Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Nick Gets Paid

Posted May 19th, 2025 | 3 Comments »

There is an old joke that NFL stands for “not for long”. I guess that works both ways, hero to goat as well as goat to hero. Just look at Nick Sirianni. A year ago Sirianni had to fight for his job. Now he is a Super Bowl champion and a well-paid coach with a contract extension.

Congrats to Nick. He earned the extension by helping the Eagles to arguably the greatest season in team history. Some people think that was one of the best teams of all time. That 16-1 stretch to close out the season was special. You just don’t see things like that very often.

Sirianni is quite an accomplished coach in his short career.

  • 4 seasons, 4 playoff appearances
  • 2 NFC East titles
  • 2 Super Bowl trips
  • 1 Super Bowl win

That’s pretty good.

The numbers tell you Sirianni is off to one of the best starts in league history. But it sure doesn’t feel like he will write books that will become football bibles. He doesn’t feel like Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh or John Madden. Think about going to two Super Bowls in three years. It took the Eagles 37 years of the SB era to make their first two appearances. Those of us who experienced some of that are still feeling a bit weird about the Eagles recent SB success.

It is hard to evaluate Sirianni. If you were starting a new franchise and could have any coach in the NFL, Sirianni wouldn’t be the first call. Andy Reid is the most accomplished coach in the league right now. John Harbaugh is a notch below him. Dan Campbell has done an amazing job with turning the Lions around. Kevin O’Connell has shown the ability to win with a variety of players. Mike Tomlin gets the most out of his players and has had a terrific career. Sean McDermott is great, until he plays Patrick Mahomes in January.

Where does Sirianni fit in that group? You can make all kinds of arguments based on various criteria. The argument for him focuses on the stats listed above. Sirianni also really connects with his players. There is real value in that in today’s game.

The argument against Sirianni isn’t simple. His winning has involved great coordinators and great players. How would Sirianni fare with mediocre talent? Someone like Mike Vrabel can get a team to overachieve. The other issue with Sirianni is antics. He’s had multiple incidents with yelling at fans. The passion and emotion that make him so good can undermine him at times. Sirianni is trying to tone that down, but you don’t want him to lose his identity.

The way I look at it is that Sirianni is the right coach for the Eagles. He is more valuable to them than any other franchise. He embraces the philosophy the organization has. Sirianni works well with Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman. There isn’t a power struggle. Sirianni’s messaging works well with the players. He can be tough on them, but also has a tight bond with the guys. That’s not easy to do.

It will be genuinely interesting to see how the next few years unfold. The Eagles look to be the best team in the league right now so they have a very real chance to go chase another Super Bowl. The Eagles have a young roster so this team should be contending for the next several years. The Eagles could have multiple SB trips in their future or they could return to the old days of making the playoffs and then fizzling out.

This definitely feels different than the Doug Pederson situation. A lot of role players helped that team. There was some magic. Pederson couldn’t find that formula after 2017. In five years with the Eagles, Pederson won 42 games. They won 13 in 2017 and never got above 9 wins after that. Sirianni is averaging 12 wins a year. There are more games now, but even if you take away a win, that would be 11 per season.

I also give Sirianni a lot of credit for another reason. He’s had this success with Jalen Hurts, a QB taken in the second round. That isn’t easy to do. Most QBs taken outside the first round do not pan out. Hurts lost his job at Alabama because Nick Saban didn’t think he was a good enough passer. Sirianni has developed Hurts into one of the best QBs in the league, someone who can beat you with his arm or legs.

Connecting with players isn’t easy. You have to be genuine. You have to get them to buy what you are selling. Sirianni is brilliant with his messaging.

The Eagles are lucky to have Nick Sirianni and he’s lucky to have them. This is one marriage that has worked really well.

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Looking Ahead

Posted May 17th, 2025 | 9 Comments »

Now that the schedule is out, a lot of people are offering predictions for the upcoming season. Let’s talk about some of the predictions that are out there now.

The first couple of projections are based on simulations. It is important to note that the computers didn’t have any team winning 12 games. They seem to think there won’t be a lot of separation between the top and bottom teams.

Cynthia Frelund from the NFL Network did projections for win totals. She had the Eagles winning the most games of anyone in the NFC with 11. Here is what she had to say.

Week 1’s win percentage represents Philly’s highest forecasted odds of beating Dallas in their first matchup of the season (in any week) in at least 10 seasons. You’re welcome, Eagles fans. Over the next three weeks, the defending champs visit the Chiefs, host the Rams, then travel to the Bucs — with each game presenting a much tougher task than the opener. It’s worth noting that the Eagles and Commanders don’t have their first matchup until Week 16 in Washington (with the follow-up set for Week 18 in Philly).

Cynthia had Washington with 10.2 wins and Detroit with 10. I can certainly see the Eagles having the best record in the conference. This is a really talented team. It certainly won’t be easy with such a challenging schedule.

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The Athletic has the Ravens as Super Bowl favorites. The Eagles are fourth in their projection. They have the Eagles winning 10.7 games, also fourth in the NFL. The Ravens, Bills and Chiefs are ahead of them. Here is their blurb on the Eagles.

The numbers aren’t as hot for the defending Super Bowl champions. The Philadelphia Eagles have “only” a 7.8 percent chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy per the model, the fourth-highest mark in the NFL.

It’s not a disrespectful outlook, but we know they won’t see it that way in Philly. The Eagles are still set up for success with their key components returning, and there are major questions with their greatest conference competition in 2024 — the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings — but it’s not easy to repeat. The Kansas City Chiefs can attest to that.

Nothing compelling, but always interesting to read what different sites have to say.

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 Jimmy Bama has the Eagles going 12-5. Here was my favorite blurb from his piece.

Week 10: Eagles at Packers: The bitch-ass Packers are the team most responsible for trying to ban the Brotherly Shove. It’ll be funny if they’re successful in that pursuit, and the Eagles run it down their throats all night anyway.

Win. 7-2.

That’s Mr Bama at his finest. Does he have the Eagles winning the Super Bowl? You’ll have to go to the link to find out.

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The Eagles schedule is a real issue. This isn’t just a little tough. This is a serious gauntlet.

That’s no joke. I’ve seen the Eagles listed as the third or fourth hardest schedule. Rich Eisen had an interesting take, saying the Eagles biggest obstacle to repeating as Super Bowl champs is the difficult schedule.

I mentioned the team going 12-5 in a previous post. A few people questioned that, pointing out the Eagles would beat various teams perceived as threats. The Eagles are the best team on paper right now. They were the best team in reality last year. There is a chance they will have a great season and go 15-2 or something like that.

What I think people forget is that the best team doesn’t always win a given game. The Eagles lost to the Falcons because the defense struggled, Saquon dropped a pass and AJ Brown was hurt and missed the game. The Eagles were the better team, but didn’t win the game. That kind of stuff happens in most seasons.

Not all the news is bad.

This should be one interesting season.

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If you’re tired of all the schedule talk and want some fun, this is for you. The best Mic’d Up moments from the Eagles SB season.

Jordan Mailata is so great.

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