Nick Sirianni deserves credit for the Eagles’ physicality in beating the Ravens. He may also deserve a contract extension.
Sirianni has prepared this Eagles team well and gotten the players to believe, with Jalen Hurts now speaking to how the head coach has evolved.
BALTIMORE — Nick Sirianni has been known to gloat a time or two after a big win. But the furthest the coach would go in boasting after the Eagles bloodied the Ravens, 24-19, on Sunday was to correct the phrasing of the first postgame question he faced.
How do you think you matched the Ravens’ physicality?
“They had to match ours,” Sirianni said. “We know we’re a physical team. We know they’re a physical team, and that was our message going in, that they got to match our physicality. …
“I’d like the question rephrased a little differently.”
Fair enough. Sirianni earned the right to tout his squad’s tough-bodied and -minded performance against one of the AFC’s more physical teams. But what might have been more noteworthy about his response — and, overall, his temperament after toppling Lamar Jackson & Co. — was how it was relatively muted.
Sirianni is maturing. And while it may seem odd to write that about a 43-year-old man at the height of his profession, it’s not as weird as hearing his 26-year-old quarterback say essentially the same thing.
“He’s been growing. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Jalen Hurts said. “And everyone has to be able to evolve as the season goes on. And I think he’s been able to evolve in the betterment of helping the team.”
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Hurts’ comments about Sirianni when asked about his role in the Eagles’ eight-game winning streak seemed sincere. He offered more detail when asked for specifics. But it should go without saying how instrumental the coach has been in turning the season around after a 2-2 start.
Sirianni has been at the controls for everything the Eagles have done since the bye. He took the advice of his offensive linemen and shifted the offense to a run-oriented system that emphasized Saquon Barkley and his blockers. He gave Vic Fangio the freedom to alter his personnel even if it might come at the expense of high-priced pieces.
And he fostered a culture in which players are not only held accountable for their errors, but also one in which they can express themselves.
“Nick’s a great communicator,” Eagles tackle Lane Johnson said. “And I think when a man as the head coach can admit when there’s mistakes made, both as a team or anybody individually, he learns how to grow from it, learn from it, face criticism head on.
“He sets a great example.”
And the Eagles’ latest victory, which moved them to 10-2 and still one game behind the 11-1 Lions in the race for the NFC’s top seed, was full of examples of why Sirianni deserves as much credit as anyone.
From scheming a game on both sides of the ball that was fought in the trenches, to not losing the turnover battle, to his game management and fourth-down decisions, Sirianni out-coached his counterpart, John Harbaugh.
A year ago, the Eagles’ collapse started in Week 13. Two weeks prior to getting demolished by the 49ers, Sirianni taunted Chiefs fans after an upset in Kansas City. In October, he acted similarly toward Eagles fans at Lincoln Financial Field after a less-than-inspiring win over the Browns.
It spoke to the amount of pressure Sirianni might have been feeling. But he’s dialed down his emotions since. He said he got a warning for running too far down the sidelines to celebrate Barkley’s 25-yard game-sealing touchdown at M&T Bank Stadium, but Sirianni is one step closer to exorcising last season’s demons.
“Last year’s over. We don’t care about last year,” Sirianni said. “We learned what we needed to learn from last year and what we needed to do off of that. And this year is a different group of guys, a different group.
“This is a different team that’s jelling and meshing on all cylinders right now. But with that being said, you’re only as good as your last game.”
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The Eagles can relish in the moment for 24 hours, though, especially their defense. They spotted the Ravens nine points after their first two drives as heavyweight running back Derrick Henry ran roughshod over the Birds.
But after rushing for 38 yards on his first six carries (6.3 average), Henry was held to just 44 yards on 13 tries (3.4 avg.) after the Ravens’ first two possessions. The Eagles defense made him earn every inch and when Jackson dumped a third-down pass to him short of sticks in the fourth quarter, rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean upended the 250-pound back.
“If you missed that, go replay your TV, man,” Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter said. “That [expletive] was crazy. But yeah, that was a good [expletive] hit for my boy.”
Carter, nose tackle Jordan Davis and the D-line, on the other hand, harassed Jackson, who often dropped in the last three quarters only to find no one open vs. Fangio’s deep zones. When the quarterback checked down, linebackers Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean and safeties C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship rallied and punished ballcarriers.
They were sure-handed in their tackling because that’s how Sirianni has prepared them.
“We’re in full pads in practice and that’s something that we embrace,” Davis said. “Because, when you do that in practice, you don’t have any choice in the game, you have to be a physical player.”
On offense, the Eagles got off to another slow start. But play caller Kellen Moore didn’t shy away from handing the ball off to Barkley, even when the Ravens dominated possession in the third quarter.
It helped that Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker missed two field goals and that the Eagles still held a 14-12 lead into the fourth quarter. But when Barkley ran behind pulling left tackle Jordan Mailata and into the next level before scoring a 25-yard touchdown with just over eight minutes left, Moore’s patience was rewarded.
“You just don’t quit,” Eagles guard Landon Dickerson said. “Even though they had a good defense against our rushing offense, you just keep going after it, and it’s kind of just seeing who taps out first.”
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The Eagles’ roster is full of tough guys from top to bottom, and general manager Howie Roseman warrants praise for assembling a group with high-character players who won’t quit. But it’s Sirianni who’s gotten them to believe.
It’s Sirianni who has nurtured a relationship with the quarterback who isn’t exactly the easiest to please. He takes all the bullets for Hurts, week-in, week-out. Last Sunday, the late first-half shenanigans were partly because the quarterback checked to a draw that wasn’t the right call at that time.
But Sirianni blamed himself. Meanwhile in Chicago, coach Matt Eberflus was fired a day after he mangled the last minute of a loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving. He acquitted himself and pointed blame toward quarterback Caleb Williams.
“His approach, his patience in certain moments,” Hurts said when asked why Sirianni has evolved this season. “I think it’s his ability to dive in and kind of get the real detail of things, so he can better prepare us to do what we do. I know he’s very intentional with the time he spends on the situations.”
Some have ridiculed the CEO-type coach for not having direct involvement in scheme, but he’s responsible for the entire product. He’s gotten criticism for his game management, but his aggressiveness has benefitted the Eagles far more than it’s hurt them in his four seasons.
He may spend more time on fourth-down decision-making than any coach in the NFL. On Sunday, he punted early on fourth-and-2 when the analytics may have suggested going for it in that scenario. But Braden Mann’s 58-yard punt inside the 1-yard line subsequently made him look like a genius.
In the fourth quarter as the Eagles went into four-minute offense mode, Sirianni gambled on fourth-and-1 at the 30-yard line with just over five minutes left when a field goal would have put the Eagles up by two scores.
But he went for it with the reliable Hurts Tush Push, and the Eagles burned an additional four minutes off the clock before Jake Elliott booted a 35-yard field goal.
The Eagles have five games left. They have the playoffs, which they’re close to clinching. And if you believe a recent story in The Athletic, the Super Bowl, that owner Jeffrey Lurie believes the Eagles have a roster built to win.
That may suggest that Sirianni has to win a title to return for a fifth season. Lurie could eliminate any speculation about his coach’s future by extending his coach’s contract which expires after the 2025 season.
Sirianni has only compiled a 44-19 record and a winning percentage (.698) that ranks sixth all-time. He’s only made the postseason in each of his first three seasons and is close to a fourth. And he has players that have followed his lead every step of the way, even after the occasional misstep.
“Drama sells in the media or on social media or whatever,” Dickerson said. “So if you write just a plain Jane story, then nobody’s buying it. But we’ve never had a doubt.”