It feels like only yesterday that Nick Sirianni sat down in front of a crowded room of reporters to field his first wave of questions as the Eagles‘ Head Coach. It didn’t take long for media and fans alike to jump on the way he carried himself. The passion was mistaken for bumbling nerves, his excitement misplaced for a lack of conviction. But one Super Bowl berth, 3 playoff appearances, and endless bumps and bruises later, and he appears a very different man.
Eagles survive a clash with the Browns…but Nick Sirianni goes off
The Eagles scraped past the Cleveland Browns this past weekend, climbing out of the Bye to a 3-2 record, but the win was hardly convincing. Cleveland is now 1-5 on the season, its quarterback hasn’t surpassed the 200-yard mark all season, and the team appears in a state of disarray. A 4-point victory while only scoring 20 against a team that ranked dead last in ‘yards per play’, was hardly the need for a joyous celebration…but that didn’t stop Sirianni from riling up the fans shortly after A.J Browns game-sealing catch.
Nick Sirianni walked past his players and began to shout at the fans, presumably his own given it was a home game, signalling that he couldn’t hear them after guiding his team to a big win. It’s not like they just beat the Bucs in the playoffs. The Eagles didn’t just unseat the Chiefs, or the Vikings. They beat the lowly Cleveland Browns, and while passion is always good to see, this just felt…over the top.
“I was having fun and I kind of got some feedback from the guys of the sense of, ‘We need you back, Nick. We need your energy. We need your focus.’ I got that from a couple players.” Nick Sirianni said (via BGN).
When I’m operating, having fun, I think that that breeds to the rest of the football team. If I want the guys to celebrate and be themselves after big plays, then I should probably do that myself, right?”
The former Colts’ offensive coordinator also walked into this weekend sporting a new look. A shaved head was probably the last thing Eagles fans were expecting to see from their Head Coach on Sunday, presenting a much sterner look to a typically warm and encouraging leader. A sign of the times? Perhaps.
That wasn’t the biggest concern
His postgame press conference was also a strange affair. Many are pointing to the fact that Nick Sirianni brought his kids to the podium (something he’s done on multiple occasions now) as something to get angry over, but it’s the tone of his responses that stand out and are being completely overlooked.
Sirianni audibly swore during a presser with his kids present: ‘the defense started fast as sh*t’
There was a question asked (but the mic levels were poor so I can’t work out what it was, but Nick Sirianni’s response was cagey:
‘I guess that means we didn’t work at all at it’. ‘Ya’ll are making a big deal about it. We’ll figure it out, we’ll fix it. You guys have a job to do and will fixate on one thing and say ‘they haven’t started fast’, but we’ll do everything we can to fix it.’
A few seconds later, the intensity heightened. ‘The defense started their asses off. He began to exclaim…three times in fact.
This is simply not the same cadence we’ve seen from Nick Sirianni during his time in Philadelphia up to this point and is highly reminiscent of what we saw from Doug Pederson during the 2018 collapse. A once-fun Head Coach in pressers who would crack jokes and remain upbeat, suddenly changes his demanor and gives cagey responses while the alarm bells around him continue to ring.
It’s interesting to draw the parallels between the two. Both Head Coaches started out with a young quarterback and rapidly ascended the NFL heirarchy, culminating in a Super Bowl appearance before the wheels started to wobble and the pressure began to mount.
While it would be difficult to insist on this team mirroring that same trajectory, they’re only a few steps away from the knife edge, and the Head Coach has raised more questions than answers following a win, distracting from what ultimately should be seen as marginal success.
It will be very intriguing to see how the Eagles fare over the coming weeks, especially considering a clash with Doug Pederson lies on the horizon…but the more time passes, the more red flags continue to emerge…and there’s only so far a balloon can be blown until it bursts.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
