Nick Sirianni finally addresses the Eagles' lack of play-action

10/15/2024 11:31 PM

Though the Philadelphia Eagles were able to secure their Week 6 win in fairly commanding fashion, holding the Cleveland Browns’ offense to just field goals on the way to a 20-16 win, there were still plenty of questions surrounding their offense as a whole.

Why didn’t Jalen Hurts target the middle of the field? Why are the Eagles disproportionately throwing outside of the hash marks? And what about play-action, a hallmark of Kellen Moore’s offense in both LA and Dallas? Why do the Eagles so rarely check the defenses with a quick movement before the snap when Hurts was so effective using it in Week 1?

Asked these questions and more during his mid-week press conference, Nick Sirianni explained that in Week 6, the Eagles took what they were given and were better off for it.

“We had a lot of tempo yesterday, plays on the ball. That limits you sometimes. That doesn't mean you can't motion when you have a tempo play, but we had a lot of those yesterday. So that's going to affect the number a little bit,” Sirianni told reporters.

“And then, as far as the middle of the field, I thought Jalen did a really good job taking what the defense gave him and had some matchups. And I thought those were good corners out there, but we've got really good receivers. Can't say enough about that last play on 2nd-and-11 where [QB] Jalen [Hurts] threw it. What an unbelievable play by those two guys. I just thought Jalen had a really nice game going to the places where he needed to go with the football and being accurate with those throws.”

Interesting stuff, right? Well, wait, it gets better; as Sirianni had to field multiple questions about the lack of Moore’s calling card, even if the answer might just quell confusion within the fanbase.

Is Kellen Moore being held back by the Eagles’ HC?

Asked the question once more, this time in relation to the fact that the Eagles recorded a season-low in play-action against the Browns in Week 6, Sirianni once again complimented Moore for doing his part, in addition to Hurts for executing it.

“Different scenarios call for different things. That's a really good defense that were doing some different things that made certain things challenging. Got a lot of respect for [former Eagles and current Browns Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Jim] Schwartz. Obviously, he's done the ultimate thing here and won a Super Bowl. So much respect for him, and the coordinator he's been, and the coordinator he is. They did some things that were challenging,” Sirianni noted.

“Again, I thought [Offensive Coordinator] Kellen [Moore] did a really nice job calling the game. I can't tell you how good of a job I think he did. Aggressive in certain situations where we needed to be aggressive, which may not always be typical of being aggressive, but he was.

“I thought he did a nice job calling the game. And I thought [QB] Jalen [Hurts] really did a nice job of handling the way the game was called and the plays that were coming in and went to the right place with the football.”

Is Moore being tasked with running Sirianni’s offense, as many fans have claimed? Sirianni has never outright said that, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t. Unfortunately, when things like a consistent string of out passes and a lack of pre-snap motions continue to plague the Eagles’ offense despite changing over the offensive coordinator this offseason, one had to wonder if it wasn’t Sirianni making those calls in 2023, not Brian Johnson.

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