The Linc - In the Super Bowl aftermath, Nick Sirianni “was a man finally unburdened”

Super Bowl LIX: Kansas City Chiefs v Philadelphia Eagles — Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 2/12/25.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Wulf: No one deserved a night like this more than Nick Sirianni and the man who joined him in the end – PHLY
No one had more reason to puff out their chest in the aftermath of Sunday’s 40-22 Super Bowl LIX dismantling than Sirianni. Thirteen months ago, he was left to twist in the wind as the organization weighed whether to retain the head coach who led it to the Super Bowl a season prior. Four months ago, his job status was again the most popular topic in town because of the way he reacted to … a win. Since then, his team won 16 of 17 games and won the Championship Game and Super Bowl by more combined points (50) than all but two teams in NFL history. So yeah, he deserved to peacock a little. Sequestered to the side of the stage with Eagles personnel, cigar glued to his lips, he posed for pictures and hugged acquaintances and strangers alike. He joined the show on stage, popping his wrists on time to T-Pain’s “Buy U a Drank” and proudly singing along to Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative.” He was a man finally unburdened. Only when he embraced pass game coordinator Kevin Patullo did Sirianni seemingly pause to appreciate the magnitude of his accomplishment. As Sirianni’s right-hand man since the moment the head coach landed in Philadelphia, Patullo has a better understanding than anyone of what the last year has been like for Sirianni, from the ego dents on a deeply prideful man to the unjust burden shouldered by his family when Dad is a talk radio lightning rod. Sirianni buried his head in Patullo’s shoulder and let go. It was the kind of hug you see in movies. Until Patullo, ever the Sirianni whisperer, broke the fever with two words that somehow encompass an entire journey.

Eagles vs. Chiefs Super Bowl: 40 winners, 6 losers, and 3 IDKs – BGN
I’m sorry I doubted you, Nick. I absolutely thought you should’ve been fired last year and I struggled to see how you gave the Eagles an edge. But the results speak loudest with you doing nothing but leading the team to wins. Sirianni going from entering this season with his back against the wall to winning the Super Bowl is a pretty wild turnaround. Has to feel really good for him. He’s earned it. The way Sirianni set the tone in this Super Bowl was really important. Going for it on 4th-and-2 at midfield ultimately didn’t work out with A.J. Brown getting called for a BS penalty. But the message was still sent that the Eagles weren’t playing scared. They were out to dominate from the jump.

In Roob’s Observations: How Eagles caught the Athletics after 94 years – NBCSP
2. Head coaches who’ve won at least 70 percent of their games and also won a Super Bowl: John Madden, Vince Lombardi, Nick Sirianni.

The 10 biggest turning points of the Eagles’ Super Bowl season – PhillyVoice
1) Divisional Round vs. Rams: Jalen Carter’s sack and quick pressure on successive plays to end the game. The Eagles mostly walked all over their opponents in the playoffs, with one really tense moment. See that massive spike above in the Rams game? That would be when Matthew Stafford figured out how to deal with the snow and was driving the Rams down the field, threatening to take a late lead. But on a third down, Carter sacked Stafford for a loss of 9. And then on 4th down, he got immediate pressure, forcing a quick Stafford throw that fell harmlessly out of bounds (video via Nick Piccone). Carter saved the Eagles’ season.

What’s Next – Iggles Blitz
It is crazy to think about what the future holds for the Eagles. They just did some historic things and this is a young team. They will bring back the majority of their starters. Sirianni is incredibly competitive. Jalen Hurts is very driven. I don’t think this team will rest on its laurels. Still, you never know how winning it all can change a group of players. The previous SB winning team had some extraordinary circumstances, with the Carson Wentz injury and Nick Foles situation. That made things challenging on everyone involved. This time around should be very different.

Eagles opponents for 2025 NFL season opener, ranked by likelihood – SB Nation
1. Detroit Lions. However, if the league stays true to form, the Detroit Lions seem like the logical choice. For many, Eagles-Lions was going to be the NFC Championship Game this season, until the Commanders went into Detroit and shocked the Lions in the Divisional Round. But there will be plenty of intrigue around Detroit heading into next year, with both Johnson and Aaron Glenn departing to take head coaching jobs. Dan Campbell will get a ton of players back after the team was devastated by injuries this past season, including pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson. If the opening game is not Washington-Philadelphia, then Eagles-Lions seems to be the likely pick.

‘He has the clutch gene’: Eagles had no doubt in QB Jalen Hurts – ESPN
Brown cited two people specifically after making that statement: safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Hurts. “I don’t know how to explain the emotion that Jalen had in his speech,” Brown said. “It was unbelievable. There’s a reason why he won Super Bowl MVP. He’s the best in the world.” Players from that 2022 squad haven’t been shy about the lasting sting of the Super Bowl LVII loss to Kansas City and how it continued to fuel them two years later. Early the following season, a teammate’s livestream during a team function inadvertently showed that Hurts had changed the lock screen on his phone to a picture of him walking off the field following that defeat with the red and gold confetti falling from the sky. It remains his lock screen to this day. Asked whether he’ll change it now that he has a number of celebratory photos to replace it with, Hurts said he may keep it as continued motivation to get back to another Super Bowl. After all, the story of Hurts’ triumphs can’t be told without prefacing them with the setbacks he has bounced back from. “I watched him walk off the field under that confetti and felt his pain,” Averion said. “I just didn’t want to feel that pain again.

Take a Bow, Vic Fangio – Sumer Sports
Coming out of the bye week, the Eagles made a key personnel change. Rookie Cooper DeJean would take over the nickel cornerback spot and help unlock the Fangio defense. Ideally, Fangio’s defense plays with four defensive lineman, two linebackers, and five defensive backs on almost every snap. Problems arise when offenses are able to attack that smaller grouping in the run game, as the Packers and Falcons were able to early in the year. DeJean’s physicality was a positive force in the run game because he could play like a third linebacker. His instincts in zone coverage were on display in the preseason, in the middle of the season, and on Super Sunday.

10 Story Lines to Watch in the 2025 NFL Offseason – SI
I think if there’s a copycat effect to the Philadelphia Eagles’ second title in eight seasons, it will be an emphasis on building through the lines. Of course, as we detailed Monday, there are a lot of reasons for Philly’s sustained success. But if there’s one that’s replicable for other teams, it’s how the Eagles, over the past two-plus decades, have continued to feed their lines with investments in draft capital, cap space and real dollars, building strength on strength. I’ll never forget Chip Kelly delivering this line to me after selecting Lane Johnson with the fourth pick, and his first pick as Eagles coach, in the 2013 draft: “Big people beat up little people.” Kelly’s long gone, but Johnson’s still there, and so too is that ethos, which existed in Philly long before he arrived and will continue to be there long after Johnson’s gone. And the idea isn’t just to get good players up front. Everyone wants to do that. It’s to leave nothing to chance in that pursuit, and to keep the pipeline steady, even when it may not seem to need any more juice. That’s how the Eagles were ready with not one (Cam Jurgens), but two (Landon Dickerson) players capable of replacing Jason Kelce when he retired. It’s how, similarly, they had Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams lined up when Fletcher Cox walked away. It’s why they committed to keeping Jordan Mailata on the roster as he learned to play football, and how they were so ready when Jason Peters’s anointed successor, Andre Dillard, didn’t wind up being what they envisioned him to be at left tackle.

This Was a Super Bowl for the Haters, and the Eagles Were the Perfect Antagonists – The Ringer
This Super Bowl opened under the weight of expectations. There was the potential of history—the Kansas City Chiefs were going for a three-peat, something that simultaneously has never been seen before and was predicted by almost everyone. That’s how good they’ve been, and how little room they’ve made for anyone else in the story of the NFL these last few years. That includes the Eagles. Philadelphia knows what it’s like to have its happy ending boxed out by Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes on their inevitable march toward greatness. Now, the Eagles also know what it’s like to stop them in their tracks. “We can’t rewrite history or do anything about the past,” said receiver A.J. Brown after the game, describing his mindset preparing to face the back-to-back defending champions. “But we can make it even.”

Who will be the next Jason Kelce? Five candidates to bring the house down at the Eagles parade – Inquirer
1. Landon Dickerson. Dickerson’s generally a quieter guy. He doesn’t like being interviewed and prefers to stay out of the spotlight, on his lawn mower. But just listen to this pregame speech and tell me he wouldn’t give an epic speech at the parade. Not sold? How about this one from before the Steelers game. A perfect candidate to take on the mantle, step out of the shadows, and become a legend. [BLG Note: I think Jordan Mailata is someone to watch.]

Eagles’ 145 points in the playoffs were the most ever in one postseason – PFT
The previous record was set by the 1994 49ers, who scored 131 points during their postseason run. The Eagles’ average of 36.3 points per game in the playoffs does not break the per-game record set by those 49ers, who averaged 43.7 points per game during their three-game postseason run.

Attending Friday’s Super Bowl Championship Parade? Here’s what you need to know – PE.com
Public Transportation: SEPTA Offers Free Rides. SEPTA will be implementing a special parade day public transportation plan to ensure the safe arrival and departure of event goers on Friday, February 14. Details can be found at SEPTA.org. All visitors are encouraged to take public transit when coming into Philadelphia. SEPTA is operating a special Eagles Parade schedule with details available online at SEPTA.org.  SEPTA Customer Service can be reached at 215-580-7800 and directly on X @septa_social. For more information on SEPTA and NJ Transit routes and schedules during the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl Parade, visit SEPTA.org or call 215-580-7800, and njtransit.org or call 973-275-5555.

How the Chiefs’ offense dug insurmountable hole in Super Bowl LIX loss – Arrowhead Pride
On the very next play, the Chiefs once again use seven players in protection. Kelce takes on the edge rush with help from Pacheco, but a whiff leaves Mahomes vulnerable to a sack. All of this failed execution added up, hitting a boiling point when Mahomes threw an interception returned for a touchdown on the next play, pushing the score to 17-0. From that point on, the Chiefs’ offense was predictable and vulnerable. The errors throughout the team’s first four possessions added up on the shoulders of Mahomes. He looked uneasy in any pocket regardless of pressure and hesitated to throw the ball at times. The Eagles’ defense deserves credit for flawlessly executing its plan to make Mahomes uncomfortable. The tone was set right out of the gate, and the Chiefs’ offense showed no strategy or passion to counter it as the game wore on. There were opportunities to get back in it after Mahomes’ pick-six, but the hole dug over the first four possessions was too deep.

What Kellen Moore brings to the Saints – Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints have finally filled their head coach vacancy with the hiring of Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. At just 36 years old, Moore has six years of offensive coordinator experience with four years running a top-10 offense.

Dak Prescott ‘excited’ to play for Schottenheimer, feels Cowboys are ‘very close’ to champion Eagles – NFL.com
Of course, competing immediately requires more than familiarity, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Neither should their understanding of the newly minted Super Bowl champions: their NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles. “I feel like we’ve competed with the Eagles and beat them for the most part when we’ve played them,” Prescott said Tuesday. “I don’t want to say, ‘Check the record,’ when the other guy is holding the trophy right now. So credit to them. They’ve earned it, and they deserved it by all means. But, yeah, [we’re] very close.” Proximity is difficult to judge when the only available metric is final records from a previous season, a measure that doesn’t reflect too kindly on the Cowboys after their third-place finish in the NFC East at 7-10. They’re not only looking up at the Eagles, but also the other NFC finalist, the 12-5 Washington Commanders.

The 5 O’Clock Club: Will Washington really be playing a tougher schedule in 2025? – Hogs Haven
However, I do think that there may be a real difference in the challenges and difficulty of the Commanders’ 2025 schedule compared to their ‘24 slate of games. I would (and do) argue that if you compare Washington’s 2025 schedule to its 2024 schedule, then, when you factor in fewer home games, tougher inter-divisional matchups for the NFC East, more travel across more time zones, a seemingly more challenging set of 3 unique opponents, and the possibility of playing an international game, it seems clear to me that the Commanders will have a bigger hill to climb in 2025 than they had in 2024. The likelihood also seems to exist that, based on the team’s 2024 success and popularity of Jayden Daniels among NFL fans, Washington may play a number of prime-time and late-window games (especially since they play the AFC West). While this doesn’t necessarily mean a harder schedule, it is likely to challenge the coaches and players in their efforts to use a consistent process from week to week, which has clearly been a primary goal of Dan Quinn. The Commanders will enter 2025 with much higher expectations than they faced in 2024, and with a much more challenging schedule complicating the team’s ability to achieve those loftier objectives.

Cowboys odds for next Super Bowl may be a surprise to Jerry Jones – Blogging The Boys
The worst teams in the NFC, according to 2026 Super Bowl odds released by the oddsmakers at BetMGM, are, in order: 1) New York Giants (Soo much “yes” to this), 2) New Orleans Saints (No kidding), 3) Carolina Panthers (Yeah, for sure), 4) Dallas Cow … WHAAAT? A mere five days ago, the owner assured me the Cowboys are in “win now” mode, but the oddsmakers seem to see next season as more of a rebuild season than anything else.

New York Giants free agency: What to like, not like, about QB Russell Wilson – Big Blue View
The New York Giants expressed interest in free agent quarterback Russell Wilson last offseason. Wilson met with the Giants before traveling to Pittsburgh and ultimately signing with the Steelers. For one reason or another, New York allowed their 2024 life-raft to walk out of the building and sign a one-year, $1.2 million contract with the Steelers. It was understood that he’d be playing at a significant discount due to the stipulations in his contract with the Denver Broncos. If Wilson was willing to come to New York to either back up or compete with Daniel Jones, it was a massive mistake by Joe Schoen not to make that happen. Wilson revitalized a successful 4-2 team and helped them go 10-7. Pittsburgh’s offense took a large step forward in the first few games Wilson started but took a step back toward the end of the season.