The Eagles take the ball away and they don’t cough it up.
It’s pretty simple.
There are plenty of reasons the Eagles have jumped out to a 6-0 record this season, but it’s hard to find two bigger than that.
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Through six games, the Eagles lead the NFL in turnover margin at +12. The next closest teams are the Vikings and Ravens, both at +4.
And the Eagles are winning on both sides. They lead the NFL in takeaways with 14 and they have the fewest giveaways with just 2.
“It’s truly a full team effort,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “It's the emphasis of the fundamentals of ball security that we preach on a daily basis. OK, so we preach it on a daily basis. We talk about it on a daily basis. If you're carrying a ball around our facility, we don't care who you are, we'll tell you that it wasn't good enough.”
On defense, the Eagles have 9 interceptions (1st in the NFL) and 5 fumble recoveries (tied for 3rd). Their 14 takeaways are just two behind their total of 16 in 17 games last season — just three teams had fewer in 2021.
NFL
The Eagles’ two giveaways this season came on interceptions from Jalen Hurts. But Sirianni blames himself for the interception in the Jacksonville game. That was a pass to Kenny Gainwell that bounced off his hands and into the hands of a defender. Sirianni blames himself because he didn’t love that play but kept it in the game plan anyway. Hurts’ only other interception came in the 24-7 win over the Vikings in Week 2.
While the Eagles have the second-fewest offensive interceptions in the NFL, they are the only team in the league that has not yet lost a fumble.
To put that into perspective, remember that the Eagles lead the NFL in rushing attempts this season with 225. And they’re the only team that hasn’t lost a fumble!
Dating back to last season, Miles Sanders has gone 172 straight rushing attempts without fumbling. Since the start of the 2021 season, Sanders has 242 rushing attempts with one fumble.
“You can't be around this facility and not be coached about how the ball is,” Sirianni said. “Ultimately, the player has to go out and do it and the guys that have touched the ball the most for us, Miles Sanders has been phenomenal with this so far this season. And it's a long season. We’ve got to keep going. Miles has had great fundamentals. Those guys are stripping at it hard.
“We've added a couple new drills to our repertoire and things like that, but Miles went out there – I’d look at Miles first and foremost. Him and Jalen touch the ball the most, carry the ball the most and Miles has just done an outstanding job. When your guys that are touching the ball the most are most fundamentally sound and taking care of it the best, then everybody else is going to fall into line.”
On Monday, Sirianni joked that he wasn’t a huge fan of how Sixers star Joel Embiid was holding the ball on the Eagles’ sideline before their win over the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
“I would’ve said something to him,” Sirianni said.
If Embiid played for the Eagles, that wouldn’t fly.
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