October 14, 2026
Conspicuous by their absence this week after the horrific last-second loss to the Jaguars in London have been the two men most responsible for the Eagles over the past three decades, owner Jeff Lurie and GM Howie Roseman.
If they’re not going to emerge from their ivory tower after that debacle, when will they?
Oh, I know. The next time the team is playing well, winning games, fulfilling their pompous proclamations, Jeff and Howie will be everywhere. Until then, good luck.
By now, we’re all conditioned to hearing from the most important people in the organization only when they need to face no tough questions or, heaven forbid, when they can preach to the world again about the brilliance of their blueprint for success.
This absence of feedback from the brain trust is so ridiculous right now that the New York Post actually streamed some video from the Eagles sideline last Sunday that appeared to show Roseman walking away in disgust after the game-winning field goal by Jacksonville.
What does walking away in disgust look like? I have no clue. But if you never get to hear the thoughts of the people in charge, I guess you have every right to try to read their minds.
So, in the absence of any public reaction by the decisionmakers to that nightmare ending, let’s try to imagine what they’re thinking.
The way the Eagles are playing right now, Lurie is probably checking the price of yachts again; remember, he did so right after the abysmal ending to the 2023 season. Shopping is a very common antidote to depression.
Lurie is a billionaire who tries to insulate himself from all negativity. That’s why he never hires a head coach who will talk back, preferring young bucks he can teach from the outset to do what he’s told, when he’s told. Hence, we get head-coaching neophytes like Nick Sirianni.
My best guess is, Lurie reinstated the Tuesday tribunals he scheduled toward the end of Doug Pederson’s reign. If Sirianni told the boss this week that there was some gray area in his decision to kick the ball to Ameer Abdullah with eight seconds left – as the coach told the media after the 19-17 loss to Jacksonville in London – I have to believe even a pantywaist like the owner would have told him, loudly, that he was wrong.
If Lurie isn’t having second thoughts about his coach after the last two weeks, well, it might be a good time to explore your options on which team to root for over the next few years because the Eagles are in for some cold, dark winters.
Howie Roseman is the smartest guy in the front office, by far, and if indeed he was disgusted with how that game ended – how his coach allowed that game to end – then that’s a start. Surely by now someone as bright as Howie knows the guy he hired six years ago to coach the Eagles is not the sharpest tool in the shed – though Nick indeed is, by all measures, a tool.
My guess is, Howie gets to do what he wants with Lurie as long as he constantly inflates the already oversized ego of his boss. If Roseman turns against Sirianni – how could he not at this point? – that’s the best bet for a change on the sideline.
But we don’t know what’s going on in the inner sanctum of our favorite team because the top people refuse to communicate with the fans they supposedly love so much. Many of those fans were in the stands in London, having drained the bottom of their savings pool to raise enough money for an expensive international trip.
There was a shot right after the game of a little boy wearing Eagles garb nuzzling close to (I’m assuming) his father. The little kid was bawling his eyes out – as were so many other passionate fans who for days later are still having a hard time processing how Sirianni managed to lose that game.
I can never root against the Birds because of little boys like that, because of all the fans who were once such loyal listeners to my WIP show, and because the mood of our city is largely governed every week by the outcome of the Eagles game.
But the practical part of my mind realizes that a loss to the mediocre Carolina Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday will be another major step toward the imminent departure of Nick Sirianni.
If we look at it that way, we really can’t lose. Either the Eagles rebound and make a run, or Sirianni takes his talents somewhere else.
Win. Win.
Hey, you can’t blame me for pondering the possibilities, can you?
I don’t care all that much about hockey, though my rooting interest has grown since my WIP co-host Keith Jones took over as president of the Flyers three years ago. I would love to see the Flyers turn things around on Jonesy’s watch. If you can’t root for Keith Jones, you are probably not human.
And yet here I am, incensed not at Jonesy nor at his head coach Rick Tocchet but at the guy in the middle, GM Danny Briere. Unless he has a proper response to the atrocious start to this season – they have lost eight straight at this point – Briere needs to follow the same route out of town that I am charting right now for Nick Sirianni.
I recoiled a few weeks ago when Briere, in an obvious effort to take some pressure off after that exciting playoff finish last season, suggested that his team might have to “take a little step back” from last year.
Putting aside the tone-deaf notion that a GM – in Philadelphia, no less – tried to suppress excitement from a fan base that has waited more than half a century for a championship, the gutless comment was typical neither of the spirit of our blue-collar city nor of Briere himself.
Danny was a very good hockey player who became even better in the playoffs, when the pressure was at its highest. He scored 116 points in 124 playoff games, many of them in the orange-and-black sweater of the Flyers. He didn’t talk like a wuss back then.
Nor should he now. Either he’s going to will the team to the next level of success, or Jonesy should find someone else who can. That’s the best advice I can give to my beloved fellow host right now.
I should warn you, though, that if Jonesy actually takes my advice, it will be the first time.
A few other thoughts. . . .
- The Phillies are bringing Don Mattingly back as their manager after Alex Cora snubbed them for a second time. My only question is, if Dave Dombrowski really thinks Don is the best choice after Cora, then maybe the GM is not blaming the interim skipper for the bullpen debacle in the playoffs. And if that’s true, then maybe the guy who really needs to go is the one who created that bullpen. Namely, Dombrowski himself. No?
- I find it oddly coincidental that the first game of the new season for the Sixers will be in Madison Square Garden on Oct. 20, just a jump shot away from LeBron James’ New York City home. Hey, maybe LeBron could get some Sixer home games moved to New York, too. The 100-mile commute is going to get tiresome after a while. And what if his helicopter is in the shop? Hey, I’m just looking out for our new superstar. Don’t judge.
- NBC is so unimpressed with the Eagles right now, the network is considering flexing the game between the Birds and Commanders on Nov. 1 from 8:20 p.m. to the afternoon. If the Eagles lose to the Panthers on Sunday and Washington drop another one in San Francisco, neither team will be ready for prime time. Hey, at least the Birds are trying to accommodate the fans who hate night games. That’s something, no?
- Now that it appears Sean Mannion is yet another terrible offensive-coordinator hire by Sirianni, there are actually a few dolts out there who are trying to argue that Kevin Patullo wasn’t so bad in that role last season. Well, Nick’s best pal is definitely working his magic in Miami. As the passing game coordinator there, Patullo has led the team to a 0-5 record, the lowest points scored in the NFL and the second-lowest yards gained in the air. So yeah, these Patullo apologists have a really strong argument.
- Nick Sirianni still doesn’t get it. He’s taking (some) blame for the devastating ending in London, but only for kicking the ball to dangerous returner Ameer Abdullah with eight seconds left. He has no regrets for not bleeding the clock down before the fatal kickoff. In fact, he would do it again, he said. What’s the definition of insanity? And while you’re at it, look up the word stupidity, too.