Getty Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.
Questions swirled for the Eagles coming into the Week 18.
Jeff Kerr of CBS News Philadelphia, amongst many other fans and analysts, wondered if they should sit the starters for the game against the Giants and focus on getting healthy for the playoffs. The argument was that, win or lose, the Eagles, at worst, would play the winner of the NFC South, arguably the worst division in football.
Instead, head coach Nick Sirianni said the Eagles would “do whatever we need to do to win the game,” and now it’s gotten so bad the media — specifically Craig Carton — is literally calling the head coach “stupid.”
“Here’s the problem that you guys have to acknowledge: Nick Sirianni’s stupid. That’s the reality. That is going to cost the Philadelphia Eagles.”
Yes, it’s true. After Carton and hosts Emmanuel Acho, David Jacoby and Willie Colon point out the Eagles’ refusal to run the ball and the key injuries they now face to QB Jalen Hurts and star WR A.J. Brown, Carton concludes the segment flat-out calling Sirianni “stupid.”
Carton even goes on to say, “Nick Sirianni might be the dumbest human being to be on an NFL sideline come mid-January.”
Eagles Fans Have a Myriad of Reasons to be Frustrated
Whether it’s not sitting the starters or not running the football or bad play calling, there’s been plenty of reason for fans to be frustrated with this team. Starting 10-1, the Eagles have now lost five of their last six games.
There was a surprise midseason change at defensive coordinator. Fans protested at the entrance to the NovaCare Complex with trash cans to represent players and coaches by name. The birds are officially in a tailspin of historic proportions.
The team has been flailing, desperately searching for a galvanizing moment before the playoffs, which makes Sirianni’s choice to send out the starters in Week 18 make sense, but the gamble didn’t pay off.
Now, the Eagles will have to face the Buccaneers in a Monday Night Wild Card playoff matchup with a quarterback with a dislocated finger. Their star wide receivers, DeVonta Smith and Brown have both been banged up, and possibly even more concerning, the Eagles’ defense still hasn’t sorted itself out.
At halftime, the Eagles were already down 24-0 in Week 18. Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweeted a quote from the press conference following the game where Sirianni said, “You want to flush it. You want to flush the last month. But you want to learn from it.”
Nick Sirianni on explaining the #Eagles’ first half performance:
“You want to flush it. You want to flush the last month. But you want to learn from it.”
Sirianni’s Biggest Gambles Have Failed Miserably
It’s very possible that like he’s said himself, Sirianni is putting all he has into this 2023 season, but this recent gamble of putting in the starters didn’t work and neither has the defensive coaching change.
Emmanuel Acho actually did his own personal dissection of the Eagles defense from Week 18. In several cuts, he shows exactly how dropping Hasaan Reddick and Josh Sweat, the Eagles’ sacks leaders, back into coverage isn’t working.
Eagles fans breakout your vomit bags because this is disgusting, but yall deserve to know what’s going on with this defense.
Watch & Share!
On Thursday, January 4, Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP posted, about the Week 17 matchup with the Cardinals, saying, “Haason Reddick dropped back into coverage 7 times against Arizona, easily the most of the season.”
In the clip attached to the post, the Eagles vet is very careful with his words about his usage, but one can’t help but wonder if there’s a disconnect between players and coaches after this many games with Patricia holding the reins.
Haason Reddick dropped back into coverage 7 times against Arizona, easily the most of the season
He said he is doing what the team is asking of him to help them get a win:
This dissection of the defense is of course just coming a few weeks after Christian McCaffrey exposed how easy the offense was to predict live on air during the Manningcast. There’s been a lot of embarrassment to go around.
Nick Sirianni’s Job Appears Safe, But for How Long?
After the Eagles went 14-1 to start 2022, reaching the Super Bowl, then starting this season 10-1, it makes sense that ESPN’s Adam Schefter would be reporting that “Sirianni’s job is safe” right now. How well this team does in the playoffs could decide how much leash he has going into 2024, though.
Nick Sirianni’s job is safe, according to @AdamSchefter.
“They’ve gone to the playoffs in three of three years. You’re not firing a coach that has gone to the playoffs every year he’s coached that team.”
📸Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
The third-year coach has to hope his team becomes a manifestation of the words he said after losing to this 6-11 Giants team in humiliating fashion. As reported by Heavy’s Matt Lambardo, Sirianni said, “None of us are quitters…We all get up off the mat when we’re down and we get up and we keep going.
“When you get hit in life, when you get hit in football, you’ve got two options: you can stay down, or you can get you can get up. I know this group is fighters, I know this group will get up. I know that we’ve all been through things in our life that we’ve all had to deal with (expletive), and we know how to get up.”
Hopefully, it’s speeches like this that are remembered after the Eagles turn it around and put the NFL world on notice in the playoffs this year. Otherwise, Sirianni’s time with the Eagles might be best summed up by his first-ever presser.
Here’s a reminder of how well that went.