Eagles coach Nick Sirianni has a tough job managing various personalities, especially those of star players who expect perfection. But credit to Sirianni for allowing his players to express themselves and listening to their concerns, even in heated moments during games.
Some coaches would be quick to send a player to the locker room for the type of outburst center Jason Kelce had on the sideline last week against the Rams. Wide receiver A.J. Brown had one a few weeks earlier, appearing frustrated with Jalen Hurts for not getting him the ball against the Vikings.
Other coaches wouldn’t dare remove their star players from games when emotions get the best of them, but they certainly don’t like to see heated exchanges develop publicly. Sirianni, however, seems to embrace those problem-solving situations with high emotions. He knows when to step in and when to let his players figure it out.
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Sirianni didn’t have a notable decision in crunch time against the Rams, but I wanted to highlight how he’s saying and doing all the right things, evident from the team’s 5–0 start despite a few rocky moments.
Sirianni kept telling reporters that tight end Dallas Goedert and edge rusher Haason Reddick were close to having breakout games. Both had their best performances of the season against the Rams, with Goedert recording eight catches for 117 yards and a touchdown, and Reddick sacking Matthew Stafford twice to derail the Rams’ hopes of a comeback.
Brown was thrilled in the locker room for Goedert because everyone is playing their part in this Eagles offense still adjusting to new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson. (By the way, I witnessed Brown quickly call out the fan who wasn’t supposed to be in the Eagles’ locker room at SoFi Stadium. Great awareness by the Pro Bowl wideout, who immediately alerted team officials about the fan.)
Back to Sirianni, he’s done plenty of things right for the Eagles. He’s also correct for using the Brotherly Shove play to his advantage, while the rest of the league complains about it.
“We watched the rest of the league, and quite frankly, they can’t do it like we can,” Sirianni said after beating the Rams. “Hey, we’ll play by the rules of what they say to do. It’s a good play for us. The competition committee can look at it, but until then, people have to stop it.”
Here are some other commendable game plans and coaching decisions—and some questionable calls—that occurred across the league in Week 5.
Calls we liked
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Steelers go bold with go-ahead play: I’m not exactly sure who to credit for the play-call leading to Kenny Pickett’s 41-yard rainbow pass to George Pickens that gave the Steelers their first touchdown in nine quarters. It was also a gutsy call because it was against Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey.
According to social media detectives, offensive coordinator Matt Canada wasn’t happy enough about the go-ahead score that eventually led to the Steelers defeating the Ravens, 17–10. So, let’s just call it a team effort. The Steelers desperately needed that late rally after a poor start to the season, especially on the offensive side.
Trevor Lawrence’s audible to Calvin Ridley: So Lawrence deserves the bulk of the credit for making the change at the line of scrimmage, connecting with wide receiver Calvin Ridley for a 32-yard completion on third-and-4 late in the game against the Bills.
But coach Doug Pederson deserves credit for allowing his third-year quarterback the freedom to check out of plays. Pederson and the front office also went out and traded for Ridley for those types of moments, and it’s starting to come together for the Jaguars after their upset win against the Bills in London.
Calls we question
John Harbaugh’s special teams: The Ravens’ wide receivers got the bulk of the blame for the loss to the Steelers, dropping passes that could have led to touchdowns. But it’s time to acknowledge that the Ravens have bad special teams, something they probably have never had under coach John Harbaugh.
The Ravens had a punt blocked that led to a safety, making the game 10–5 in the fourth quarter, sparking the Steelers’ comeback victory. Earlier in the game, special teams could have helped, but Harbaugh passed on a makable field goal for kicker Justin Tucker and opted for a failed fourth-and-2 from the Steelers’ 23-yard line late in the first half.
Baltimore’s special teams have struggled this season, ranking 20th in the league. But the Ravens as a whole have had many mistakes in crucial moments this season.
Later in the game, O’Connell was forced to take a delay-of-game penalty on fourth down because he had used all of his timeouts. Minnesota moved back five yards and failed on a fourth-and-12 play with less than five minutes remaining in a seven-point game.
