The master of analogies was back at it following the Philadelphia Eagles’ 41-21 loss in Dallas. First, he took the blame for one of the worst defeats in recent memory. Then the dual-threat quarterback compared it to flushing poop down the drain.
Wait, what? Losing reminds Hurts of sitting on the porcelain throne? Apparently, yes.
“You take you a deuce, you don’t sit there and look at it,” Hurts told reporters. “You flush it and move on. We gonna flush it and move on.”
It makes a lot of sense when you really dive into it. And, of course, the originator of the quote was one of the greatest athletes to ever play any sport: Kobe Bryant. The Los Angeles Lakers legend — card-carrying Eagles fan, plus Philly native — included the anecdote during a speech to the Eagles in 2017.
Zach Ertz put the interesting quote into context in a 2020 interview with The Athletic’s Zach Berman:
“I will never forget this line,” Ertz said. “He said, ‘What do you do when you take a shit? Do you stare at it? Or do you flush it? You flush it and move on.’”
On the sideline during games, Ertz tells himself to “flush it” after a forgettable play. He gives young players the same advice.
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Nick Sirianni Explains Decision to Abandon Run
Nick Sirianni’s decision to abandon the running game in Week 3 left everyone confused. Yes, the Eagles were down by double digits for long stretches but keeping the defense off-balance should be a priority. Sirianni was billed as a coach who liked to run it, or at least use it to set up the pass.
Sirianni called three designed runs, not including the nine freelance scrambles from Hurts. Miles Sanders ran twice for 27 yards (13.5 yards per carry) and Kenneth Gainwell ran once for two yards. That was it.
“The first half, just with how that went — those [rush] numbers get skewed at times,” Sirianni told reporters. “I know they are what they are, but when you don’t have that many plays in the first half, whether that’s because you have penalties that stop drives, defense was on the field quite a bit, and then you’re in a position in the second half where you’re down two scores the whole time.”
Penalties: ‘Gotta Get That Fixed’
The Eagles were supposed to be one of the most disciplined teams in the NFL. Well, it hasn’t worked out that way. Not at all. They have been flagged for a league-high 35 times after picking up 13 more on Monday night, with 11 of them coming on pre-snap plays. Sirianni’s team has been docked 232 yards (second-worst) while accumulating 37 flags on 456 total plays.
“We gotta get that fixed,” Sirianni told reporters. “The ones that you don’t like and the ones that are most troublesome are the pre-snap penalties. We gotta take care of that, that’s just us being disciplined and we gotta go back to work and get better at that. It’s obviously unacceptable and we’re all in this together. It starts with me and it’s unacceptable on my part. We’ve got too many penalties.”
The Eagles already set the NFL record for most penalties through three games. They are also on pace to commit 192 penalties, which would break the NFL record for most penalties in a season set by the Oakland Raiders in 2011 (163). Yikes.
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