Jan. 5, 2025
Let’s start this pre-playoff discussion with a lesson in basic logic, courtesy of Nick Sirianni.
As you know by now, the Eagles head coach decided to sacrifice an easily winnable game and the two seed in the NFL playoffs because he thought his team needed a rest before the biggest game(s) and because he didn’t want to risk any serious injuries.
Commanders 24, Eagles 17.
The Birds ended the season 11-6, winners of the NFC East and – at least from this perspective – victims once again of the skittish nature of their maddening coach.
Debates should be raging in every corner tavern this week (I hope) over whether it’s ever smart to concede a game, and even more so (I hope) because Sirianni was so extreme in his paranoia this time
He rested 15 starters – 15 of his best players. No other team with a guaranteed playoff spot benched more than 10. Many of the playoff-bound clubs played all of their starters.
Here’s where Sirianni’s logic evaded me: One of the players he didn’t rest, at least at the start of the game, was receiver DeVonta Smith, who played the first quarter, racked up 52 yards on three catches, and then retired for the day.
Why did Smith play while his receiving partner, A.J. Brown, stayed on the sideline? There must have been a good reason to violate this protection plan, no?
No.
The only reason Smith played on Sunday was because he needed 44 yards to surpass 1,000 for the season. The moment he topped the milestone, his day was over.
As far as I can tell, no one in the media has questioned the coach’s plan, despite its laughable logic.
Is Sirianni saying an individual milestone takes precedence over what’s best for the team? If he really thought resting and protecting the players was the right strategy, why would he put the smallest Eagle out there to achieve a personal statistic?
Never at a loss to babble out nonsense after another illogical move, the coach explained why he started Smith by saying: “We were safe with him as far as what kinds of routes we were running and what he was doing. And so that was something we decided to do.”
At one point, Sirianni even said he knew half of the people covering the team would disagree with his decision, but left unspoken was the fact that none of those dissenters has won a Super Bowl the way Nick has.
So, hey, he must be right.
We’ll see, very soon.
All we know right now is that, instead of playing a Green Bay team that has lost its last four games, amid a raging sea of injuries, Sirianni will get to test his coaching acumen against the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field.
It will be Sirianni and his bobo OC Kevin Patullo plotting strategy for their disappointing offense against arguably the top offensive strategist in the NFL, Kyle Shanahan.
Yes, the Niners are more banged-up than the Eagles, but they are, by all accounts, a more formidable first-round opponent than the Packers.
Oh, yeah. The 49ers have a rallying cry this week, too. They are still seeking revenge for a bitter playoff defeat here three years ago when they lost both starting QBs. They believe they would have won that game if they had a functional NFL quarterback.
Since Jonathan Gannon was the Eagles defensive coordinator back then, I would have to agree.
Anyway, the point is, Nick Sirianni engraved an invitation for a better opponent to face his team because he wanted to protect the health of his club – unless they had a individual statistical milestone to achieve, of course.
I am on the record questioning the football intelligence of Nick Sirianni, and this is just the latest in a long line of decisions based on screwy logic.
So far, he has made it to the Super Bowl twice and has won one of them. Therefore, he must be right. You are what your record says you are, and Sirianni’s record is fantastic. Blah, blah, blah.
But all good things must come to an end, including Nick’s extraordinary luck. I have a strong suspicion the coach with the best NFL roster for the past four years will pay the price this time.
I predict the 49ers will upset the Eagles next Sunday, not because they have better players (they do not) but because they have better coaches.
Make no mistake, I am not including Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in this comparison. Fangio is the best mind on the Eagles staff and the best hope for stopping Shanahan and QB Brock Purdy.
But not this time. You can only have so many coaching mismatches in a season before the law of averages comes into play. The buck stops on Sunday at the Linc.
It’s really hard to root for your home team when you dislike the head coach the way I can’t stand Sirianni. But I already have my game plan set.
I will pray I’m wrong about the imminent demise of the 2025 season. I will root as hard as ever for the Eagles and the football fans who gave me such a rewarding career in radio.
And if I’m right and the Niners win, Nick Sirianni will get every bit of the criticism he deserves for ruining another run for the Super Bowl.
Hey, somebody has to do it.
Some other things to consider. . . .
- I know I’m biased because I once worked with him, but Ross Tucker was, by far, the best analyst handling an Eagles network TV game this year. His work on CBS Sunday was more interesting and less invasive than all of the supposed big stars like Greg Olsen and Cris Collinsworth. No one sees the field and can explain what happened better than Tucker.
- Christian Parker coaches the Eagles defensive backs. I offer this information because you’re probably wondering – as I was on Sunday – if anyone teaches the backup cornerbacks how to cover a pass without plowing into the receiver while the ball is in the air.
- The single most confounding play of the 2025 season came late on Sunday when defensive back Kelee Ringo peeled away from Josh Johnson as the journeyman QB dashed for the corner of the end zone with the winning touchdown. Ringo knows he’s supposed to tackle the guy with the ball, doesn’t he?
- Speaking of Johnson, the most traveled (14 teams) player in NFL history. He doubled his career win total as a starting QB against the Eagles. He was 1-8 entering the game.
- Want an early prediction for next season? Now that Jonathan Gannon has gotten fired as head coach in Arizona — what a shock! — he will end up back here in some capacity. Nick Sirianni still thinks his former defensive coordinator is brilliant. After a 3-14 season, Gannon is seen that way by exactly one person – his old coaching buddy.