The reality check arrived quickly.
That was how I felt watching the Eagles drop a winnable 17-11 game to the San Francisco 49ers in the home opener. The coach wasn’t good enough, the mistakes couldn’t be overcome, the quarterback couldn’t make the big throw when he had to, and significant players were lost to injury.
If it could go wrong, it went wrong in Week 2.
Which means we're about to actually find out what this team and roster is really all about sooner than we may have realized.
Oftentimes in the NFL, teams can hide behind the schedule or luck. A team might race out to a fast start, only to quickly fade. Think about the 2016 Eagles, the last time this franchise had a first-year head coach and neophyte quarterback. That team went 3-0 before dropping nine of its next 11. Or a team could get off to a hot start and sustain it in a fluky, season-long way. We may not really know about what a team truly is for a while. Sometimes the signal and the noise can be blurred in a NFL season.
That kind of reality no longer faces the Eagles because of the events of Week 2. Consider this a gut-check time, and one in which we’ll soon learn the truth about this team and its most vital parts.
Let’s start with Nick Sirianni, the leader and play caller that did so much right in Week 1 in Atlanta.
It’s fair to say Week 2 wasn’t as encouraging.
The play calling inside the five-yard line after the 91-yard pass play to Quez Watkins wasn’t just poor. It was baffling. That includes the plays leading up to whatever the trick play, Philly Special-lite, fourth-down failure that led to zero points on the board in a critical moment. The whole sequence felt like Sirianni trying to get cute rather than just get the ball in the end zone. When in doubt down there, let the powerful running quarterback dive to the pylon four times or call quick zone reads to create an easy run-pass option.
The fourth-down failure might be worth an entire column itself, but let’s try to sum this up quickly: Less pandering, more points. We get it, and it’s kind of fun. Sirianni wants to win over the city, and a successful trick play on fourth and goal vs. a big-time opponent could have gone a long way to doing that. But it’s one thing to do something like that in the Super Bowl vs. Bill Belichick. It’s another to do it in Week 2 vs. DeMeco Ryans’ defense. Run a real play.
Then there’s Jalen Hurts, the quarterback that certainly wasn’t bad, but wasn’t good enough in this loss.
Keeping a level head with Hurts’ play is hard because of the situation the Eagles created: Every game is a true referendum on his future and the future allocation of resources for a potential upgrade in Philadelphia. In the grand scheme of Hurts’ career, his performance vs. the 49ers offered more positives than negatives. But if we’re talking about winning right now and putting to rest any talk of finding a bigger star at the position, Sunday didn’t help.
Hurts didn’t turn it over (in part due to a fortuitous bounce on a fumble) and threw a beautiful 91-yard pass to Watkins. He remained calm under pressure, and took running lanes when they were there. If the defense had found a way to get the ball back late, perhaps we’re talking about a game-winning drive and new story.
But we’re not, and part of it was Hurts’ downfield inaccuracy and inability to get the ball out at the right time. Sirianni and his staff (correctly) drew up some shot plays vs. a depleted San Fran secondary. At least two were underthrown/mistimed. Another could have (and should have) been a touchdown if Jalen Reagor didn’t step out of bounds. Hurts’ game has to be about protecting the ball, using his legs, finding underneath receivers in rhythm and hitting home runs on the deep ball. He flew out to the warning track too often vs. the 49ers.
Just one loss? In one sense, sure. The NFC East isn’t going to run away from the Eagles. But Sunday brought bigger losses than just the one in the standings. Brandon Graham is likely done for the season. Brandon Brooks may be out for an extended period. We knew the Eagles had very good top-end players. Now we’ll see if young depth pieces like Landon Dickerson and Milton Williams are ready to help win games.
When the offseason arrived, the Eagles entered a rebuilding phase. What none of us knew is how long it would be. If things broke right, it could be a seamless bounce back to the postseason behind a rookie coach and young quarterback.
Now?
The first gut-check moment has arrived, and the Cowboys, Chiefs, (surprising) Panthers, Buccaneers and (also surprising) Raiders are on tap. Philadelphia’s next five games are against teams with a combined 8-2 record through two weeks. The 2021 season was always about learning what Sirianni is as a coach, how good Hurts is, and can be and how much roster depth the 53-man group has or lacks.
We’re just going to find out those answers way sooner than we probably expected.
