The Linc – Nick Sirianni, Coach of the Year?

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 12/27/21.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Giants game – PhillyVoice
10) The ‘Coach of the Year’ Award: Nick Sirianni. OK, so Nick Sirianni isn’t going to win NFL Coach of the Year, nor should he. But one of the hot names for that award all season has been Chargers head coach Brandon Staley. But oh hey, if you look at the standings you may notice this: Nick Sirianni has the same record as Brandon Staley. Sirianni had some really shaky early season moments, but if the NFL had an award for best rookie head coach (they don’t), he would get my vote (nobody lets me vote on anything).

In Roob’s Obs, Hurts responds, defense dominates, and more – NBCSP
1. I want to just take a step back and marvel at the job Nick Sirianni has done with this football team. In his first year on the job, with a young first-time quarterback, in the middle of a pandemic, with five ugly losses the first seven weeks of the season, and here are the Eagles with a winning record and in great position to reach the playoffs. Think about this: In NFL history, 294 teams have been 2-5. Sixteen of them have finished with a winning record. Nine of them have made the playoffs. What the Eagles are doing is truly remarkable, and Sirianni deserves a tremendous amount of credit for not only keeping the thing on the rails after all those terrible losses but turning the Eagles into a legit playoff contender. I don’t know who’s going to get Coach of the Year. There are some other good candidates. But you can certainly make a case for Sirianni. To get where the Eagles are now after where they were two months ago? It’s truly impressive.

How the Patriots Have Pushed the Bills to Get Better – MMQB
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is doing a heck of a job. And he had a heck of a week. The Eagles played on Tuesday night, and again Sunday, and in between Sirianni spent some. time sitting in his car in the parking lot of Philly’s practice facility. It wasn’t by choice. On Wednesday morning, symptoms hit the 40-year-old, prompting a COVID-19 test. He came up positive. Through the days since, he stayed first in a hotel, then back at home. He got encouraging news on his levels on Friday. So he drove to work hopeful on Christmas Day that they’d let him back in. He took another test. He went back to his car. He waited for the call. It came, and he was cleared. “You’re just kind of sitting there and hoping and praying that you’re gonna be ready to go for the game,” he said, on his drive home Sunday night. “So I’m just thankful that I was.” He was, and his Eagles gave him a heck of homecoming present—turning a 3–3 game at the half into a 34–10 rout of the Giants that moved the Eagles over .500 for the first time since Week 1. And there were plenty of things interesting about it (the defense turned the ball over, the run game was effective again and Jalen Hurts was efficient), but maybe more interesting was Sirianni’s work week.

NFC Playoff Picture: Eagles control their destiny, can clinch berth as soon as Week 17 – BGN
The Eagles might not even need to win out to make the playoffs, though! They can actually clinch a berth as soon as Week 17 if they get some help. Such a scenario looks like this: Eagles win their Week 17 game: at Washington, Vikings lose their Week 17 game: at Packers, Saints lose their Week 17 game: vs. Panthers … OR … Saints lose their Week 16 game: Dolphins (Week 16 Monday Night Football) AND the San Francisco 49ers beat the Houston Texans in Week 17. Things don’t always go as expected in the NFL, as we know, but the preceding is hardly a far-fetched scenario.

BGN Instant Reaction Show: Sweet Revenge! Eagles beat Giants, 34-10 – BGN Radio
After a slow first half, the Eagles find their rhythm and defeat the Giants, 34-10. Eytan Shander and Jessica Towne Taylor recap everything that went down Week 16.

NFL Week 16 Game Recap: Philadelphia Eagles 34, New York Giants 10 – PFF
Quarterback. Jalen Hurts made three turnover-worthy plays and no big-time throws, but he did have two red-zone touchdown tosses and an 81.5% adjusted completion percentage to propel the team to victory. He is set to earn a sub-60.0 passing grade for the game.

Above .500 – Iggles Blitz
The Eagles offense had an odd day. Nick Sirianni had his offense come out throwing and was slow to embrace the run game. I can throw out some theories on why, but I was highly frustrated, to put it mildly. Jalen Hurts struggled early and his receivers weren’t helping him out. As awful as Jake Fromm was early on, Hurts wasn’t much better. Hurts’ play improved in the second half. It still wasn’t a great showing, despite solid numbers (passer rating was 102.5). He underthrew several receivers. He made some questionable decisions. Hurts was good enough to get the win, but he’s got to play much better in the coming weeks. You love the fact he can overcome a slow start, but it would be good to see him play more consistently.

NFL playoff picture 2021 — Week 16 standings, bracket, clinching scenarios, division races and postseason outlook – ESPN
7. Philadelphia Eagles (8-7). FPI chances to make playoffs: 56%. FPI chances to win division: Eliminated. Current projected first-round matchup: at Cowboys. The Eagles swapped spots with the Vikings after dispatching the Giants with a second-half rally. Their ascendance into a wild-card spot should not be a surprise for those who have watched the NFC race during the second half of the season, especially given the favorable schedule Philadelphia has been dealt. The Eagles have now won three consecutive games and six of their past eight, and only one of those opponents currently has a winning record (the Chargers, who beat the Eagles 27-24 in Week 9). They’ll actually move up to No. 6 if the Saints win Monday night and will remain at No. 7 if they lose. And they can clinch a playoff spot next week with a win over Washington, along with losses by the Vikings, 49ers and Saints (in Week 17).

No Kelce? No Problem – Football Outsiders
There’s a lot to love about the design of this play, including the pre-snap motion away from Johnson and the well-sold play fake that makes it look like an RPO slant. But the best thing about it was the fact that it flows naturally from the Eagles’ run-heavy philosophy. The Eagles entered Sunday ranked 31st in goal-to-go offense, in part because their passing concepts are designed for tiny people (DeVonta Smith) or horrendous football players (Jalen Raegor). Anything that sells run-action and gets the ball to a big target has a chance to succeed, even if that target is a right tackle.

2021 NFL season, Week 16: What we learned from Sunday’s games – NFL.com
The Eagles are a little wacky, but they sure can be fun. Philadelphia lost Miles Sanders to an injury in the second half, but not before he gained 45 rushing yards on just seven attempts. Boston Scott was able to replace him in the second half with a rushing touchdown, and Jordan Howard pitched in 37 yards on nine carries, while Jalen Hurts tossed the ball around the yard for 199 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target, DeVonta Smith, caught five of Hurts’ 17 completions for 80 yards and a nice toe-tapping touchdown, and the combination of the run and pass made for an enjoyable second half when the Eagles possessed the ball. Opportunistic defense turned the game into a blowout via an Alex Singleton pick-six, and the touchdown pass to Lane Johnson moved the runaway win into fun territory. If the Eagles can continue to move the ball as they did Sunday — and avoid the mistakes that took points off the board in the first half — they’ll be an entertaining watch in the final weeks of the season. They just might end up being good enough to make the playoffs, too.

Eagles’ Jalen Hurts doesn’t want to talk about playoffs after blowout win over Giants – NJ.com
Dressed in a white Randall Cunningham throwback jersey, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts cut off a reporter mid-question. The reporter brought up that the Eagles are positioned in the third and final wild-card spot in the NFC playoff picture after their 34-10 win over the Giants on Sunday, but Hurts didn’t want to hear that message. “I’m not in the business of talking about anything but being in the moment,” Hurts said. “And everything that we do, it’s focused on getting better every day and being 1-0 every day. We know as a football team, if we can control things that we can control, we should be alright. So, any external factors, any ‘rat poison’ out there, I don’t really care for it. I’m not trying to hear it.”

Resilient Eagles blow past Giants with dominant third-quarter performance – PE.com
A team that has shown resilience and resolve and absolutely no panic all season emerged from the locker room for the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the New York Giants with one thing in mind: Make a play to seize momentum of a tie game that was, frankly, sluggish all the way through the first half. The Eagles then delivered on a series of plays to change the course of the game and take control on the way to a 34-10 win that lifted their record to 8-7 with two games remaining in the regular season and placed the Eagles in the seventh spot in the NFC playoff picture. “It was huge coming out in the second half, to be able to put our team in a position that I was able to, I think it created a lot of momentum,” said safety Rodney McLeod who turned the game around on an interception on the opening drive of the third quarter. “That’s what we talked about at half, just coming out and showing who wanted it more. I think we responded the right way. My interception helped and then we just kept rolling from there.”

How the Eagles navigated 2 games in 6 days, showed their ‘grit’ and came out the other side a playoff team – The Athletic
“The grit of this team, you can feel it,” Mailata said. “Our passion for each other, building that brotherhood — that’s one thing that coach Sirianni emphasizes — and you can feel it in the critical part of the game when you need to lean on each other. … You play for each other. The last couple of weeks, we started to notice it. And we’re going to build on it.” The schedule last week was untraditional for a Sunday game. Sirianni only required a lifting session Wednesday, figuring the players could use a day away from the coaches. They had a walk-through Thursday and were on the field for a full practice for the first time — and only time — Friday. Sirianni didn’t know whether he would coach. He prepared passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo to handle the in-game decisions. Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen was readying to be the play caller.

Eagles 34, Giants 10 — ‘things I think’: Philly was hospitable … for a while – Big Blue View
On that Lane Johnson touchdown. I think if I were the Giants I would not have appreciated the 5-yard touchdown pass to right tackle Lane Johnson that made the score 27-3 in the fourth quarter. I know the Eagles were having fun. I know they probably were just trying to get a touchdown for a guy who has gone through a personal struggle, but I didn’t like it. Going the trick play route when the game already felt like it was over seemed an awful lot like rubbing the Giants’ noses in it.

Walt Anderson: Communication lapse led to DeVonta Smith TD being reviewed twice – PFT
There was an odd moment during Sunday’s game between the Eagles and Giants when officials ruled that Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith caught a touchdown on the field before overturning it after a review and then going back to the original call after a second review. After the game, NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson told pool reporter Zach Berman of TheAthletic.com that a “communication lapse” led to the unusual turn of events. Anderson, who had not spoken publicly about any call this season before Sunday, said that it initially looked like an “expedited review” which led to a premature announcement that the play was overturned.

Dallas Cowboys playoff picture: The Dallas Cowboys have officially won the NFC East! – Blogging The Boys
This is actually the second step that Dallas has taken this week as they officially clinched a playoff spot before the division title on Thursday night thanks to the loss by the San Francisco 49ers. It has been a good news sort of Christmas week so hopefully those same vibes push us forward through the end of the calendar year and into the playoffs. Dallas has now won the NFC East for the first time since 2018 and for the first time period under head coach Mike McCarthy. It is their fourth division title in the last eight years and the previous three all led to appearances in the divisional round.

Ron Rivera Presser: “That’s not normal shit, that’s real life shit” Washington loses 56-14 to the Cowboys – Hogs Haven
Ron Rivera speaks to the media after tonight’s game.

Report: Jaguars plan to interview Doug Pederson, Jim Caldwell – Big Cat Country
As for Pederson, he is also an accomplished former HC, winning the Super Bowl in 2017 with the Eagles. In five seasons, Pederson accounted for a 42-37 record with three playoff runs. Those runs included having both Nick Foles and Carson Wentz at quarterback. He was fired following a 4-11-1 season in 2020. Both Pederson and Caldwell would make sense for the Jaguars moving forward. Both come with accomplished backgrounds, veteran experience in the NFL. Both coaches are also thought to be a couple of the best quarterback coaches in the league.

Sunday Late Night Wrap Up #16: The playoff picture begins to come into focus – The SB Nation NFL Show
In today’s episode, find out who clinched playoff spot, who is in trouble, and who put on historic performances in Week 16.

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