The word “identity” has been tossed around a lot about the Eagles over the first eight weeks of the season. Are they a run-first team? Are they a star-driven offense? Are they a pass-to-set-up-the-run team?
Nick Sirianni had a completely different answer on Sunday night when asked if he’s trying to find the identity of the offense.
“I think the identity of this football team is physical, and that’s what we’re going to try and play by each week — being physical,” Sirianni said. “When you say physical, that doesn’t mean you have to run it every time. You run it, you pass it — you can be physical in both aspects.”
A lot goes into being a physical team on both sides of the ball.
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When asked if it’s an emphasis on physicality or having players who are physical, he said it’s a combination of both. But that’s an element he and general manager Howie Roseman are looking for when they bring players into the building.
“I always feel that when we play our best here is when we’ve really set the tone physically,” Sirianni said.
On offense, running the football is one way to show off that physicality. As Landon Dickerson said a couple weeks ago, “Do you want to get punched or punch somebody?”
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So, yeah, running the ball — and sometimes running it from under center — can be an effective way to physically punish the opponent but it’s not the only way.
Think back to some key plays on the sideline in the last two weeks. Against the Giants, Saquon Barkley lowered his shoulder to set the tempo and then DeVonta Smith did it against the Bengals.
“When you do put your head down and finish the run, it brings a lot of energy to the sideline, it brings a lot of energy to the game, just like a big-time catch would,” Sirianni said. “The energy that happens on the sideline, we show those. We actually show those and say, ‘Hey, there’s our standard of how we finish on the sideline.’”
After each of the last two games, Sirianni has shown those exact clips to the entire group in team meetings.
That’s an effort to emphasize playing with the physicality they want.
“I think it starts, for sure, with having players that are physical,” Sirianni said. “But everything you want to be has to be emphasized. If you want to be a team that protects the ball well, you gotta emphasize it. Just like I’m talking about with the clips on the sideline. I’m going to show it. I’m going to show Smitty lowering his shoulder on the sideline and finishing the run. Because I know that’s just one piece of it.”
Sirianni also talked about the physicality it takes for defensive players to shed blocks and make tackles. And he brought up slice blocks from tight ends too. He even said he has a photo of Grant Calcaterra’s slice block in Week 3 against the Saints to spring Saquon Barkley’s game winning touchdown.
Calcaterra on that play was able to take 265-pound defensive end Chase Young out of the play. It’s a dirty work play for a tight end who isn’t known for his blocking but he came through in a moment where the Eagles needed him to.
“Everything in football has to do with [physicality],” Sirianni said. “Again, if I talk about football and it’s always about team, it’s always about physicality, it’s always about detail, well then, I have to emphasize that. But again, make no mistake about it, we look for that. Howie and I talk about that all the time. We’re looking for players that are physical football players because we know this is a physical game.”
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