Overblown Eagles theories ahead of Week 2 home-opener versus Vikings

What’s going on with all of the penalties?

The NFL changes its rules constantly in an attempt to make its game better. Sure, many of those adjustments are made to benefit the offense and increase the amount of scoring that we see on a week-to-week basis, but certain aspects of our great game will never change.

You must win in the trenches. Your chances for consistent success decrease if you haven’t found your franchise quarterback. Teams will succeed less often if they turn the ball over and commit penalties.

The Eagles protected the football and won the turnover battle. That’s the good news. Zech McPhearson made a great play on special teams to cover the ball on an onside kick attempt. That was one of the underrated moments of the day, but the Birds committed ten penalties that cost them 61 yards of field position.

This time they got the win, but that won’t continue if this becomes a familiar script. Typically, they’ve been a disciplined team, so we’ll chalk this up to rust after sitting the starters for most of the preseason.

This entire coaching staff has to go.

We know some of you are ready to hand Jonathan Gannon his walking papers. Watching the Eagles’ defense operate was a difficult task in the opener, and hearing head coach Nick Sirianni say things like ‘defense isn’t my area of expertise’ and/or ‘I’m an offensive guy’ won’t make anyone feel better.

You’re absolutely right. Week 1’s performance was unacceptable, but many of the additions on this team are being asked to play key roles early. Chemistry must be built. Some of the results that we want to see immediately may take a week or two, but as bad as Gannon’s scheme has looked at times, something tells us that everything will be okay… we hope.