Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson talked this week about ways to improve the offense and talked about a few different areas of concern.
But he mentioned one thing first.
“Essentially, I think what we need to do is create more explosive plays,” Johnson said. “We have to.”
Nick Sirianni defines explosive play in his own way. He lumps in his 10+ yard runs and his 16+ yard passes. Based on these parameters, the Eagles would tie him for 19th in the NFL with his 101 explosive plays. They have 61 explosive pass plays and 40 explosive runs.
Here’s a complete look at the NFL’s explosive plays (pass + run) heading into Week 16.
SFO: 88 + 61 = 149
MIA: 86 + 53 = 139
HOU: 92 + 44 = 136
Balance: 64 + 62 = 126
DET: 74 + 50 = 124
DAL: 80 + 41 = 121
BUF: 66 + 52 = 118
Minimum: 81 + 35 = 116
Original: 74 + 39 = 113
Chi: 53 + 60 = 113
ATL: 63 + 49 = 112
Sea: 71 + 37 = 108
LAR: 72 + 34 = 106
JAX: 69 + 34 = 103
Kang: 67 + 39 = 103
ARI: 51 + 52 = 103
Tom: 71 + 31 = 102
CLE: 58 + 44 = 102
NOR: 66 + 35 = 101
PHI: 61 + 40 = 101
Den: 55 + 46 = 101
GNB: 71 + 29 = 100
LAC: 70 + 28 = 98
10: 64 + 33 = 97
IND: 57 + 37 = 94
Pit: 43 + 45 = 88
CIN: 56 + 32 = 88
NYG: 43 + 38 = 81
Car: 41 + 40 = 81
LVR: 60 + 18 = 78
New York Japan: 46 + 27 = 73
NWE: 48 + 24 = 72
However, sometimes the Eagles need to just take what the defense gives them instead of going for the big play. Against the Seahawks, the Eagles opened the game with back-to-back scoring drives of 15 and 16 plays.
“Yeah, that’s definitely a line you have to walk, right?” Johnson said. “I think the most important thing is to try to create as much explosiveness as possible. And if you have to drive 12, 13, 14, 15 plays to score, it’s all I think we definitely need that balance because it’s just going to expand.
“The easiest way to score is to create big plays, so we have to do a great job of creating more chunks and situations where we don’t have to take as many plays to score. We have to do a great job of putting us in that position.”
There is no question that the Eagles are missing these chunk plays from their offense this season. In 2022, the Eagles led the NFL with 169 explosive plays, averaging 9.9 per game. He is averaging 7.2 points per game this year.
But these big plays don’t suddenly come out of nowhere. The Eagles also need to get better at their setup.
“I think the important thing is to have that feel and be able to use it in combination so that you can create some chunks based on some elements,” Johnson said. “Based on the path, others based on the Based on the run, based on the play action. Just trying to create those chunks and give myself an opportunity to get down to the red zone a little earlier.”
Faith in Michael Clay
There were a lot of Eagles fans who wanted Michael Clay to give him some cleats after a shaky 2022 season on special teams. However, Clay returned after the Eagles lost their offensive and defensive coordinators from the Super Bowl season. And he has repaid Sirianni’s trust all season.
The Eagles’ special teams unit underwent a miraculous turnaround in 2023. The third phase of the game was the most consistent for this team all year.
“Nick does an incredible job of instilling trust and confidence in everyone in this building,” Clay said. “I can’t say enough about our head coach and this whole building. Like anything in life, you’re going to get beat up. This won’t be the last time. This probably isn’t the first time you’ve had to wrap things up.
They did an incredible job this year. Nick was great. As he said earlier, I can’t say enough good things about him in terms of his encouragement and confidence from last year to this year. As with everything in life, I try to give back to everyone for what they’ve done for me, and hopefully it will come back to me when I’m a little older. hoping. ”
Sometimes players grow, and sometimes coaches grow to fit their roles.
That’s an important thing to remember when talking about Johnson this season. Johnson is 36 years old and in his first year as an offensive coordinator in the NFL. There’s a reason he’s been talked about as a head coach, even though he had an incomplete season as the Eagles’ play-caller.
Clay was asked this week why he thinks Sirianni never lost faith in him.
“I think he understands it from a work ethic standpoint that we all have on special teams in this building,” Clay said. “The final product last year sometimes wasn’t what we wanted. Call a spade a spade. It wasn’t good enough in the NFL. It’s a production-based business.
“He understands how hard we are trying to help them as much as possible through this time. Look at what they do for us in terms of trying to make sure we can do our best. I remember Nick being incredibly great in that regard. , he continues to see that, I have to continue to give back to him to put this team in the best position possible.”
Sean Desai shows professionalism
It would have been tough for Sean Desai to be demoted during the season last week. But he seems to have coped as well as he could.
Heck, the Eagles had him give a press conference last week to give them a competitive advantage. In hindsight, it’s not great for the organization, but it was a great acting job by Desai, and it speaks to the professionalism he showed during this demotion.
In Seattle, he wasn’t afraid to show up on the field to greet his former teammates who are still with the Seahawks.
“I feel really blessed to have had the relationship and friendship with Sean,” said Matt Patricia. “We have mutual friends that we’ve worked with and we connect with each other. He’s been great. It really helped me transition here in a situation where my family wasn’t here. I… I’m here alone and he took care of me in that aspect.
“In a situation like that, the first thing for me to do is to clear up whatever remains of it, whatever it is, and talk about it as friends. The most important thing is that everyone is safe. . That’s the most important thing.”
Desai’s future is uncertain, and it seems highly likely that he will not be with the Eagles beyond this year. But he was in the booth against the Seahawks last week and plans to continue in that role for the remainder of 2023.
“[Patricia] And Sean will continue to work really well with us,” Sirianni said. “I often walk by their offices and they have conversations that are very similar to what they would have if the roles were reversed.
“I’m excited about the dynamic on the field and very grateful to our defensive staff who are working like crazy to get things going in the right direction defensively.”
AJ Brown talks about social media interactions
Last week, AJ Brown applauded fans on social media and took offense to claims the Eagles were playing “buddy ball,” where Jalen Hurts tries to get the ball to his buddy Brown.
Asked about his own response, Brown answered thoughtfully about that and his thoughts on frustration when things don’t go well. Worth reading in full.
“Personally, I couldn’t handle this right. I’m man enough to say that. I pride myself on being the best. When the game is on the line, throw me the ball. So when things don’t go your way, it’s okay. Yes, let me be. You should hold me accountable. I accept it. Much has been given and much has been given. So I had to sit down and really think to myself, yeah, if they’re going to hold me accountable, sure. I’ve asked for it. I asked to sit in that chair. Who cares, so what? It doesn’t define me. It doesn’t define me.
“But I know for a fact, brother, we’re growing our tails out. Personally, I know I’m working hard. I’m going to do whatever I can to help this team win.” . That’s why you see little frustrations and things like that happen, because you know you’re dedicating your life to this. For this game, with your teammates. I’m sacrificing time with my family to be there, to win games. It’s a big deal to me. It means the world to me. I said [receivers coach Aaron Moorehead] On the way home, when I arrived home at 7am, I almost cried on the way home. It’s a big event for me. We are frustrated by this city. We feel that way. We want to do it for you. Most of all, we want to do this for our teammates, our brothers who will be competing alongside us.
“We work hard. We put our blood, sweat and tears into this game. To our fans, we don’t want you to think we don’t care or that we’re not doing our best. We have standards and we strive to live up to those standards. We don’t want to make excuses either. We’re 10 times harder on ourselves than anyone else. I’m going to go and do this. It’s not about preaching or anything like that.”
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