Philadelphia Eagles: Stock watch versus the Pittsburgh Steelers

And just like that, it’s over. After months of anticipation, the Philadelphia Eagles have officially played the first game of the Nick Sirianni-era, even if it was technically only a preseason game and won’t ultimately count in the grand scheme of things.

The Linc was hot, as was the temperature, and the fans in attendance cheered, jeered, and even booed like only Philly fans can.

While the actual game wasn’t a particularly good one, as things sort of fell apart in the second half as many a fan switched over to watch the Philadelphia 76ers‘ exciting Summer League nail-biter versus the Atlanta Hawks (more on that later), it did put some vital tape out into the ether and give fans the world over an initial barometer from which to rate the depth across the roster.

But who shined, who disappeared, and who saw their stock dip in the first of three exhibition contests before the live bullets start to fly? Let’s take a look, shall we?

Stock up: The Philadelphia Eagles first-team offense

I know, I know, saying that the stock of the entire first-team offensive unit is up sort of feels like cheating, but my goodness, it’s true.

After suffering through increasingly vanilla offensive offerings under former head coach Doug Pederson, the Eagles’ offense actually looked… kind of good. Players were open both naturally and via schematic decisions, players moved around the formation, the run game existed via a pair of runs from Jordan Howard and Boston Scott, and the Eagles didn’t record a single negative play in either of the first team’s two drives.

Fun fact: The Eagles actually didn’t record a single negative play – save penalties – until midway through the second quarter, where Joe Flacco took a sack for -2 yards.

Heck, Nick Sirianni even went full-on big play and attempted a deep shot to Quez Watkins on the outside from the two-yard line that would have been a 98-yard touchdown has Jalen Hurts placed the ball a little bit better.

But hey, don’t feel too bad for Watkins, as he got his massive moment on a 78-yard touchdown on a simple screen later in the quarter that will surely proceed him until his next massive offensive gain.

Even if this was simply a vanilla version of what Sirianni wants to play this fall, the Eagles’ offense already looks much improved and should be very fun to watch as a result.