Eight straight wins for the Birds, but yet another slow start on Sunday, as they got down 9-0 and had only two first downs on their first four drives.
They came back and won, of course, and in his weekly visit with the WIP Morning Show Tuesday, Nick Sirianni was asked by Joe DeCamara how the defense held Baltimore to nothing between their second drive and their final drive.
“That’s a really good offense, one of the best in the NFL, and our guys just put their head down and worked and played physical and were on the same page, and hustled to the football,” Sirianni said. “Like I've always said, when you're playing with good fundamentals and you hustle to the football and everybody on defense is on the same page, good things are going to happen. That’s what we did, and obviously they made some plays, we missed some tackles, but our guys came out and played hard, played physical, and really helped us get that win.”
What is it about new coordinator Vic Fangio that has the Eagles’ D humming on all cylinders like they did under Jonathan Gannon in 2022?
“Again, I think it's getting everybody on the same page calling a game. All the experience that he has calling a game…he’s seen everything, but getting everybody on the same page and holding everybody accountable to be on the same page, when all 11 are working as one on defense, that's a huge, huge deal,” Sirianni said. “You see it all over the league – when there's a blown play, that's the easiest way to give up an explosive, which is the easiest way to get points, so just the feel and the call that he has for the game and getting everybody gelled together is a huge deal. He's obviously a phenomenal coach and I'm sure glad he's our coach.”
There is one worry, though: the Birds have the youngest defense in the NFL with multiple rookies in key spots, and this is the time of year where the college season winds down and there could be a rookie wall of sorts – so how do Sirianni and Fangio keep the momentum going?
“I look at as a positive in the sense we are young and have fresh legs; we do have a couple of rookies that are playing and that we’ll always account for, but we have an individual plan for everybody as far as their health and conditioning goes,” Sirianni said. “It’s not one size fits all, so those are all thought through, and you monitor them every day, especially early in the week, while they're getting better at their skills and being on the same page and everything like that, and attempt to make sure that they're as fresh as they possibly can be on Sunday. That’s not easy, because you want players who are fresh but are ready as well, after working hard on their fundamentals all week. It’s a balance of how to keep guys strong and healthy, and it’s something we have to work through with the staff.”
Take a listen to Sirianni’s entire visit above, as he also addresses the offense’s consistent slow starts, why Jalen Hurts deserves to be in the MVP convo, injury updates, and more!