Will The Eagles Rally Around A Lambasted Nick Sirianni?
Nick Sirianni is under fire. Not just in Philly, but around the NFL. After his antics on the field, and in the post-game press conference this week, he became a national punching bag. People called him a fool, people called him a clown. Few people around the league have received more ridicule than Nick Sirianni this week.
That is obviously not a great thing. But could it be the kick this team needs? They have not played like a team on fire out of the gate. In fact, they played with some of the same lifelessness we saw last year. Not to say there is not any effort, but they are not living up to their potential. Maybe seeing their head coach drug through the mud will be the kick in the pants they need.
That is what Barrett Brooks thinks will happen. He joined The Best Show Ever on Monday and talked about how while it was not a great look for Sirianni, he thinks it is the type of thing that will get his players fired up.
“I know for a fact the first NFL coach I was under, Ray Rhodes, hated everybody. He gave two fluttering flies about anybody or anyone. He just cared about the people in that locker room. He didn’t care about anything else.
Right now, I think this team is going to circle the wagons around Nick Sirianni. And from this point on, that dog mentality is going to be something we’ll see a lot more of because of that. They’re going to play for that for Nick, best believe that they will play for Nick.“
Will Players Back Up Nick Sirianni?
We already saw some players do that. Brandon Graham stood up for his coach. His former player Jason Kelce stuck up for him. Even Jalen Hurts, whose relationship with Sirianni has been rocky, defended him.
We have also seen pro athletes use much dumber things as motivation. Anybody who followed Michael Jordan’s career knows he invented slights to get that extra motivation. Someone could just look at him and he would make up whole stories in his head to pretend that person had insulted him. To the point “and I took that personally” became a Michael Jordan meme off the back of the ‘Last Dance’ documentary.
A few years ago we saw DK Metcalf twist Jim Schwartz saying that he could be on Calvin Johnson’s level into an insult. We saw the Chiefs pretend like they were underdogs even though they were Super Bowl favorites. Athletes will do anything they can to motivate themselves.
So yeah, the Eagles player could absolutely twist this into a motivating factor. They could see their head coach being called a clown, and rally to support him. Despite the team’s struggles, he does seem to be loved by most of his players. It doesn’t excuse Nick Sirianni’s behavior, but it could turn out well for them.
We will see what kind of impact, if any, it has on them when they play the Giants this weekend. Hopefully, they show more life than they have over the first 5 games, because right now despite an ok 3-2 record, things do not look good for this team.
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6 Numbers That Tell The Story Of The Eagles Lackluster Win Over Browns
A win is a win. We told ourselves that so many times last year, we started to believe it. But those ugly Eagles wins eventually turned into ugly losses. And now it carried into this season despite the new Coordinators and some new faces on the roster. Their latest ugly win came over the Browns.
Related: Eagles Get The Week 6 Win, But Questions Linger On Offense
They did get the win. It is more than you can say about any other team in their division. But squeaking out a win vs the now 1-5 Browns is not going to make anyone feel better. They were 9.5-point favorites over this team. The expectation was that they would demolish them. But this offense, with all the weapons they have, crawled across the finish line, managing just 20 points.
This offense was talented last year. It got even better this year with the addition of Saquon Barkley. Yet somehow it is still underperforming. The Browns’ defense is not Swiss Cheese, but a roster this talented should score more than 20 points.
The defense meanwhile looked great. They allowed just 3 field goals and held the Browns to 244 points. They also finally got pressure, specifically from the edge where both Bryce Huff and Nolan Smith got in on sacks. But it is also the Browns, the worst offense in the league. They deserve credit for doing what they need to do, but it is hard to crown them for doing what every team has done to the Browns.
Still, they got the win and kept themselves in the running for the NFC and the NFC East. With the schedule coming up, they could be 7-2 when they go into the Thursday Night Game vs the Commanders. But they don’t look right, just like they didn’t look right last year when they were 10-1.
So what should we take away? Were there any positive takeaways to be had? How bad are they in the 1st quarter right now?
Here are 6 Numbers That Tell The Story Of The Eagles Lackluster Win Over The Browns
21.2
This Eagles offense should be great. It has the talent to be a top 5 offense. But 5 games in, they look average. They average only 21.2 pts per game. That is 18th in the league. not only are they not a top offense, but they are also a bottom-half offense. They are 10th in yards per game at 366.8. Something is wrong. The talent is there, which makes it a coaching issue. Whether it is Nick or Kellen Moore, they need to get more out of this talented roster. You can say they have missed some of their players, but they had both WRs this week and still struggled to score. If this offense is not elite, this team isn’t winning anything.
