Eagles HC blames Patriots defense for Dallas Goedert's lack of targets

The Philadelphia Eagles came up with a 25-20 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. It was an overall underwhelming performance by the Eagles' offense led by Jalen Hurts, who 22 of 33 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown. With steady rain throughout the game, Hurts kept the ball on the […]

Kelsey Kramer — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer

Sep 11, 2023 12:00 PM EDT

The Philadelphia Eagles came up with a 25-20 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

It was an overall underwhelming performance by the Eagles' offense led by Jalen Hurts, who 22 of 33 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown.

With steady rain throughout the game, Hurts kept the ball on the ground for the most part. When Hurts did throw it, he unintentionally ignored star tight end Dallas Goedert.

In fact, Goedert was only targeted once during the entire game… and not until the fourth quarter. But when the ball did go in his direction, it was uncatchable.

After the game, head coach Nick Sirianni addressed Goedert's lack of targets, crediting the Patriots' defense.

"This reminds me a lot of last year against the Lions," Sirianni said in his post-game presser. "Smitty had no catches against the Lions last year. This year, it was Dallas. We can't go a game without getting him the football. He's too good of a playmaker but there are some things that the Patriots did that made it difficult for us to be able to get him some quick, easy touches.

"That happens, and so some of the plays that you think you can get easy touches for your guys quick don't necessarily happen for your backs and tight ends when you play a Patriots-style defense. So again, hats off to them. They made it hard for us to get the ball to our playmakers, and that's what a defense like that usually does is try to take away your good playmakers. So we had to get it to the other guys."

Sure, the Patriots defense played well, but there were several times when Goedert was wide open and Hurts looked elsewhere.

At one point, Goedert even looked frustrated.

I think Dallas Goedert is getting frustrated? pic.twitter.com/NdPDFchCIf
— Brian vs The Books? (@brianvsthebooks) September 10, 2023

Regardless of logging zero catches for zero yards in Week 1, Goedert was a good sport about it.

"A win is a win and that is really tough to do in this league, so I’m really happy with the way everyone played," Goedert after the game. "The benefit for me is that I get to be in there for run game, and take my frustrations out on the defensive ends and linebackers, so I had a lot of fun playing out there today.

"It was great team win for us and a lot of fun. We got great people all over this field, so maybe next week will be my week, and if not, I'll just keep chopping away until it comes.”