Joe DeCamara asked Philadelphia Eagles' head coach Nick Sirianni if Thursday night's mid-November marquee matchup against the division rival Washington Commanders gives him extra excitement.
"Every opportunity in the NFL is so precious, right?" Sirianni told DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on Wednesday's 94WIP Morning Show. "You only play 17 games. It's so exciting every time you step out on the field. The preparation and the work—you pour everything you have into each week. Every game feels like the biggest game for us.
"Now, with that being said, I can't wait for a Thursday night game in our stadium. How awesome is that? Against a division opponent. And I love what you said, these are the best memories I have of football dating back to when I'm a kid. It's cold, the leaves are falling off of the trees and almost off of the trees...You remember the ones that are cold, that are dreary, that are gloomy all day. Going into it, I guess that's my upbringing in the northeast—northeast football growing up. You just feel it, 'Hey this is football season.' We're excited no doubt to be playing a good opponent on Thursday night at home and like you said, yeah it just feels like football."
Sirianni's team has won five straight games, but their opponents—Browns (2-7), Giants (2-8), Bengals (4-6), Jaguars (2-8), and Cowboys (3-6)—have left fans and analysts uncertain how good exactly the Eagles are.
The 7-2 Eagles and 7-3 Commanders are separated by just 0.5 game in the standings. Washington is 5-1 in the conference and 2-0 in the division, while Philadelphia is 4-2 in the conference and also 2-0 in the division. Needless to say, tomorrow night's game will be massive in determining this year's NFC East champion.