Behind Enemy Lines with the Falcons

Here's more on the Eagles' Week 1 opponent, with some simliarities among a pair of coaches, Matt Ryan, and Kye Pitts

PHILADELPHIA – Eight years ago, Jonathan Gannon and Arthur Davis were roommates while cutting their teeth in the coaching profession.

They were defensive quality control coaches in Tennessee in 2012. The following year, in 2013, Smith became the offensive line/tight ends assistant coach while Gannon stayed in his role.

“We did share an office for two years, so it was kind of like living with somebody in the dorm,” said Smith.

Both guys were in their late 20s at the time, so, yeah, the analogy works.

Fast forward to now and Smith has his first head coaching gig and Gannon has his first job as a defensive coordinator.

The two will meet again on Sunday when Smith’s Falcons meet Gannon’s Eagles in Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 1 p.m.

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“Obviously, he’s grown as a coach,” said Smith. “He was in the (AFC South) division and I think Matt (Eberflus, the Colts’ defensive coordinator for whom Gannon worked as his DB) is one of the better defensive coaches in the league. But Jonathan is going to have his own stamp.

“He’s also tight with (Vikings head coach) Mike Zimmer, and so John’s his own guy. I know they’ll be really sound in the secondary. They’ll be hunting down the football. He’ll have them ready to go. I’ll be happy as hell for John except when we play them.”

Here are some other things to know about the Falcons:

• Their offensive line is young on the interior, with Temple star Matt Hennessy starting at center. He was a third-round pick last year and made two starts at the position.

Left guard Jaylen Mayfield is a rookie third-round pick from Michigan and right guard Chris Lindstrom is in his third year.

They will be challenged by the experience of the Eagles’ defensive front led by Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave.

“I take everybody the same,” said Hargrave when asked about Atlanta’s young interior on Thursday. “I ain’t going to say I overlook anybody. Take everything the same.”

• Quarterback Matt Ryan, who is from Exton, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia in Chester County, will make his 206th start since entering the league as the third overall pick of the Falcons’ in 2008.

“It’s really tough, man, because he really has seen everything,” said cornerback Steve Nelson, who will make his Eagles debut, on Thursday. 

“You can’t go out there and play, I guess, the standard football with him. You gotta make him think a little bit or else he’s going to move the ball on you. With the younger quarterbacks, you can pretty much just line up and play more than when you play against a veteran like that.”

Added Smith: “It won’t be his first rodeo going out there on Sunday. When you’re installing certain schemes and you’re trying to tweak certain things, he’s got a wealth of knowledge that he can go back on.

"Those are conversations that we have. He’s just at a different level than most players because of all the reps he’s had in the NFL, and he’s had a ton of success.”

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• Kyle Pitts is also from suburban Philadelphia, growing up in Abington, located in Montgomery County. He will be making his first career start after arriving in Atlanta as the fourth overall pick this past spring.

“I know (Ryan) is a local guy and I joked with him (Wednesday), he’s more Philly than Pitts,” said Smith.

Kyle Pitts / USA Today

Pitts was the first non-quarterback taken in the draft. Some thought Atlanta would grab Ryan’s eventual replacement.

Smith was asked about that.

“There were a lot of things that factored in the decision,” he said. “Again, Matt’s still playing at a high level, and there were some really good quarterbacks in the draft. We chose to go with what we thought with the 4th pick.

“Just because you’re sitting at No. 4 doesn’t mean you’re going to take the first quarterback. That’s no knock at anybody who drafted one behind us. There are a lot of philosophies, but we feel like Matt Ryan is still playing at a high level. We felt like we improved our football team when we drafted Kyle Pitts.

“Matt, unless he finds the fountain of youth, which may or may not be found, he’s not going to play until he’s 50. So, at some point, we do have to make a transition to another quarterback. We feel like Kyle will be great as he develops, and Matt will help him come along.”

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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.