3 Thoughts: Eagles beat the Falcons

My thoughts from the Eagles win over the Falcons in the season opener.

FINAL: What a start to 2021 for the @Eagles! #FlyEaglesFly #PHIvsATL pic.twitter.com/Z1q31AKuUB

— NFL (@NFL) September 12, 2021

1. This season is basically a fact-finding mission on Head Coach Nick Sirianni and QB Jalen Hurts, and they both made great first impressions. Hurts and Sirianni were both excellent during the opener. Sirianni is particularly an unknown, so it was good to see him do well with game management and with in-game decision making. Accuracy was big question about Hurts and he completed 77 percent of his passes. There is still a lot to prove, but good first step.
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2. The Eagles offense was fun! They did everything from bunch sets to reduced splits to spread wide. They ran out of 11 personnel and passed out of 12 personnel. They had plays with two RBs in the backfield and went empty other times. And it all seemed to work together. Yes, most of the passing targets were shallow and that’s something we’ll have to watch. Sirianni said that was because of how the Falcons played. We’ll see.
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3. While Sunday was fun, the heart of this team is still the OL and DL and they are getting old. How old? Three of the stars (and captains) played for Andy Reid. Those are Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and Jason Kelce. It’s a long season and it remains to be seen if they can stay healthy. The Eagles could unravel quickly if either line sustains substantial injuries.

The Cool Rule lets us reopen the drawer

I dig bandanas.

The “Cool Rule” says that the things you believed to be cool when you were between the ages of 17 and 21 is what you consider cool the rest of your life. (Hat tip to wife Jennifer for creating the rule.)

So … bandanas.

I wore bandanas when I was in the Cool Rule years. Lots of them. Sometimes more than 20 at a time.

Grace and the messy yard

My front yard has gone wild.

The grass is overgrown and patchy and the ground is covered in places by what remains of two trees I cut down four weeks ago.

It doesn’t look like this for lack of work. On the contrary, we have invested a significant amount of time and effort in our front yard in the last month.

So why does it look like this?

Because sometimes things get messy in life. It is as simple as that.

First World Moment

Have you ever had a First World moment?

I found myself getting frustrated tonight because I had to clean out the washing machine’s filter and everything didn’t go exactly to plan. I had to re-do and re-tighten and then there was a setting off that I didn’t know about. And there was some smelly water involved, to boot.

It was a pain in the butt for nearly 20 minutes. (Maybe a little less.)

And sitting watching the laundry roll around the drum I realized how entitled and whiny I was being. There are people in my community who went to bed hungry tonight, and I was acting frustrated that I had to spend 20 minutes taking care of one of my luxuries.

It wasn’t so much a humbling thought as a humiliating one.

Look, I know I can’t save the world and I don’t feel guilty that I have a washing machine … or all the other things in my house that would be considered luxuries to some (including the house). God has blessed my family and I am thankful for that.

But I need to do a better job of not being such a putz about it.