Nick Sirianni identifies two areas the Eagles must improve immediately originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
They had nine missed tackles and three turnovers, and you’re not going to win many games in the NFL – or anywhere else – with nine missed tackles and three turnovers.
The Eagles got to 1-0 with a win over the Packers despite making a ton of mistakes Friday in São Paulo.
They were 2-15 in their previous 17 games when they committed three or more turnovers and 5-24-1 in their previous 30 games when they were minus-2 or worse in turnover margin.
Nick Sirianni identified giveaway-takeaway margin and tackling as two critical areas that have to improve starting with Monday night vs. the Falcons at the Linc.
“We’ll have to be ready to tackle,” he said, singling out Falcons running back Bijan Robinson as a guy who’s capable of breaking tackles. “We need to tackle better than we did last game and it’s going to be a big big deal in this week’s game, as every game is.”
The Eagles were the only NFL team that was minus-two in turnover margin to win in Week 1. The seven others all lost by an average of 14 points.
Teams that were minus-two or worse last year were 13-98.
The Eagles were also the only team with three turnovers to win in Week 1. The five others lost by an average of – again – 14 points.
Teams committing three or more turnovers last year were 19-77.
The Eagles did get a takeaway on Reed Blankenship’s interception – which led to Saquon Barkley’s third touchdown – but they forced only 18 turnovers last year, 7th-fewest in the league, and since 2021 they’ve forced 61, also 7th-fewest.
“We can’t be in the negative of the turnover (margin),” he said. “We’re the only team (at minus-2 or worse) that won. That’s not sustainable. That’s not sustainable. So protecting the football, taking the football away, (are huge).”
Then there’s the missed tackles. Both Sirianni and Vic Fangio acknowledged that some of the blame was the slippery field but said the defenders have to be in better position to make those plays as well.
“We just need to improve on our approaches and not be so wild,” Fangio said. “Some of the missed tackles were due to the leaky run defense that let good backs get in the open field or a good wide receiver on that one run, and it’s hard to tackle good players in the open field. We can’t let a guy carrying the ball be in that big of an open field.”
Sirianni said tackling better – and being in better position to make tackles – were a topic of conversation when he met with the team Thursday morning.
“We missed too many tackles, we talked about it with the team (and) we reinforced it today,” he said. “We’ll be doing drills out there (at practice) to get ready to tackle better.
“Did some of the missed tackles happen because a guy slipped? Yeah, the result of the guy slipping, that happened. But there’s also a way that you approach the running back. That’s what needs to be fixed. You can’t do anything about the field.
“And so really the biggest emphasis is the details. Like, you want to be the best in the world at something? It’s about doing the basics better. It doesn’t have to be real fancy. Who tackles better? Who gets off blocks better? Who blocks better? Who takes care of the football better? Who catches the ball better with their fundamentals?
“That’s football.”
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