Crossing Broad
Hello!
And welcome to another season of the immediate observations column. This is a safe space for people who love the Birds but don’t take themselves too seriously. A bastion of pragmatism in the eye of a knee-jerk hurricane.
Re-introduction complete, we’re talking about a 24-20 Eagles win on opening night. Did you feel like the Birds were gonna lose the game? Yeah, me neither. No trepidation whatsoever, even after the lightning delay killed the offensive momentum. It felt like one of those games where they’d do just enough to win, while the other team would do just enough to lose, which is exactly what happened.
I think we all agreed this summer that the new-look defense would be a work in progress, exacerbated unexpectedly by Jalen Carter doing one of the dumbest things you’ll ever see to become a non-participant. The result was an early shootout, seven scores on seven first-half drives, not totally dissimilar from what we saw with the 2024 season opener in Sao Paulo, when the offenses were exchanging scores and neither team could get off the field.
Then it came to a grinding halt after a 45-minute delay, which took some of the oomph out of the contest and made for a bit of a head scratcher after a wild start. Regardless, Jalen Hurts looked good on the ground and the defense figured it out when it mattered most. This was really about keeping the main thing the main thing – running for a couple of scores and preventing the big play. You take a win however you can get it to improve to 1-0.
To the observations we go! –
1) It always makes me laugh when they show Maria Taylor and she’s taller than at least two of the dudes on the NBC set. Either she’s gotta wear flats or they gotta give Jason Garrett a wooden box to stand on.
2) Say what you will about the Eagles not being out there for the banner raising, or the comical thought that Nick Sirianni didn’t know it was happening. The fact of the matter is that their binary approach to motivation works, and after the results of last season, who are we to question it? Maybe when they reconvene in 2040 for the 15-year anniversary, then they can properly enjoy the banner. But on Thursday night it was strictly business, or “biz-nass,” as Ludacris would say.
3) Ben VanSumeren can’t catch a break. Tore his ACL last year, injured on the game’s first play this year. You have to feel really bad for the guy.
4) Jalen Carter is obviously a humongous dumbass. Spitting on a player and getting ejected before the first defensive snap will go down as one of the most pathetic actions in Philadelphia Eagles history. Doesn’t matter if Dak spat first, or even hit Carter, it’s just a dumb retaliatory thing.
5) Adoree Jackson looked like vintage Izel Jenkins on the first Dallas drive. At the same time, Nolan...
