Eagles' Coach Preaches Accountability While Shielding Others From It

While admirable Nick Sirianni's shielding of others has helped create a tough environment.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni on Oct. 14, 2024 / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - Lost in the sauce of Nick Sirianni’s taunting of his own fan base after the 20-16 Week 6 win over Cleveland in his troubling habit of shielding others when things go wrong in Philadelphia.

Some may call Sirianni’s willingness to take the shrapnel for others a positive trait. Still, for a coach who has preached accountability from Day 1 this season, the unintended consequences of the deflections have created other problems.

By protecting new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Sirianni has created a cottage industry of conspiracy theorists who dislike the head coach so much that it's now boiling down to “that was a bad result, must have been a Sirianni play call” vs. “he’s finally letting Kellen do his thing” when something does go well.

The mishandling of a drive just before halftime against the Browns which ended with Myles Garrett blocking a field goal that ex-Eagles Rodney McLeod returned 50 yards for a touchdown was where Sirianni went awry in Week 6.

Judging by the film, Sirianni was protecting Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts this time, not Moore.

“I'll say this: I made the call on third-and-one,” Sirianni insisted after the game. “Nobody else but me.”

The #Eagles offense moved the ball late in the 2Q with a chance to extend their lead but came up short

Here's why it happened 🔊🔊 pic.twitter.com/p37IGvJ3oL

— Fran Duffy (@FDuffyNFL) October 14, 2024

The circumstance began with a first-and-10 from the Cleveland 40-yard line with 60 seconds left before halftime and three timeouts when Hurts hit A.J. Brown on a slant for nine yards. 

The Eagles decided not to use a timeout before a swing pass to Barkley, which should have been an easy first down had Barkley just continued forward. Instead, the running back raced out of bounds before the sticks presumably not realizing Philadelphia had plenty of timeouts to use.

That brings up to the fateful third-and-one. Seeing zero blitz, Hurts checked out of a run and into an all-go situation but Barkley whiffed on the pass protection, resulting in an eight-yard sack.

The rest you know. The freakishly athletic Garrett jumped the line of scrimmage to get the FG block and McLeod took it home.

Clearly, it wasn’t even Moore’s fault never mind Sirianni’s yet the head coach was explaining “nobody else but me” while opening up another door that should have remained closed.

“I did that on defense one time as well,” the head coach claimed. “I made a call on defense. It didn't work out just so you know. I'll put that out there. That wasn't on [Defensive Coordinator] Vic [Fangio]. I won't tell you which play. I'm going to do that from time to time. This time it didn't work. That's on nobody else but me.”

On Monday, Sirianni doubled down when asked flatly if he was really calling plays or shielding his coaches.

“I think it's very common in the NFL when the head coach gets on and says, ‘Attack; concede; come on, let's get after these guys.’ I think that is where that comes from. Then there are personal philosophies that I have of how to play certain situations that you talk through,” Sirianni said.

“So it wouldn't be fair for me to have the philosophies that I have, and push that on my coaches, and then not take accountability for it when the play doesn't work. So, yeah, that's kind of how it goes. I think that's pretty common throughout the NFL.”

To those who say no harm, no foul, you can make a strong argument that the angst surrounding Sirianni comes from those who’ve taken him at his word. By his own accounting, Sirianni makes only mistakes.

That sets off a butterfly effect resulting in booing and calling for the head coach’s job, resulting in rabbit ears from Sirianni and the ensuing taunting of his own fans before having to walk it back in a Zoom session where the coach resembled a prisoner of war.

Everything matters especially when you are purposefully obfuscating your own constituency.

“My name is on everything,” Sirianni said. “I think it's just, again, the wisdom and discernment of when to do that and when not to do that. Unfortunately, there is not a rule book about how to be a head coach and how to handle different situations. You try to do your best and handle each situation as it's presented.”

MORE NFL: Eagles Nick Sirianni "Sorry And Disappointed" For Postgame Behavior