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How Nick Sirianni got the seeds to bloom in Philadelphia

Perhaps Nick Sirianni has not been the easiest sell to a fan base.

His tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles began on nervous footing, as the new head coach delivered remarks at his introductory press conference that were shaky at best. Remarks that were a stark contrast with the kneecap-biting energy offered by Dan Campbell in the Motor City.

Then as the season began, there were similar moments. The new head coach wore a series of T-shirts in the buildup to the Week 3 meeting with the Dallas Cowboys that referenced the rivalry between the two teams, and then to get his players ready he showed a montage of many of the Eagles player’s rivalry games while in college.

Philadelphia was throttled that night by 20 points.

Then, following a Week 7 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, that dropped the Eagles to 2-5, Sirianni used a gardening metaphor, talking about how the players in the locker room needed to be planting seeds and fertilizing every day.

Similar to his introductory press conference, those comments were laughed off and brushed aside.

But, who is laughing now? Since those seeds were planted, the Eagles have won three of four games and now sit at 5-6 following a Week 11 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Philadelphia is just on the outside of the playoff standings right now, but look at how their final few weeks set up. The Eagles have two games against Washington, two games against the New York Giants, they have a game against the New York Jets, and a bye week in Week 14.

Their toughest remaining game on paper? Dallas in Week 18. With the possibility that the Cowboys are already locked into playoff position and as such might be resting starters.

So, how did the Eagles turn things around, and will this hold down the stretch?

Finding an offensive identity

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During that 2-5 stretch, many Eagles fans were wondering if Sirianni and the offense would settle on some kind of offensive identity.

Then, in a win over the Detroit Lions in Week 8, it seemed that identity settled into place, and it began with running the football.

Take a look at this graph from Ben Baldwin’s website RBSDM.com, which is a great resource:

This shows the early-down pass frequency for all 32 teams through the first seven weeks of the season. As you can see, the Eagles threw the ball in these situations almost 60% of the time, with only seven teams throwing the football more.

Now, let’s look at that same statistic during this four-game stretch:

You have to look hard to find them, but there are the Eagles, right at the bottom.

In early down situations, there has been a reliance on the ground game. Whether this is sustainable or not is a big-picture question that we will address in a moment, but the reliance on the running attack has paid off for the offense, and for quarterback Jalen Hurts. This was on display this past Sunday, on plays like this with center Jason Kelce leading the way:

The Eagles run Miles Sanders to the left side, with Kelce and left tackle Jordan Mailata leading the way as they pull around the edge. Make sure you watch again to see what Kelce does on this play, as he first throttles linebacker Pete Werner before getting into the secondary. This block, which was highlighted by ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky early on Monday, also got the attention of Sirianni, who made an incredible analogy:

That’s right, he compared him to Billy Bob from “Varsity Blues.” Hold on for a minute while I pull out my Jonathon Moxon jersey from the closet…

Beyond some of the gap and power designs the Eagles are using in the ground game, they are also enjoying success on zone concepts. Take this outside zone run to the left side from Sanders from the fourth quarter on Sunday, paying attention to Mailata at left tackle:

This is a well-blocked outside zone run, and it starts with the left tackle. Mailata gets into the edge defender, helping left guard Landon Dickerson, before climbing to the second level and taking on outside linebacker Kwon Alexander. This helps Sanders get to the edge, and the Eagles pick up another 14 yards.

In recent weeks the Eagles have perhaps found that offensive identity, and it starts on the ground. Of course, we can now expand that to the quarterback.

Getting Hurts involved in the run game

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Part of the offensive identity in recent weeks has included getting quarterback Jalen Hurts involved in the running game. Starting with the Week 8 win over the Detroit Lions, Hurts has rushed for 71, 62, 55 and 69 yards in each of the four weeks.

But, in contrast to some of the games earlier in the years, Hurts is picking up these yards on designed runs, and not moments when he scrambles or bails from a clean pocket.

Getting Hurts involved in the running game accomplishes two goals for Sirianni and the coaching staff. First, it helps shift the numbers balance between the offense and the defense, as defenses have to start accounting for the quarterback on some of the Eagles’ run concepts. Second, it gets the football potentially in the hands of Hurts, a talented athlete with the football in space.

Take this 20-yard run from Hurts against the Saints early in the game:

This is a midline option design, with Hurts serving as the “vertical” element and Sanders serving as the horizontal stretch. The QB takes the snap and reads the interior of the defense, and if he sees a crease on the inside he will keep the football and attack upfield. If the defense collapses in the interior, Hurts will hand the ball off the Sanders on the edge.

A wrinkle here from the Eagles is the pull from right guard Jack Driscoll, who pulls to the left side. So when Hurts makes the decision to keep the football, he has protection in the form of his right guard, who provides a one-man convoy on this 20-yard gain.

Then there is GT Counter, a concept often seen on Fridays and Saturdays but one that is flowing into the NFL game. On this 18-yard run from Jordan Howard, you’ll see Mailata and Dickerson pull to the right in front of the running back:

On this play, Hurts gives to Howard who gets in behind the left tackle and left guard, and rips off a decent gain. But you can also see the influence of the athletic quarterback, and the potential for Hurts to pull the ball and attack the left edge. That backside defensive end, Jayln Holmes, has to stay home and respect the threat of Hurts, and cannot get into pursuit of Howard until late in the down.

Then of course there is the touchdown run from Hurts on Sunday, on a play that might get a nickname of its on, whether “The Juke,” “The Dead Leg,” or something else:

When you can convert 3rd and 6 like this, and your quarterback can put moves like that on display, you are going to be in good shape.

Of course, we have seen offenses have success like this for a time, and as we always do, we see defenses adjust. Going forward, Hurts will need to develop his game from the pocket. That is where this journey takes us next.

Growth as a passer

(Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)

While the ground game has been a focal part of the offense in recent weeks, as both the numbers and the film attest, something else is happening with the Philadelphia offense.

Jalen Hurts is stacking together some good weeks, and showing some development of his own in the process.

Now, this is the point in the proceedings where I remind everyone to practice patience with young quarterbacks, Hurts just being the example of the moment. Let’s remember, he is playing in his fourth offense in four years. First there was Alabama, then Oklahoma, then the Doug Pederson version of the Eagles, and now the version under Sirianni.

Second, we are also talking about a quarterback who, on Sunday, will be making his 16th NFL start.

Development does not happen overnight for quarterbacks, nor is it linear. There will be ups and downs.

But the recent weeks have shown a huge trend in the right direction, and it began with his two-touchdown performance against Denver in Week 10. In a win over the Broncos, Hurts completed 16 of 23 passes for 178 yards and the two scores, along with an interception. In this quick video breakdown you’ll see some of that development, including perhaps his best play of the year (to date), a completion to Dallas Goedert where you could see the young quarterback fight the urge to bail from the pocket and instead stood in there and made a throw:

Hurts had a similar moment on Sunday against the Saints. On this third-down play, watch as he initially thinks about bailing the pocket, but then simply resets and finds DeVonta Smith on the crossing route for a huge gain:

There was a similar moment late in the first half, on this out route to Goedert to convert another third down. Hurts initially thinks about vacating the pocket, but instead just slides a bit to create space before throwing the out route to his tight end:

This play will — perhaps rightly — be remembered more for Goedert’s one-handed snow cone catch. But once again you see growth from Hurts inside the pocket.

Hurts has rounded out his game in the past few weeks, showing willingness to fight in the pocket rather than flee. When defenses catch up to the Eagles’ rushing game, as defenses often do, this development will serve Hurts and the Philadelphia offense well.

Defensive adjustments

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

There is another aspect to this turnaround in Philadelphia, and it comes on the defensive side of the football.

During the Eagles’ rough start, a portion of the ire from the fan base was reserved for defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. The defensive structure was too passive, the coverages were too soft, they were giving up some easy throws.

The defense has been tweaked a bit during this stretch of good play. Now, the Eagles are not suddenly a blitz-heavy team, as their blitz percentage of 15.1% is fourth-lowest in the league. But in recent weeks they have dialed up some pressures, with success.

For example, against the Broncos two weeks ago they got a critical stop by bringing extra rushers against Teddy Bridgewater, and forcing a throwaway:

Then Sunday against the Saints, the Eagles blitzed Trevor Siemian eight times by my charting. On those eight plays, Siemian completed just one pass, and that did not come until the fourth quarter. The other seven fell incomplete. The first such blitz came on a 3rd and long in the first quarter, and the pressure forces a throw from Siemian off his back foot that could have been intercepted:

The Eagles also brought pressure on this play in the second quarter, and Siemian was forced to simply turf the football to avoid the sack:

The lack of blitzes and pressures has been a constant topic of conversation in Philadelphia this season, and Gannon himself addressed that recently. After the Eagles blitzed on 30% of their snaps against the Los Angeles Chargers, the coach had this to say:

So, you saw, like, double chips. You saw some six, seven-man protections. So, typically when you see that as a defense, you devote more to coverage. You put more in coverage knowing that pressures aren’t going to get home and you’re kind of leaving your cover guys out to dry.

I think, though, I can set it up a little bit better when teams are doing that, just be a little more creative how we are aligning our pieces and what we are doing to generate more pressure, so teams can’t say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do so you have to play a certain way.

In recent weeks, they have been a bit more creative, and they have generated more pressure. Now sure, their three wins have come against Jared Goff, Bridgewater and Siemian, and in their loss Justin Herbert completed more than 80% of their passes. So we will wait to declare the defense totally fixed. But right now, some things have clicked for this unit, mirroring the identity being found on the offensive side of the football.

 

Will it stick?

(Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

This is, of course, the ultimate question.

After all, I could run back through that list of quarterbacks that the Eagles have defeated during their current 3-1 stretch. I could also point out that the teams that Philadelphia has beaten during this run have a combined 10-19-1 record.

But things do seem to be clicking for the Eagles right now, even with that context. Looking at Football Outsiders’ DVOA, Philadelphia checks in overall at 15th in the NFL, and 14th in Weighted DVOA. Examining the Eagles in terms of efficiency, as measured by Expected Points Added per Play on both sides of the football, finds Philadelphia in a tier along with other playoff contenders:

And remember, this is what the Eagles face down the stretch. The Giants. The Jets. A bye week in Week 14, Washington, the Giants again, Washington and then Dallas to close things out. Only the Cowboys have a winning record out of those teams, and if Dallas is locked into playoff positioning, Mike McCarthy might be resting players. Particularly if the Cowboys have to play the following week.

Beyond that, Sirianni’s message seems to be getting through to the locker room. After the gardening analogy, which generated some bewilderment outside the locker room and led to a fan throwing flowers at Sirianni after the Eagles’ next game at home, players expressed their approval.

“I think it was good,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “Every time we go in there, one thing I love about our team meetings is you really don’t know what to expect, and you’re always going to leave with something that you truly remember about how the talk went. I think that’s something kind of awesome that coach does, keeping it fresh with us. I think the team took it well. At the end of the day, we’re all here for a reason. We’re obviously disappointed how the season’s gone so far, but there’s no stopping us at all.”

Avonte Maddox shared that sentiment:

It’s definitely meaningful. He has meaningful ways how he tells his stories and the way he tells them, they resonate for a longer time. You always know when you listen to them in football terms, but he just gives it to you in a different way. ‘Oh I never looked at it that way.’ So it’s good for us to hear things in different ways because it sits on your mind a little bit longer and the more you think about it, ‘Oh yeah, it does kind of make sense.’ He always has his ways in doing things and the main thing is we’re still here, we’re still working together, we still trust him and he still trusts us. The way he tells us stories, they’re definitely meaningful in different ways.

Rookie tight end Jack Stoll even credited Sirianni and his comments to the team with keeping the team together despite their tough start to the season. “Regardless of what he’s talking about, he finds a way to get everybody going and everyone buys in to all those stories. I don’t have anything else to compare it to at this level, but that’s the kind of head ball coach I want, someone who can rally the troops and really get us going and steer everyone in the right direction, and I think he’s continued to do that…I think he’s done a tremendous job of keeping us together, and that’s a huge testament to him and his staff.”

The team has made improvements on both sides of the football. Their quarterback is showing signs of growth as a passer, and the schedule sets up favorably for them down the stretch.

It almost looks like Sirianni’s efforts might just bear fruit.

Playoff fruit.

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