Three takeaways from Eagles offensive coordinator Mike Groh's chat with the media Tuesday:
Did you see what the Titans did to Blake Bortles?
The Titans are fourth in the NFL in point allowed (16.7 per game), and they really did a terrific job on Blake Bortles Sunday, limiting the Jaguars' quarterback to just 155 yards on 34 passing yards and sacking him three times. Bortles' longest completion went for just 19 yards.
"They just made it really challenging on Bortles," Groh said. "They got good pressure, (and) he couldn't really set his feet in the pocket and make any throws. They had some throws down the field to make, but he would have to move off his spot, and then when he tried to reset the throw there was somebody else in his face and he couldn't get the ball out of there."
This is big because the Eagles are coming off a game in which Carson Wentz was sacked five times, matching the most sacks the Eagles have allowed at home in five years.
It wasn't all on the offensive line. Wentz did run into some trouble Sunday. But the bottom line is that the offensive line has to pass block better and give Wentz time to work. If they don't, it's going to be a difficult day Sunday.
Why opening in no-huddle made so much sense
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One of the underrated coaching moves Doug Pederson and Mike Groh did Sunday was opening the game in no-huddle. What better way to get a quarterback who hadn't played in 9 ½ months into a quick rhythm?
This wasn't out of the Chip Kelly playbook. Running tempo all the time is lunacy because of the pressure it puts on a defense. But as a change-of-pace, it can be a tremendous weapon, and it was Sunday.
Wentz was 5-for-7 for 55 yards and a touchdown to Dallas Goedert on that drive, with all but the first snap coming on no-huddle.
"Just another way to try to get Carson immediately into the game and into the flow of the game and not have any time to think about anything," Groh said. "Just get up to the line of scrimmage and be able to conduct the game from there."
Where are the big plays?
There are a lot of explanations for the lack of big plays from the Eagles' offense so far.
No Alshon Jeffery, Mike Wallace or Mack Hollins. No Darren Sproles or Jay Ajayi last week. A quarterback change. A couple new coaches.
But the reality is that the Eagles are making it very difficult on themselves by not getting the football down the field.
They have only five pass plays of 20 yards or more so far, and only the Bears (four), Cowboys (three) and Titans (three) have fewer.
"We haven't had as many explosive passes as we would like," Groh said. "For 40 minutes (time of possession), we would like to have more than 20 points. We left some points out there on the field."
Yeah, you can't control the clock for 40:20 minutes and score just 20 points. The Eagles are only the third team in the last 10 years to do that (not counting OT). But that's what happens when you don't hit big plays. You can move the ball all over the place between the 20s, but you don't score. The Eagles were fortunate to escape with a win Sunday but they won't be able to get away with it every week.
