NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell joined The Herd with Colin Cowherd earlier today and pushed back on Cowherd's assertion that through two weeks the Eagles have an identity crisis on offense.
"I thought [Week 2 vs Minnesota] was one of the best-coached games by a coordinator I've seen in a long time," Cosell said when asked what he's seen from the Eagles on offense. "They did not know what they were going to get from Brian Flores, it's Week 2. Flores' history is that he will do anything. So you have to let the game start and play out before you understand how you're going to attack it. And then they saw exactly what Flores was doing: playing five across in the secondary at quarters depth, 10-12-13 yards from the line of scrimmage. What Brian Johnson said was 'you know what, we're going to line up and we're going to run the ball'...So this was a brilliant piece of in-game, in-flow management by Brian Johnson."
"It was not a Jalen Hurts game, the idea is to win the gains," Cosell continued. "So this was not an identity crisis, this was Brian Johnson doing absolutely a beautiful thing to win that game."
Johnson's adjustments Thursday night led to a 259-yard, three-touchdown night on the ground, headlined by D'Andre Swift taking 28 carries for 175 yards and one score. The Eagles, who averaged 5.4 yards per carry overall, were then able to control the time of possession battle 39:28 to 20:32, register 24 total first downs, score 34 points and escape a dangerous matchup with a victory.
Despite the rushing success and the team's 2-0 record, the discussion on WIP all week after the game has centered around whether the team's run-first attack can be enough to book a return trip to the Super Bowl, or whether its passing game needs to become the driver of the offense's attack.
94WIP afternoon host Jon Marks expressed the latter at the beginning of his show today, saying "The way the Eagles are winning right now with the run...can they win long-term, both this year and long term, is this sustainable?...I'm not telling you the Eagles shouldn't lean on the run if the pass isn't working, you have to win football games...But they paid Jalen Hurts based on what they saw in the Super Bowl, and he had a great year last year...You have Devonta Smith, you have A.J. Brown, you have Dallas Goedert, if you're needing to run the ball to win that's a problem. That's not a problem just with the quarterback, that's a problem with Nick Sirianni and Brian Johnson."
The offensive balance Marks is referring to was seen in the team's success last season, as it finished No. 9 and No. 5 in passing and rushing yards per game respectively. It was then obviously capped off by Jalen Hurts' Super Bowl performance of 304 passing yards, 70 rushing yards and four total touchdowns. Hurts, who got paid handsomely this offseason, now through two weeks this season has only thrown for 363 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while adding 21 carries for 72 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns and a fumble.
Johnson, Hurts and the Eagles' offensive attack get their next chance at a big night through the air this Monday in Tampa Bay, as the Buccaneers enter the contest with the second-ranked rush defense in the NFL and a bottom-10 pass defense. The passing game may need to excel in the matchup for the Eagles to improve to 3-0 on the young season.
