Nick Sirianni needs Eagles defense to bail him out. Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat, Jordan Davis, and Jalen Carter can’t do it.
The Eagles coach mismanaged the clock again, but the defense didn't hold. Maybe try more Milton Williams, Thomas Booker, and Nolan Smith.
Jalen Hurts finally looked like he got his legs back after a two-year absence.
Saquon Barkley 2024 continued to look like Saquon Barkley 2022, showing just how good he can be when performing behind an excellent offensive line (rather than a New York Giants offensive line).
DeVonta Smith excelled in the absence of A.J. Brown, the team’s best player and the best receiver in Eagles history, who missed the game with a hamstring strain.
Even Britain Covey had a day: six catches, for just 23 yards, but hey, he had four catches in three seasons combined before Monday night.
» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Jalen Hurts solid until his game-ending interception, defensive line struggles vs. Falcons
As expected, Nick Sirianni didn’t manage the game well. He went for it on fourth-and-4 early and took three points off the board, then passed on third-and-3 late and left too much time on the clock. His offensive linemen were illegally downfield three times, somehow.
But the biggest takeaway from Monday’s 22-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons didn’t involve Hurts, who we figured could still run. Or Barkley, who got $37.75 million to be the workhorse. Or Smith, for whom the Eagles traded up in the 2021 draft to acquire, then prepaid him $75 million in April. Or Sirianni, because we’ve seen this show before. Or Covey, because, come on: 23 yards.
The biggest takeaway remains the biggest concern. The defensive line’s starters aren’t good enough. The Falcons got 152 rushing yards. The defense crumbled in the last 99 seconds. The Falcons scored the winner with 34 seconds to play — 34 seconds that might not have existed had the Eagles run the ball about a minute earlier instead of throwing an incomplete pass against a Falcons team with no timeouts remaining.
But that’s Sirianni ball, right? The personnel will always have to bail him out.
Jordan Davis, the first-round defensive tackle from 2022, remains ineffective. Jalen Carter, the first-round DT from 2023, remains inconsistent.
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Bryce Huff, the $51.1 million free-agent replacement for edge rusher Haason Reddick, remains absent. So does Reddick, who is holding out from the New York Jets, but at this point, it’s hard to tell them apart.
Defensive end Josh Sweat, whose poor 2023 put him on the Eagles’ trade block, looks a lot like he did a year ago.
They aren’t the only issues. For some reason, they love Moro Ojomo. So do opposing quarterbacks. Also, Brandon Graham, who is, well, 36.
Will there be changes?
“We’ll look at the tape of this game,” Sirianni said. “We’ll see what happens.”
What are the answers?
Well, defensive tackle Milton Williams got a sack. On third-and-4 at the Eagles’ 8, Williams burst past Chris Lindstrom and dropped Kirk Cousins for an 8-yard loss, forcing a field goal and limiting the Falcons to a 9-7 lead.
After two games he now leads Eagles defensive linemen in sacks, with one.
”Felt good. Worked on that move all week. Glad I got the opportunity to make a play,“ he said.
Does he think he should get more opportunities?
”That’s above my pay grade,” he said with a smile.
He gets my vote. He’s not the only one.
The Eagles used Williams, Thomas Booker, and Carter against the Falcons with just over four minutes left in the third quarter, and Cousins promptly dumped a 9-yard pass to Drake London, then there was a first-down dive from Tyler Allgeier, and backup end Nolan Smith made that hit and that was about all the second-team group allowed, in that moment.
On the next play, Smith and Carter pressured Cousins into throwing the ball away.
On the next, Booker dumped Bijan Robinson for a 2-yard loss.
On the next, with Sweat back in, Cousins hit Kyle Pitts for 8 yards.
That brought up fourth-and-3. Sweat in. Huff in.
No pressure.
Cousins had ages to throw.
He hit Ray-Ray McCloud for a 12-yard gain.
Same defensive line personnel on the next play.
Again, no pressure.
Cousins hit Darnell Mooney for a 41-yard touchdown, giving the Falcons a 15-10 lead.
Next possession: Smith started the series, got a pressure to force an incompletion … and exited.
Huff and Sweat reentered, helped surrender 9 yards, and vacated the middle on fourth-and-1. C.J. Gardner-Johnson filled the hole, hit Robinson, and saved the day.
On the final, pressure-less, winning drive, we saw a lot more Graham, Sweat, and Ojomo. Huff hit the field in time to be part of the unit that surrendered the winning touchdown.
Cornerback Darius Slay took the blame for giving up the winning TD.
But they all knew where the blame really lay.
Sirianni trusted analytics to a fault, again.
And the well-paid, pedigreed portion of the D-line didn’t produce.