Its Monday Morning and I feel GREAT! It has been quite some time since the Eagles had a stress free blow out win with just about zero issues. Yesterday the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Atlanta Falcons 32-6 in Hot Lanta starting off the season 1-0 and first place in the NFC East. It is the largest margin of victory since 2017. Lets recap what happened on Sunday.
Early On
Early on, it seemed we had a mess of a defense as the Falcons moved the ball at will for their first two drives. The Eagles couldn’t even stop the run but were able to “bend not break” holding the Falcons to only 3 points. The offensive game plan was safe but efficient. The Eagles moved the ball right down the field on a 7 play 75 yard drive capped by a beautiful 18 yards touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts to Devonta Smith giving the Eagles a 7-6 lead.
Hurts Magic
Jalen got the ball out of his hands quickly and was very decisive on Sunday. He was 27/35 for 264 yards and 3 Touchdown passes while also rushing for 64 yards. He used to legs to avoid the blitz and not give up sacks. Though a bulk of throws were short and intermediate, they were very accurate which allowed the screen game to open up big time. How many times last year did Wentz miss on an easy screen? This was a big difference in my opinion for week one.
This athletic throw above is the Hurts Magic we could see for years to come. Hurts rolled right to throw back across hitting Dallas Goedert on an insane rope of a throw. Jalen Hurts seems to have the dog in him and multiple players after the game commented about his command of the offense.
Ask Siri
Nick Sirianni was excellent in his first game as an NFL head coach. I thought he made the game plan very simple with very safe play calling. The offense executed the game plan and move the ball down the field fairly easily utilizing multiple personnel packages. The rookies and 1 year players were used and showed some development. 7 receivers has 2 or more reception’s and the carries were split nicely between Miles Sanders (15) and Kenneth Gainwell (9).
The offense was balanced with 34 called pass plays (including Hurts 7 carries) to 21 called run plays. Though low risk on the play calling Sirianni was also aggressive going for 2 as well as going for it on 4th down four times.
Upfront
The defensive line had us all pretty scared after those first few drives of the Falcons running down their throats. Jonathan Gannon tightened it up as Javon Hargrave lead the way with 2 sacks on the day. Eagles had 3 overall for a negative 28 yards. Offensive line was just as good and when they weren’t Hurts bailed them out. They gave up just 1 sack for a loss of 3 yards and the team running backs combined for 111 Yards on the ground.
Penalties
This was a problem and has most definitely has to be cleaned up in future weeks. The Eagles had 14 penalties for 89 yards though Atlanta matched that with 12 penalties for 99 yards. The Falcons are not a very good team and against good teams this will cost the Eagles.
Good Start
We can’t really ask for better start to the Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts era. Both the offense and defense executed the game plan and took care of business. The Falcons who were favored got trounced by a well prepared Philadelphia Eagles football team. Jalen Hurts was ready from the start and that sprinkled down to the rest of the team. Next Up is the San Francisco 49ers! They are a much better team now that they are healthy and 2 years removed from a Superbowl appearance. For now though, we celebrate being 1-0 and in first place of the NFC East.
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Freddy Burns
Co-Host & Writer for Edge of Philly Sports
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Photo Credit: Getty Images
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