The Moment in Time When Nick Sirianni’s Eagles Were Changed Forever.
Shortly after you absorb that euphoric feeling of your team winning a Super Bowl — you immediately want to feel it again. Not fifteen minutes after Tom Brady’s final Hail Mary Pass in Super Bowl LII fell short in the end zone — the priority shifted from celebration to preservation. What would it take for the Eagles to return to claim another Lombardi Trophy?
The wait for another shot at NFL immortality wasn’t as quick as initially wished for, but wasn’t as long as it could have been. With the departure of Doug Pederson and ushering out of former quarterback Carson Wentz — whose own ego had prevented him from reaching greatness in Philadelphia— the Eagles were focused into a re-tooling. Just two years after the Eagles hired 39-year old coach Nick Sirianni and committed to 23-year-old quarterback Jalen Hurts — the Eagles whose seemed like its bold offense could never be stopped from scoring — were back in the Super Bowl once again.
When the Eagles advanced to Super Bowl LVII and powered their way to a 24–14 lead through two quarters — it looked as thought not even a short halftime to regroup could save Andy Reid’s Chiefs and a hobbled Patrick Mahomes.
During that fifteen minute window — with Rhianna crescendoing her greatest hits on a stage at the 50-yard line — something happened to the Eagles. Perhaps it was arrogance, overconfidence, or inexperience. Perhaps it was a feeling that they were better than the game itself. Perhaps it was a combination of all of these.
What happened during the next 30 minutes was that a Head Coach, once skewered in Philadelphia for nearly fourteen years for not being able to make in-game adjustments — flipped the script on the Eagles. He gave his injured quarterback quick throws, attacked the Eagles defense in different ways, and contained Philly’s devastating offensive attack.
The team that wins the second half wins the game. That is exactly what happened.
Nick Sirianni’s Eagles never recovered from that moment. Even when the Eagles were eking out wins at 10–1 last season, something didn’t look right. When they went 1–6 the rest of the way, something certainly didn’t.
Many people didn’t want Nick Sirianni back this season. But making a convincing argument to stay — he did. At an early bye week, the Eagles are 2–2. They return from Tampa after yet another shellacking to a team that cleary doesn’t have a talent level equal to Philadelphia.
Since 2016 — the Eagles have spent too much time purging themselves of coaches and players who utilize arrogance as a defining quality. The last coach and franchise quarterback to try to plow forward driven by this sense left the Eagles in an eventual re-build.
For the Eagles to return to the euphoric feeling of the NFC Championship Game win against the 49ers in 2023, it will take an adjustment of this team back to good fundamental football as well a new approach for one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses.
So far in 2024 — I don’t see it.
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