I’m not too mad about yesterday. The Eagles kept it competitive with a contender and some young guys flashed, which is about all you can really ask for out of a rebuilding team.
Sirianni seems to be improving. He’s leaning on the O-Line in the run game more and incorporated more of a downfield rushing attack. He’s cut down on the screens and RPOs, and isn’t asking Hurts to do much. I still think Hurts is a limiting factor on the offense, and he missed two open TDs in a game where the Eagles lost by three, but this was one of his better games. I liked how, in the second half, Hurts was more willing to keep his eyes downfield and had some nice throws to Smith at the intermediate levels of the field. Sirianni is doing more to help him too, with incorporating pre-snap motion, taking greater advantage of his rushing ability, and calling play-action passes from under center. Need to see more of that.
Devonta Smith had his best game of the season – 5 catches, 116 YDs, a 23.2 AVG, and a TD. His production has been up-and-down (some of that’s on Smith, some on Sirianni, and some on Hurts), but he’s on pace for over 1,000 YDs on the season, which are numbers the Eagles haven’t seen from a rookie WR since the DJax and Maclin days. I think his size limits him a bit in that he’ll never be the guy to catch contested passes, or be much of a redzone threat, but his route-running is at a veteran level and he’s always open. The Eagles need a big bodied guy on the other side of him, e.g. Allen Robinson or Mike Williams. Combine that with Quez as an occasional downfield big-play threat, and the WR group can finally be worth taking seriously again.
I still want to see Sirianni with a better passing QB, because I think Hurts limits the potential of the offense (Herbert threw more passes today than Hurts has in the last two weeks combined), and I’d be comfortable giving him another year. But I’m about to jump on the “fire Gannon” bandwagon.
I mean, I don’t really expect an Eagles defense made up of JAGs and declining veterans to hold back Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Austin Ekeler. But Gannon didn’t even seem to
try. He holds back in the same passive defensive scheme, letting Herbert pick him apart, and doing nothing to change up or even give his guys a chance. I don’t expect a good defense out of the people we have, but Gannon just lies down in front of every good QB he faces. It’s fukking pathetic.
Overall, a pretty solid game from the offense. Horrendous game from the defense. But at least we weren’t embarrassed. On to next week.
