Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Reasonable expectations for Week 1
Expect multiple formations from the Philadelphia Eagles offense.
The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense may be lacking some proven players, but it is far from lacking talent. No one knows what this offense is going to look like or what type of schemes Nick Sirianni plans on running. Philly’s first-year head coach has done a solid job in keeping his cards close to the vest so far.
If you thought the Eagles’ offense was vanilla during their preseason, you would be correct, but that wasn’t by mistake. Coach Sirianni intentionally wanted it to be this way and was even honest in press conferences about the advantage this team has currently, with no other team knowing exactly what they will look like.
With that being said, we here at ITI can tell you that you will see a multitude of formations and schemes from this offense. From lining up in 11 and 12 personal, play-action sets, quarterback counters, and of course, run-pass options. We can also tell you that one thing the new head coach will bring to this offense is consistency and balance, with schemes and plays designed specifically for the defense they are facing.
Some more good news for Philly fans, the Falcons defense can be described only as, well, suspect. Atlanta has had defensive struggles over the past few seasons, but particularly last season. Per ESPN.com, the Falcons defense was ranked last in passing defense last year, allowing an average of 293 yards per game. Their rushing defense fared much better towards the end of last year, but still overall extremely shaky performance.
The team formerly known as the ‘Dirty Birds’ have some talent on their defense, like star defense tackle Grady Jarrett, but as a whole, their defense has not seen much of an overhaul and looks to continue to be the week point for Atlanta.