Another Week, Another Dig-Deep Game For Defending Super Bowl Champs

The Philadelphia Eagles' first tow games have all been emotionally draining and now comes another one.

Sep 14, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni looks on after the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – The Rams have fattened up in the early going by playing two teams that are a combined 0-4. Granted, Los Angeles is a big reason why those two teams, the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans, have yet to win a game.

Still, it’s been a rather breezy start compared to the Eagles, who have expended plenty of emotional energy in beating a division rival in the Cowboys and hearing everyone across the country talk about a Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs, then having to go to Kansas City, where the Chiefs were 75-23 since Andy Reid took over in 2013.

You wouldn’t think that diving deep into the emotional well would be a problem for a battle-tested team like the Eagles, and not just this year. They haven’t lost a game, including the playoffs, that Jalen Hurts has started and finished since Sept. 29 of last year. That’s nearly a full year.

Eagles Ready For Emotional Challenge

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

“We have a group of guys in this locker room that work their butt off to be ready for each and every Sunday and that love football,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “You might not start fast at times offensively or defensively, but with this group, the word ‘flat’ I think is a flashy word to use when you might not start fast. There are different reasons for not starting fast, and our intention every week is to start fast, obviously, on both sides of the football.”

The coach doesn’t believe that eventually the emotional well will run dry, even though this will be their third straight huge game against a team they beat 28-22 in the NFC Divisional Round in mid-January.

“We know that the Rams are going to come out and be ready to play,” said Sirianni. “We’ve got to come out ready to play. That's part of the process of practice, to have confidence in the plan. That's part of the process of practice when you might take a period off here and there to make sure they're fresh in those scenarios, and so I can't tell you how much respect I have for this Rams team that we've played often these last three years.”

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