Eagles' DC: Nick Sirianni's Involvement 'Wasn't A Defensive Call'

The Eagles' head coach didn't call a defense in Sunday's win over the Cleveland Browns

Eagles DC Vic Fangio / John McMullen/Eagles On SI

PHILADELPHIA - Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni did not make a defensive play call in Sunday’s 20-16 win against the Cleveland Browns, according to defensive chief Vic Fangio on Tuesday.

In one of the stranger moments in Sirianni’s somewhat surreal postgame press conference after the Browns game, the embattled head coach claimed that he “made a call” on defense that “didn’t work" in an unprompted fashion.

The offering was made as part of a larger approach Sirianni has been taking to insulate his coaches and players from public accountability.

Sirianni wouldn't provide any context for what happened other than to explain that his "personal philosophies" are often reinforced.

Fangio, the Eagles' highly-regarded defensive coordinator, was asked about the issue at his weekly presser and the veteran coach explained that Sirianni did not make any defensive call and was just reminding Fangio that the Browns might check down on a third-and-long situation near midfield to potentially get into field-goal range.

“It wasn’t a defensive call," Fangio said. "It was just a situation thing to where he just said ‘hey, be alert for this.’ He didn’t call a defense.”

Rangio also said: "[The Browns] ended up getting more than I would’ve liked to have seen them get but it was inconsequential what [Sirianni] said.”

While Fangio wouldn't pinpoint the situation, the most likely fit was a third-and-14 play from the Eagles' 44-yard line with five minutes remaining in the second quarter. The DC sent a blitz to push the Browns completely out of any semblance of scoring range and Deshaun Watson found Amari Cooper for a 10-yard gain. Cleveland then concerted on the subsequent fourth-and-4 opportunity.

The end game was a 43-yard field goal by Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins to cut the Eagles' lead to 10-3.

From Fangio's perspective nothing was out of the ordinary and the DC claimed Sirianni's level of involvement is “pretty similar” to other head coaches he’s worked for.

On Monday Sirianni was asked if he's really seizing play-calling at times or shielding others.

“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,” Sirianni said. “That’s kind of how it goes. I think that’s pretty common throughout the NFL.”

Still, Sirianni's attempt at limiting criticism targeted toward his assistants and players by claiming responsibility for only failed plays isn't working because it strains credulity.

The Eagles coach also tried to take the focus off Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley stemming from a third-and-1 audible late in the first half when the QB checked to an all-go deep route, and Barkley whiffed on blitz protection, resulting in a sack that set off the butterfly effect of Myles Garrett blocking a 57-yard Jake Elliott field-goal attempt that former Eagles' captain Rodney McLeod scooped up for a 50-yard touchdown.

The film clearly shows Hurts changing things at the line of scrimmage and a potential big gain to DeVonta Smith was thwarted by a lack of execution.

"My name is on everything," said Sirianni. "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."

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