What you might be getting wrong about Brian Johnson

What you might be getting wrong about Brian Johnson originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

At some point in the first quarter Sunday night, I glanced down at my laptop and saw that “FIRE BRIAN JOHNSON” was trending.

And I get that the play selection on the Eagles’ first red-zone trip against the Dolphins was brutal. And when we learned that Jalen Hurts was playing with some sort of knee injury, then the notion of two quarterback draws inside the 20 made even less sense.

But fire Brian Johnson?

Let’s take a look at his body of work.

Through seven games, the Eagles are:

1st in the league with 24 first downs per game2nd on third down at 49 percent2nd with seven plays of 40 yards or more3rd with 389 yards per game4th with 25.6 points per game.

In his first season ever as an NFL offensive coordinator.

Is this is the work of a guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing?

This is one of the hottest starts the Eagles have ever had on offense. And while it hasn’t always been perfect – the red zone is a work in progress, the running game has been hit or miss, the turnovers have been piling up – Johnson has shown a lot of promise in his new role.

Through seven games last year under Shane Steichen – who’s the best play caller I’ve ever seen – the Eagles’ offense was averaging 27.0 points, 395 yards, 46 percent on 3rd down and 32:48 time of possession.

Through seven games this year, they’re at 25.6 points, 389 yards, 49 percent on 3rd down and 35:04 time of possession.

Way too often around here our expectations of new people in new roles are unrealistic. You know “FIRE NICK SIRIANNI” was trending a few weeks into 2021. You know what people said about Jalen Hurts when he was a 22-year-old rookie trying to find his way.

Things take time. Dawk didn’t make a Pro Bowl till his fourth season. Neither did Jason Kelce. People wanted to fire both Frank Reich and Jim Schwartz in 2016. Heck, people wanted to send Dick Vermeil back to UCLA when he went 18-26 his first three years here.

What I see in Brian Johnson is a guy who’s learning his personnel, who’s developing a feel for how to attack defenses, who trying to find the right run-pass balance, who’s doing a lot of good things along the way.

And while he’s learning like any other new coordinator and play caller, he’s got this offense humming between the 20s. The Eagles are averaging 6.2 yards per play between the 20-yard-lines – 2nd-best in the league behind the Dolphins, who they just beat.

Inside the 20 has been pretty bad, but I keep coming back to this: The Eagles are tied with the Chiefs for the most red-zone possessions in the league. So when they do start converting at a higher rate – and they were 4-for-5 Sunday night – they’re going to start piling up a ton of points.

Turnovers are this offense’s other big problem – they have 11, 7th-most in the league – but those aren’t on the play caller.

It’s easy to focus on the spots Johnson has struggled. The play calling at the end of the fourth quarter against Washington. The last couple sequences against the Jets. The early red-zone calls Sunday night.

But the Eagles have the best record in the NFL, the No. 3 offense in the league, an elite offensive line, an MVP runner-up quarterback, the hottest wide receiver we’ve ever seen around these parts, the NFL’s No. 5 rushing attack, a tight end who’s got the 2nd-most yards in the league over the past three weeks and an unstoppable goal-line offense.

I get the frustration because things have looked uneven at times. But tell me an Eagles play caller whose offense was more productive than Johnson’s in his first seven games. You can’t. Obviously, most of them haven’t had this kind of talent, but Johnson is getting a ton out of the talent he has.

If this offense can score this many points when it’s not even operating at peak efficiency yet, what happens when it gets there?

It’ll be scary.

It’s easy to focus on the negatives. It’s easy to look at the flaws. But there’s plenty to like. If you’re not happy where this offense is under Johnson, ask an NFL defensive coordinator if he wants to face the Eagles at 1 o’clock Sunday.

You already know the answer.