The Philadelphia Eagles were left for dead on October 24. Following an embarrassing 33-22 loss in Las Vegas – the score reads a lot closer than that game was – people wanted head coach Nick Sirianni gone. The team was 2-5 and headed nowhere.
Then the Eagles looked themselves in the mirror on the long plane ride back to Philly. Rodney McLeod talked about having tough conversations. Jason Kelce no doubt gave a speech, too. They are 6-2 since that soul-searching flight.
“We were pretty down after the game, and a lot of us had conversations on the flight,” McLeod told reporters in late October. “Complaining and making excuses is not going to get it done. That’s been our mindset all week as leaders on this team. The guys have rallied behind it and showed up ready to work.”
Rodney McLeod says the team took last week’s loss really hard. They had some heart-to-heart conversations on the plane ride back from Las Vegas. #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
The Eagles are two wins away from clinching a postseason berth. They can nab a playoff spot in Week 17 if they beat Washington and a few other chips fall their way. Philly needs the Green Bay Packers to beat the Minnesota Vikings, then either the San Francisco 49ers need to topple the Houston Texans or the Carolina Panthers have to defeat the New Orleans Saints.
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Nick Sirianni Getting Coach of the Year Calls
The Eagles’ amazing turnaround has people calling for Nick Sirianni to win NFL Coach of the Year. Not crazy basement bloggers but credible journalists. The first-year head coach has proven he can control the locker room against all odds. That flower speech turned out to be prophetic.
Pro Football Talk thinks Sirianni should get consideration for Coach of the Year. Ditto for some folks over at SportsRadio 94WIP. And The Athletic laid out their case.
If the Eagles make the playoffs, Nick Sirianni should get consideration for coach of the year. He has figured out his teams strengths and played to them.
Perhaps the most compelling argument to date has come from Rueben Frank at NBC Sports Philadelphia. The chorus is growing louder and louder.
“He’s been brilliant,” Frank wrote. “The job he’s done not only keeping this team together but guiding them within reach of a playoff berth has been nothing less than phenomenal. This team was dead.”
How we feeling after another win Coach Sirianni??
“Once again I am an offensive genius & guru.. I am a great Coach & should be Coach of the Year” ~@tyschmit
Letting Those Flowers Grow (Again)
It takes a real man to double down on a quote that was wildly mocked around the league. Sirianni did it. He told reporters earlier this week that the team had to let their “flower roots grow” to continue on this playoff trajectory. Love to see it.
“It is our detail in walk-through and our full speed to the snap in walk-through, and our detail in meetings, starting with the coaches and then to the players,” Sirianni said on December 27. “And if you can be in this trajectory, or if you will, let your roots grow, your flower roots grow, right?
“I’m not thinking when the outside world might be thinking about playoffs, I’m thinking about how I’m going to get better today to get better tomorrow, the next day, the next day, so we can go 1-0 this week. It’s just staying in the moment and going a little bit at a time.”
Nick Sirianni doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that the Eagles and Colts have had similar trajectory this season. He credits the program he picked up from Frank Reich that gets teams peaking late in the year.
“If you can let your flower roots grow…” Sirianni said with a smile.
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Eagles’ Nick Sirianni Getting Calls for Major NFL Award