Making yourself the story — 5 takeaways from Browns-Eagles a day later
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The Eagles came back from the bye week with the city needing them most and put up a pretty mediocre performance against an inadequate team.
It was close, it was sloppy, and it was scary. But, it was a win. A 20-16 win over the Browns in their first-afternoon game at Lincoln Financial Field this season. The Eagles are 3-2, but their head coach made himself the story. We will get there.
Here are my five observations a day after the win:
Resilient Hurts
Jalen Hurts started this game 0-for-5 passing with the returns of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. It was frightening. The offense did not score in the first quarter for the seventh straight week.
But, he turned it around big time. He finished the day 16-for-25 for 264 yards with a 22-yard TD pass to Brown and 45-yards to Smith, which ended up winning the game. On the final drive, Hurts launched a dime up to Brown for 40 yards to end it.
But what may be most important is Hurts did not turn the ball over once. It is a miracle. This was the first time in 10 games he did not cause a turnover.
Hurts made good decisions in the pocket, did not force the ball, displayed good presence, and avoided mistakes. Now, keep it going.
Also, Dallas Goedert was out for most of the game with a hamstring injury. There has been no word on his status. But, there was on Jordan Mailata, who will be out for a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury.
The defense did what they had to do
The Eagles’ defense held the Browns to 244 yards, nine points, 4-for-12 on third down, and picked up five sacks after getting just six in the first four games.
They did their job. The coverage was good, there was a ton of pressure, the tackling was great, the D-line got to Deshaun Watson, and they kept Cleveland out of the end zone.
With Watson as your quarterback and the worst passing game I think I have ever seen, this performance should have been expected. Now, if they can do this against a real defense, I will be much more impressed.
What a debut for DeJean
Cooper DeJean got the start at nickel for Philadelphia Sunday afternoon, and he was awesome. I have been waiting to see him really do something and get an opportunity. He got it and advanced my expectations.
He was a part of two sacks. One early, a 15-yard sack when the Browns had the ball at midfield. And another one in the third quarter, although it was credited to Milton Williams.
His blitzing ability is great and he was always in the vicinity of the football making plays and good tackles.
Quinyon Mitchell and DeJean, the Eagles’ first and second-round picks this year, are going to be very good players for this team for a long time.
Mr. 200
Brandon Graham played in his 200th game on Sunday, the most in Eagles history. He is in his 15th season at 36-years-old. And he may be the best Eagles’ pass rusher. The things he is doing at his age are incredible.
Graham is always in position and never misses a tackle. He has a five-yard tackle for loss on a 3rd-and-1 in the third quarter, and it was huge. That turned what would have been a 47-yard field goal attempt into a 52-yarder, and it was missed.
This was supposed to be a retirement/farewell tour for B.G. He said he would come back if the Eagles needed him, and why not. He cannot retire. Ever.
Sirianni, what are we doing?
Ok, let us get into it.
Sirianni has been brutal at his job over the past few months. They are 4-7 since the beginning of their collapse last season. This season, he took on a CEO role as head coach but still chimes in on some play calls. They never work. For example, Sirianni said he made the 3rd-and-1 call where Hurts got sacked right before the Eagles’ field goal got blocked. He also said he made a defensive call instead of Vic Fangio at one point. It did not work out. So every time Sirianni chimes in on a play call it doesn’t work? Nice.
Anyway, all bye week, leaders of the Eagles were telling Sirianni to be himself. He listened, maybe a little too much.
First, he exchanged words with Browns cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome after Ward broke up a third-down pass, forcing the Eagles to punt.
Then as the Eagles ran the clock out at the end of the game, Sirianni was caught on FOX broadcast turning around, shouting at Eagles fans at the Linc. He walked behind the bench, put his finger up to his right ear, then chirped at the crowd.
What? Yeah. Crazy. Have you ever?
Earlier in the game, fans were booing and chanting for Sirianni to be fired when the Eagles went scoreless in the first quarter, again.
“No, just excited,” Sirianni said postgame, with his three kids around him in the craziest, and most odd press conference I have ever heard. “Just excited to get the win.”
A win is a win, but the Eagles did not drop 40 or something crazy to silence the naysayers. They barely beat a horrible team.
The reporter tried to follow up on the question, saying, “Were the fans yelling things that…”
Sirianni cut him off.
“I was having fun,” Sirianni said later. “I was having fun and I kind of got some feedback from the guys (during the bye week) of the sense of, ‘We need you back, Nick. We need your energy. We need your focus.’ I got that from a couple of players.
“When I’m operating, having fun, I think that that breeds to the rest of the football team. If I want the guys to celebrate and be themselves after big plays, then I should probably do that myself, right? There are times for that and times that are not for that. I have to have wisdom and discernment of when to do that and when not to do that.”
Are you kidding me? Can you imagine what Jeffrey Lurie was thinking when he saw that?
Imagine Bill Belichick doing that. Or Andy Reid? Or Dick Vermeil? Most coaches try to stop their players from doing something like that. Look at James Franklin this past weekend. His player went to plant a Penn State on the USC logo at midfield, and he took the flag away.
It kind of just cannot happen. Especially with this new haircut Sirianni has going on…
Sirianni did apologize Monday afternoon for his actions.
“I was trying to bring energy yesterday… And I’m sorry and disappointed how my energy was directed at the end of the game.
“I have to have better wisdom and discernment and that wasn’t the time.”
Crazy stuff.
The Eagles hit the road again, as they continue to go through murderer’s row (1-5 Browns, 2-4 Giants, 2-4 Bengals, and the 1-5 Jaguars), this time making a stop in the Meadowlands to meet with the Giants.
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Benjamin Goldstein
Benjamin has been covering Philly Sports for Philly Sports Reports since 2017. He is a podcaster, writer, and founder of Philly Sports Reports. Benjamin is also an intern at the WBCB Sports Network on 1490AM. Through Philly Sports Reports, Benjamin has gotten the opportunity to meet Phillies owner John Middleton in his suite and be honored as the Philadelphia sports fan of the week for KYW News Radio. He hopes to be reporting on Philly sports as a full-time job in the future.
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