On Second Watch: Eagles' Habits Are Starting To Show

A dominating win over Cincinnati has many declarative statements about the Eagles.

Oct 27, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni during the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The word identity has been thrown around Philadelphia a lot and its meaning for any NFL team is overblown, a sentiment Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni expressed after his team's most impressive performance of the season, a 37-17 blowout of the Cincinnati Bengals.

"Identity gets overblown. I really believe that, like, what's the identity? What's the identity?" Sirianni asked rhetorically. "And I tell you, I've told you guys this a bunch, like, our identity is playing with great detail. Our identity is to play physical with toughness and our identity is to play together, and everything else changes week to week."

The passing game. The running game. Balance. Play-action. Motion. Whatever a fan's favorite flavor, it's all tied together by execution on any given day in a parity-driven league where the margin of error is small and any transitive property does not carry over.

What carries over is the character of a team.

And Sirianni defaulted to the physicality of his football team which overwhelmed the Bengals despite playing with two backup offensive linemen on offense and a young, growing unit on defense.

"I think the identity of this football team is physical and that's what we're going to try to play by each week is physical," the coach said.

Understanding which way the baton will be taken by most in Philadelphia with that assessment, Sirianni highlighted Jack Stoll's dominating pass-protection rep against Sam Hubbard in the passing game to explain the all-encompassing nature of the thought.

"When you say physical that doesn't mean you have to run it," said Sirianni. "Every time you run it, you pass it, you can put be physical in both aspects. On the long touchdown pass to DeVonta [Smith], Jack Stoll was physical on that block on the perimeter. Wait, till you see that one again, where you're watching Jack Stoll block the perimeter and giving Jalen [Hurts] enough time to make a perfect throw and somebody to make a big-time catch."

Hurts described it as wanting to be the "imposer" no matter what that may look like against a given opponent.

“I think when you’re able to be the imposer, that says a lot about what you are offensively,” Hurts said. “There are multiple ways to impose, right? You can do that from the gun. You can do that in the pass game. You can do that in the run game, the action game, whatever it is, as long as you’re in full control.

“And so, I think that’s more so the mentality that we’re trying to develop and I’m trying to push, to be honest, it’s about what we do not about what anyone else does.”

Since the Eagles took off after a 2-5 start in Sirianni's rookie season as a head coach, that mindset of "it’s about what we do not about what anyone else does" is what Philadelphia is constantly chasing.

Success isn't a synonym for identity, however.

"There is no secret to success," Sirianni explained. "It's the habits. It's your work ethic. ... Success takes what it takes."

And success against Doug Pederson and Jacksonville next week will almost surely take on a different look than what went on during the Eagles' first-ever win in Cincinnati.

MORE NFL: Eagles Defense Delivers Against Marquee QB