Don’t bet on the Eagles’ Nick Sirianni to be the NFL coach of the year

Nick Sirianni’s done a terrific job turning around the Eagles after a 2-5 start. Know who else started 2-5 this season? The Jets (currently 4-12), Giants (4-12), Seattle (6-10), and Washington (6-10).

Even though the Eagles are 9-7 and have clinched a playoff berth, Sirianni’s not going to be the NFL’s coach of the year. He’s had a good run, but it’s a three-man race if BetMGM odds boards are any indication.

Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur and Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor sit on top at +160, with Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel at +350. Vrabel has the Titans on the verge of being the AFC’s No. 1 seed despite not having Derrick Henry for half the season. Additionally, top receiver A.J. Brown missed a month with a chest injury.

» READ MORE: Hayes vs. Sielski: Nick Sirianni didn’t overachieve as the Eagles’ rookie coach

Sirianni is sixth on the list at +4000. The longest shots on the board, at 100-1, are the Chargers’ Brandon Staley, and Miami’s Brian Flores. Brian Flores?

Where Sirianni is paying off is among the preseason optimistic Eagles fans who took over their projected win total of 6.5 wins. A victory on Saturday night would give the Birds 10 wins and tie the team record for most wins by a first-year coach with Nick Skorich, Rich Kotite, Ray Rhodes, and Chip Kelly. Skorich won his 10 games in a 14-game season. Kotite, Rhodes and Kelly’s seasons were 16 games. Sirianni has the benefit of the first 17-game season.

Cincinnati has exceeded its preseason win total by the largest margin. The Seahawks came up the smallest. Here are the top discrepancies for preseason win totals vs. current win totals.

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The Eagles have lost their last three games when Ronald Torbert has been the lead official, though his crew cannot be blamed for the Birds’ dismal performance in their Week 12 loss at the Giants, 13-7. Jalen Hurts had three interceptions, Boston Scott lost a fumble late in the fourth quarter, and Jalen Reagor had two disappointing drops. The Eagles, however, have not lost since.

» READ MORE: Former Eagles still cherish their place on the All-Madden team

Torbert, a 1988 Harvard Law School grad, has been an official since 2010 and a referee since 2014. His crew calls 10.13 penalties per game, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com, slightly less than the 12.05 league average.

Last season, the 49ers complained that Torbert was unable to blow his whistle in time to prevent a late hit on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo because his COVID-19 protective facemask got in the way. Fortunately, Garoppolo wasn’t injured, making this one more footnote in these last two bizarre seasons.

FanDuel has a couple of interesting midweek parlays tied into NFL awards, though the odds aren’t always great. The favorites to win five of the major awards – Aaron Rodgers (MVP), T.J. Watt (Defensive Player of the Year), Ja’Marr Chase (Offensive Rookie of the Year), Micah Parsons (Defensive ROY), and Dak Prescott (Comeback POY) – is +150.

Rodgers is a huge favorite to win the MVP at -400. The Packers are +380 to win the Super Bowl. But FanDuel is offering a parlay of Rodgers winning regular-season MVP and Green Bay to win the Super Bowl at odds of +450. That’s a decent bump since Rodgers almost surely has cemented his part of the deal.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ ‘ultimate pro’ Greg Ward making the most of his limited chances

Via BetMGM/As of Wednesday afternoon

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Jalen Reagor doesn’t mind fans booing him: ‘It shows that they’re paying attention’

» READ MORE: Former Eagles GM Joe Banner: Jalen Hurts has exceeded expectations, but his season grade will be ‘incomplete’

Chiefs (-10) at Broncos (44.5), 4:30 p.m.: Denver quarterback Drew Lock has started 18 drives over the past two games. He’s led the Broncos to two touchdowns. One of them when Denver started on Oakland’s 1-yard line after an interception. The pick: KC has a chance to nail down at least the No. 2 seed with a win, which gets them a second home playoff game. KC to cover the 10.

Cowboys (-7) at Eagles (42.5), 8:15 p.m.: I’m with Marcus Hayes here. The Eagles should rest their regulars. The difference between a 7-seed and a 6-seed isn’t worth it. The pick: We grabbed the line early at -7, so tease the Cowboys down from -7 to -1. That line however has moved to Dallas -4.5, which is better for the Cowboys side.

» READ MORE: Let’s not freak out: If the Eagles’ starters can suit up, they should

Colts (-15.5) at Jaguars (44.5), 1 p.m.: The Colts have lost six in a row in Jacksonville, but have been pretty good this year on the road with wins at Buffalo and Arizona. The pick: We’ll take the Jags getting all those points. When they played in Indy back in November, Jacksonville had the ball with under a minute left and a chance to win. They screwed it up, of course, but still covered the 10.5-point spread.

49ers (44.5) at Rams (-4.5), 4:25 p.m.: The Niners got Elijah Mitchell back last week (119 rushing yards) and might get Jimmy Garoppolo back this week. They’ve also won five in a row in this series. The pick: Close that Cowboys teaser with the 49ers, taking them from +4.5 to +10.5.

Chargers (-3) at Raiders (49.5), 8:20 p.m.: An Indy loss would mean that BOTH of these teams would get into the playoffs with a tie. An Indy win would mean that only the winner of this game gets in. The pick: In the Chargers’ last three road games, they won at Cincinnati (good) but lost at Denver (ugh) and Houston (double ugh). Raiders with the points.

Last week: 2-3. Season: 17-6.

» READ MORE: How the selfishness of Carson Wentz, Kirk Cousins, and Antonio Brown helped the Eagles

Christian Eriksen, the Danish forward who was revived on the field after suffering a cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 match, told Denmark TV DR1 that he intends to play in the 2022 World Cup in November.

Coming into the week, Brazil (+550), France (+600), and England (+700) were atop the odds board at DraftKings. Denmark was at +2800, while the United States was +6500.