State of Mind

The best football coaches are also good psychologists. They have a feel for what their team needs to hear and then they deliver the right message in the right way.

The best example I can think of came back in 1993. Dallas was the reigning Super Bowl champs and was about to play the Niners in the NFC title game. Coach Jimmy Johnson sensed that his team was nervous. He called a local radio station the day before the big game and did an impromptu interview where he guaranteed a win.

“We will win the ballgame, and you can put it in three-inch headlines. We will win the ballgame.”

Unfortunately, he was right. Dallas built a 21-point halftime lead and won the game 38-21. I know that it seems hard to believe that Dallas won big games in the postseason, but there was a dark time in our nation’s history when that did happen.

Nick Sirianni is trying to figure out the right message for the Eagles. They’re 11-2, which is really good. They have won nine games in a row, which is great. The team played sloppy on Sunday and almost blew the game. That’s bad. The X-factor to all of this is that the Eagles have four more regular season games to go so Sirianni can’t focus on just one game. He’s got to keep his team living in the moment, but also understanding that there is a lot of the journey left. That’s tricky.

I thought Sirianni had a good message on Sunday, telling the team “not to be prisoners of expectations”. The Eagles were big favorites over the Panthers, but the game came down to the final moment. Sirianni wanted his players to celebrate the win and not feel bad that it wasn’t a blowout. He could probably sense angst in the stadium and wanted to address that right away.

One of the reasons this was important is that Sirianni knows his players weren’t satisfied with the performance. That game should not have come down to the final minute. The Eagles were way too sloppy. If Sirianni senses the players frustration, he doesn’t want to harp on negatives and get them too down. That isn’t to say you ignore problems, but you craft the message to be a bit more positive.

Eagles players who spoke to the media after the game expressed their frustration with the offense. They know Sunday’s showing wasn’t good enough. You want players to have high standards and to be self-critical.

Sirianni is lucky that the Eagles opponent this week is the 10-3 Steelers. If the Eagles play well, he can feel good about the team. If they struggle, he knows something is off and needs to be worked on. This is the time to figure that out. January football is right around the corner.

Sirianni is a huge believer in living in the moment and I’m sure that will be his focus when he talks to the team. He will talk to the players about areas that need to improve. He will focus more on solutions than problems. Acknowledge what is wrong and then talk about how to fix it. That sounds easy, but this is pro sports. It can take time to get something fixed. There is a combination of classroom time, practice reps and game reps. There is no Easy Button to push and magically fix things. That’s not how football works.

The Eagles have lofty goals. They won the Super Bowl in 2017. They made it back in 2022. This organization isn’t satisfied with having a good year. They want to go get another Lombardi for the trophy case. Sirianni can peak ahead, but must keep his players focused and going with a day-by-day mentality. His messages worked in 2022. That team got off to a fast start and only slowed down when Gardner Minshew had to start a couple of games at the end of the year. I don’t know what Sirianni said last year, but he probably ought to burn those speeches. That team melted down in spectacular fashion.

This is a different team and Sirianni is somewhat of a different coach. Let’s hope he can find the right words to keep his team confident and aggressive, but also realistic enough to focus on mistakes and fixing them. That can be a delicate balance.

*****

Things got a bit weird on Monday.

“I know 1 is trying and 11 could be better with how he responds to things. They were friends, but things have changed.”

Brandon Graham gives insight to the AJ Brown/Jalen Hurts drama: pic.twitter.com/RcouHPGK43

— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) December 9, 2024

Everyone started to have flashbacks to 2004. But then…

Just spoke with Brandon Graham. He clarified his comments about Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown’s relationship.

“I just assumed [about their friendship] and it made me out to look even worse because I had it all wrong and now people are going to run with that part.”

[Cont.]

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) December 10, 2024

I’m sure BG got an earful from Sirianni or Howie or someone. Players love to throw things out there and don’t realize the power their observations can have, whether accurate or not. AJ was frustrated after the Panthers game, but I don’t think there was anything more than that. I guess we’ll find out in the coming days/weeks.

No matter what, I don’t think this is the kind of distraction anyone in the organization wanted.

*****

Twitter talked a lot about the Eagles game on Monday. Most of the focus from non-Eagles people was on Bryce Young and how well he played.

A few of my favorite plays from Bryce Young against the Eagles.

1) A well located throw to convert on 3rd & XL
2) Creation on 3rd & XL to keep a possible game-winning drive alive
3) Step up and throws off-platform to convert on 3rd down again
4) Drops in the throw vs. man https://t.co/oXRQFF9lZD pic.twitter.com/4bdNVKZB4M

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) December 9, 2024

When you look at some of those plays, he was incredibly impressive. The Eagles defense did good things, but Young was better. He was a great QB at Alabama and was the #1 pick for a reason. His pro career got off to a terrible start, but the light has gone on for him and you can see his ability.

You can be disappointed in the Eagles, but make sure to give Young a lot of credit. This isn’t the guy from the first month of the season.

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