But we continue to go chase it.”
-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
