Everything Nick Sirianni said after Eagles avoid another playoff letdown

One year ago, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was waiting to find out if he was going to be fired.

Following the Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LVII appearance, the 2023 Eagles appeared to be on course for the NFC’s No. 1 seed after winning 10 of their first 11 games. Then, the team fell apart. The Eagles lost six of their last seven games, including four double-digit blowout losses and two losses with blown double-digit leads.

The inexplicable nature of their late-season crash led to skepticism that lingered over the team throughout the 2024 season. Even as the victories mounted, fear of another collapse seemed to remain high. 

On Sunday, Sirianni firmly stomped that fear out. The Eagles managed to pull out a 22-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round despite an inefficient and unsightly offensive performance. The Packers totaled 302 offensive yards compared to the Eagles’ 290 yards. Philadelphia made up for the difference by forcing three turnovers while taking care of the football on offense.

Nick Sirianni praised the defense after playoff victory over Packers

During his postgame press conference, Sirianni praised linebacker Oren Burks, who forced Packers returner Keisean Nixon to fumble on the first play of the game.

“It was a tone-setter,” Sirianni said. “Oren has been a really good player here for us the entire season. … He’s always been a spark for us on special teams. I remember [general manager Howie Roseman], when we signed him, was like, ‘Hey, this guy is one of the best third, fourth linebackers in the NFL,’ and we were so excited to get him. And he’s a special teams stud.”

When Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean suffered an injury, second-year linebacker Nolan Smith stepped in and notched the first multi-sack game of his career.

“I love Nolan Smith,” Sirianni said. “I want my sons to play football like Nolan Smith. Before my kids go out to play any sport, I say, ‘Have fun, play hard, be physical.’ And that guy is the definition of those things.”

Although Sirianni didn’t have as much praise for his offense, he highlighted the team’s ability to make plays when it mattered most. 

“As an offense, we struggled a little bit as an offense,” Sirianni said. “I don’t think we had the game we wanted to have as an offense, but Jalen, I think, did a lot of good things. … We know the things that happen when we take care of the football, and … the efficiency he’s played with this year — with his quarterback rating, with his yards per attempt, and all those different things — to be able to do that while also taking care of the football is huge. Again, do we want plays back that happened today? Yeah, but one thing I loved about what happened on the offense was that it wasn’t going great, but … somehow, someway, when they cut the lead to six, we find a way to put it back to two scores.”

Sirianni said the team wouldn’t take Monday off because they had “things to clean up.”

“We’ve got to correct this tape,” Sirianni said. “We have things we have to get better from, from this tape. If we play on a Saturday, then their day off has to be tomorrow. We’ll find a way to get their corrections to them and review that on Tuesday. But if we play on Sunday, we’re coming back to work, we’re going to get our lift in, we’re going to correct the errors we made as coaches, and we made errors as players.”

The Eagles’ divisional round opponent has yet to be determined. As the No. 2 seed, Philadelphia cannot play the Detroit Lions or the Washington Commanders. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win their Wild Card game against Washington, they will head to Lincoln Financial Field next weekend. If the Commanders win, the Eagles will face the winner of Monday night’s game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams.