PHILADELPHIA — Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is a genuinely nice guy if you spend any time around him.

He cares about family. He likes to hang out and joke around. He loves football. He is a workaholic. And he’s a lot tougher than you think. He is smart and has a tough edge on him.

The way he wears his passion on his sleeve, he’s essentially a Philly type of guy, as I’ve always claimed.

He’s also lying to you.

Directly to your face. Directly to camera.

Don’t take it personally. He’s lying about his team, not about who he is. Misleading, cheating, and keeping state secrets secret are all part of his job. Do you really want him to give you his game plan?

“I wouldn’t say we are a running or passing team,” Sirianni said. “We do whatever it takes to win every match”

Liar.

The Eagles are clearly trying to win every game – of course that part is true – but they do it by running the ball.

Your own eyes are not lying to you. It’s not just numbers.

Barkley, who rushed for 159 yards against Jacksonville, became the third Eagle to rush for 100-plus yards in three consecutive weeks, as Brian Westbrook did it in 2006 and Wilbert Montgomery did it in 1978, ’79 and ’81. Barkley averaged 147.6 yards rushing in those games.

He became the first Eagle since LeSean McCoy in 2013 to have a 100-plus yard rushing effort in the first eight games.

In other words, the Eagles are a committed running team, even if Sirianni doesn’t always want to admit it. This is their aggressive identity. That became undeniably clear during their four-game winning streak as they prepared to head to Dallas.

Of course, they have great receivers like AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. Even Jahan Dotson, who has been barely targeted since being acquired from Washington in August, made a magic catch on Sunday that should stand out. It was incredible, maybe a notch behind Smitty in the end zone, which also occurred on the same play. But it all starts with running the ball.

As it should be when you have a running back like Saquon Barkley and a talented and deep offensive line like the Eagles performing at an elite level despite injuries and Jason Kelce’s retirement. That’s why general manager Howie Roseman signed Barkley. Not only are the Eagles running a lot, they’ve been running more often on early downs since Week 5.

“We try to constantly evaluate our rhythm throughout each game, and we felt like some of the running plays on early downs obviously created some positive situations,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said Tuesday. “We got ourselves into more manageable third downs because of the way we played on first and second down.

“Obviously we run the football well at times, and when you have the ability to control the line of scrimmage and our players can run off the ball and play physical, you definitely want to embrace that.”

Definitely. The Eagles embraced it.

It’s a good thing the Eagles are finally a running team. This not only suits this city, it also means winning football. For Andy Reid’s success here, we’ve begged him to run the ball more.

We’ve had flashes of this in the last few decades, but it’s not enough. We had disruptions like McCoy and Westbrook. We had bruisers like LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi. But Barkley is a do-it-all. She may twirl and twirl around you, somehow jump backwards over you, or punish you by lowering her shoulders and shaking her giant hips non-stop.

And since defenses always have to account for him, he opens up the rest of the field to big plays in the passing game; whether it’s play action, read options, or just having Barkley in the backfield.

“Our identity is to play physical, strong and detailed, and our identity is to play together and everything else changes from week to week,” Sirianni said.

You are right. But it all starts with Barkley and the offensive line up front. When he breaks free for a big gain, runs over someone, or jumps off tall buildings in a single bound, he inspires the rest of the team, including the defense.

Look at what some of Barkley’s teammates had to say about his reverse interception against the Jags, which was actually a catch coming out of the backfield and caused the Eagles’ sideline to explode.

“This might have been the greatest play I’ve ever seen in football,” linebacker Cooper DeJean said. “I don’t think I’ll see him again unless he does it again, which wouldn’t surprise me. “This was crazy.”

“I’m not going to lie, I felt like a fan for a second,” defensive end Josh Sweat said. “I needed to get back to who I was.”

“There it is, man… I don’t know, some guys are blessed,” said right guard Lane Johnson, who was responsible for surrendering most of Barkley’s blocks.

It was almost tragic that a kid from Penn State, a kid from the Lehigh Valley, would be drafted by a woeful team like the New York Giants, be forced to work behind a terrible offensive line for years, and subject his body to unnecessary abuse. I don’t appreciate her refusing to pay him, showing him the door and letting him hitchhike down the Turnpike to a division rival, and then getting mad at him for doing so.

“Damn, we’re definitely a run team,” Sirianni eventually said in a recent interview, and the game was again against Jacksonville. “But we have the ability to do both. The game will dictate that and we will try to dictate that. … No matter what level of football you play, it starts up front and I can’t say enough about our offensive line.”

Ahh, there’s some honesty. This O-line, supported by a back like Barkley, does the dictation.

Saquon is finally home, where he belongs. And the Eagles’ offense found a home for him.

Absolutely correct.

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Email Christiaan DeFranco at [email protected]. Follow him on X @the_defranc.

First Publication Date: November 5, 2024, 14:40 EST