The Eagles’ offense was always going to look different in 2024, and that’s the part getting lost in the hand-wringing over Nick Sirianni’s comments about identity.
After Sunday’s ugly loss, Sirianni was asked point-blank what the offense’s identity was four games into the season, and he didn’t pretend to have a neat answer.
“Obviously, it hasn’t been good enough. I think that’s still - you’re trying to make sure as you find out who you are that you’re playing with detail and you’re playing together and you’re playing with toughness, and we’ve still got a ways to go there and it’s obvious that we’re still trying to figure that out.”
On Monday, he expanded on that idea and made it clear he wasn’t treating “identity” like some fixed label you pin to a team in September.
“I think a lot of teams are still looking for what that is this early in the season, after a quarter through the season. We’ve had different seasons where we felt really good about where we were at that particular time, and we’ve had seasons where we haven’t, and we’re able to figure it out along the way. It’s constantly a process, and just because you say your identity is one thing at this particular time, that may stay the same all the way through, but that could change too.
There’s a lot of things that go into that, and you’re always trying to do exactly the things that your players do best while also running the schemes that you want to do. That’s fluid throughout the year.
I would just say it hasn’t been consistent enough, so you do search. When you haven’t been consistent enough in both coaching and playing, then you are searching for the things that you’re supposed to do well.
I think that identity is kind of a buzzword that we like to use. But again, it’s not consistent enough right now in any aspect, and that’s fluid. Then when you do figure out things and start to get on some rolls, that becomes fluid as well.”
That’s the reality here: teams do adjust. Teams do evolve. Teams do spend the first part of a season learning what they can actually lean on.
The 2024 Eagles are a pretty good example of that. They opened 2-2.
In the loss to Tampa Bay, Saquon Barkley had just 10 carries. The offense came out throwing, got behind early, and finished with 50 plays and a 30/20 pass-run split.
A week later, they beat Cleveland 20-16, with Jalen Hurts running 14 times and throwing 25. Then came the first New York game, when they seemed to realize just how dominant their offensive line could be and started feeding Barkley.
That set off a stretch of 12 games in which Barkley topped 100 rushing yards nine times while the Eagles used the Brotherly Shove to batter opponents into submission.
Hurts handled the other side of it, too. When the Eagles needed him to throw, he delivered. He put up 278 yards in Sao Paulo, then 290 yards and two touchdowns against a Steelers team that was 10-4 at the time, and then kept producing in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.
So yes, a new offensive coordinator, a new offensive line coach and new players are going to change the look of things this season. That’s the point.
It won’t all snap into place overnight, especially with the injury situation they’re dealing with right now. But Sirianni’s remarks aren’t the kind of thing that should send anyone into a panic.
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ESPNs Dan Graziano pointed to that group as possible participants if the market ever opens up, but the problem is obvious: good linemen are hard to find and even harder to pry loose. For the Eagles, the bigger issue may be whether the help they need is even available in a market where demand is already outpacing supply. [Read more 🡒]