On an Eagles team with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith as wide receivers, the tight end might not feel like an urgent priority.
Unless your tight end is Dallas Goedert, who has developed into one of the NFL’s best at that position.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni has said many times that his passing offense runs through those three players. Not one or two — all three. He always includes Goedert.
Goedert is one of the cool kids.
“We showed a clip yesterday from ‘Friday Night Lights’ and they were explaining Dallas Carter [High, an upcoming state playoff opponent for Permian High, the show’s protagonists],” Sirianni said after the Eagles defeated the Texans, 29-17, Thursday night, to improve their record to 8-0.
“And he [Permian coach] said: ‘They’re big, they’re fast, they’re mean, they’re strong. And they’re fast.’
“The guy [from Permian] was explaining … about Dallas Carter is and that’s a good explanation of who Dallas Goedert is. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he’s mean, he’s fast.
“And that’s why he’s so productive. You’re just seeing his game elevate.
“I hope what everyone is seeing on these nationally televised games is what we see every day in practice and what we’ve seen consistently the past two years — that Dallas Goedert deserves attention for being one of the best tight ends in the NFL.”
BIG TARGET
Goedert was targeted nine times against the Texans. The 27-year-old, a 2018 second-round pick from South Dakota State, is a big target at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds. He had eight receptions for 100 yards.
Check this: Six of the receptions resulted in first downs. One did not. The other? A touchdown — a 4-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter that increased the Eagles’ uncomfortable, 21-17 lead.
The score was tied at halftime, 14-14. In the second half, Goedert had five receptions on five targets. He had four of the Eagles’ nine longest plays.
- “Every time my number gets called, I want to make the play,” Goedert said. “Just go to show the different things our offense can do, the different things the coaches can do because of all the good players we have on our team.
- “Anytime I can get a target, have an opportunity to make a play, that’s ultimately why you play this game. It feels good when the ball is coming your way and you can make plays.”
The Eagles’ offense is ranked third in the league. They have a variety of ways to move the ball and a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who can run and throw with great effectiveness.
Goedert is right in the middle of all of it.
- “You want to be as multiple as you can to defend,” Sirianni said. “That’s the deep game, that’s the intermediate game, that’s the short game, that’s the screen game, that’s the run game, that’s the different things off the run.
- “We always want to do what we do best. There’s no doubt in the deep game, A.J. is a special threat …
- “It’s Jalen just seeing the field well, it’s receivers making plays open, it’s the offensive line protecting. It takes everybody … It just speaks to the development of Jalen and the passing game.”
LONG DRIVES
The Eagles had four touchdown drives against the Texans. The drives:
- 83 yards on 18 plays in 8:04
- 79 yards on 10 plays in 5:32
- 17 yards on two plays (after the C.J. Gardner-Johnson interception) in nine seconds
- 75 yards on 10 plays in 4:53
“We’re always looking for the big plays, the explosive plays, but sometimes the defense it plays soft and doesn’t let us get it,” Goedert said.
“We did a great job just finding ways to move the chains. Shoot, 18 plays, 10 plays, all that stuff just kinda shows how dominant we can be.”
When you control the ball like the Eagles did, you are controlling the line of scrimmage and likely the game. The Eagles had a good balance with 31 runs and 27 passes.
- “A little bit of everything [was working],” Goedert said. “Miles [Sanders] ran the ball hard in the first half. Had some big runs.
- “Second half, we threw the ball a little bit more. We just got a resilient team, that no matter what happens we’re going to come back out there and try to get the ball in the end zone the next drive.
- “Shoot, I like to say whenever they give me the ball it works for the offense [smile]. It’s just like anything. It doesn’t matter what we call.
- “We got great players on this team. You saw what Jalen did on that third-and-long [ran for 14 yards on a third-and-15] — got us to the fourth down so we could end with the ball in our hands.”
UP NEXT
The Eagles are off until Monday, Nov. 14, when Washington comes to town, albeit without injured quarterback Carson Wentz.
“I feel like we just gotta keep coming out and doing our thing,” Goedert said. “The best part of being 8-0 is the chance to be 9-0 next week.”
