Nick Sirianni has achieved tremendous results in his brief time as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach.
Now in his third season, Sirianni has a 34-15 record, he’s led the Eagles to three straight NFL playoff berths (counting 2023), he got them to the Super Bowl in his second season, and the Eagles won 10 of the first 11 games to start the season.
Since then, however, the Eagles lost three straight games before finally returning to the win column on Christmas Day against the New York Giants. Yet none of the Eagles seemed to have much Christmas cheer either during or after their first win in four weeks.
Not Nick Sirianni, whose intensity spilled out on the sidelines as he yelled at his players and assistant coaches near the end of the Eagles’ 33-25 victory.
And not the players, some of whom declined to speak to the media after their first victory in four weeks.
Then there’s Sirianni’s postgame locker room speech, which was met with nothing more than a tepid response from the players.
From the tense moments on the sidelines to recent drama surrounding the team to the players’ locker room reaction, it all begs the question: Has Nick Sirianni lost his team?
Too much drama with Nick Sirianni’s Eagles
A year after going to the Super Bowl, the Eagles were flying high with the NFL’s best record heading into December. They spoke endlessly about the team’s winning culture, which allowed them to pull out four straight wins while on the brink of defeat.
But since losing to the San Francisco 49ers — the first of three straight defeats — the Eagles have looked and sounded like a dysfunctional team.
To fix what was ailing their struggling defense, Nick Sirianni decided to make a change, taking the play-calling duties away from defensive coordinator Sean Desai and giving them to Matt Patricia.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts questioned the team’s “commitment” after the Eagles lost to the Seahawks in the final minute for their third straight loss. Coming into the Giants game, there had been reports of locker room strife and finger-pointing among the players.
On the field, the Eagles had trouble putting the Giants away in the fourth quarter. Sirianni’s sideline blowup came in the midst of them trying to stop the Giants, who were driving for a game-tying score.
The Eagles got an interception in the waning seconds to preserve the victory, but afterward, Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith said he’s “not happy” and “not satisfied” because “we’re not playing good football right now.”
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Are the Eagles dissatisfied with Nick Sirianni?
On Tuesday, Nick Sirianni took accountability for his actions on the sidelines.
“There were moments in that game (Monday) where I felt like I was too tense on the sideline and I need to be better about that,” Sirianni said. “I have to do a better job. If I’m going to ask the players to do a better job themselves, then I have to do a better job myself and I definitely felt that yesterday out of myself.”
NFL teams typically take their cues from their head coach. It’s no different with the Eagles and Nick Sirianni.
Although the Eagles have clinched a playoff berth and can win the NFC East title Sunday against Arizona, they have exuded the look of a miserable team that doesn’t know how to handle losing. And now that they’ve won a game to end the losing streak, they are dissatisfied with how they won the game.
That team-wide demeanor is largely an extension of their head coach. And perhaps now they are showing their dissatisfaction with Nick Sirianni as well.