Top 10 Eagles Stories of 2021
He was late to Jeffrey Lurie’s interview party to be the next head coach.
When Nick Sirianni was announced as the coach who would succeed Doug Pederson just three years after Pederson delivered the franchise’s first Super Bowl triumph, there was some head-scratching.
There was that and plenty of criticism after Siianni's initial news conference, in which he appeared nervous and unsure of himself. Most predicted disaster.
At 2-5, he looked like a one-and-done coach.
But Sirianni has righted the ship, going 6-2 and putting a roster that was supposed to be in transition and maybe a year away from competing for a playoff spot, in the thick of the playoff chase.
In the process, Sirianni has won over the fan base.
Most of it anyway, because, well, the Eagles fan base is not easily won over.
Still, the about-face on the Eagles head coach is the top Eagles story of 2021.
Head coaches are usually fired at some point in their careers. Even Andy Reid and the Eagles parted ways after 14 years and the Browns and Bill Belichick went their separate ways after five seasons in Cleveland.
Presumably, Sirianni will eventually be fired at some point. It’s just the way it works.
For now, though, he has turned the fans in his favor.
And how does the southwest New York-bred Sirianni feel about the fans?
“If there are still tickets (to Sunday’s game in Washington), fans, I encourage you to go get those tickets, scoop 'em up, and I want to hear here the E-A-G-L-E-S after touchdowns down there," he said on Friday. "I can't wait. “I hope you guys hear it in my voice how passionate I am about our fan base. I think early in the year people were asking me, ‘You guys are winning on the road more than you're winning at home.’
"Well, when we were on the road at times it was like it felt like we were at home. So again, just can't say enough about our fans and how passionate they are and how excited I am, and our team is when we see and hear them at away games.”
Here are the other big Eagles stories from 2021:
2. Doug Pederson firing. It happened on Jan. 11, and surprised everyone. Pederson was three years removed from orchestrating a parade down Broad Street. Also, a week before the firing, he and GM Howie Roseman met with the media following a 4-12 season and it appeared as if Pederson would be given a chance to turn that record upside down. It didn’t happen.
3. Carson Wentz trade. It wasn’t nearly as surprising as Pederson’s termination because the quarterback wasn’t happy. He was supposed to be the franchise but found himself on the bench at the end of the 2020 season. The Eagles had little choice but to oblige him or risk bringing back someone who wouldn’t very happy in the locker room and presumably become a divisive force. News of the trade that sent him to Indianapolis for what would become a first-round pick in 2022 and a third-round pick in the 2021 draft broke on Feb. 18 and became official a month later.
4. Jalen Hurts’ 3 rushing touchdowns in one game. The quarterback did it against the New Orleans Saints in an important win that has the Eagles holding the tiebreaker over New Orleans in the playoff hunt, just in case it’s needed. Hurts became only the eighth NFL quarterback since 1978 to rush for three scores in a game and the first quarterback to ever do it, and just the seventh Eagles player to achieve that.
5. Flower presser. It was a bizarre moment when Sirianni compared his team to a flower during a new conference after a loss in Las Vegas, one that had the coach saying that, like a flower, his team needed to remember to water and fertilize in order to keep improving. There were eye rolls all over the Delaware Valley and more criticism. Adding to the bizarreness of it all was that Sirianni made his comments wearing some sweater thing that looked like it was straight out of the wardrobe closet on the set of Star Wars. All the Eagles did after that, though, was go 6-2.
6. Drafting DeVonta Smith. The Eagles moved up two spots to take a wide receiver at No. 10 overall. Smith was coming off a Heisman Trophy-winning season at Alabama, and he leads the Eagles in receptions (58), yards receiving (821), and receiving touchdowns (5). GM Howie Roseman found his elusive No. 1 WR.
7. Slay’s 3 TDs. It’s not one moment, but three for the Pro Bowler, Darius Slay. You can’t separate them. The cornerback’s two fumble return touchdown (33 and 83 yards, respectively), and pick-six cannot be undersold. The last time an Eagles defensive player scored at least three TDs in a season was 1993 when Eric Allen had four.
8. Minshew Mania. For one game, Gardner Minshew stole the show. Acquired at the end of August from Jacksonville, the QB waited until Dec. 5 to make his first start, only doing so after Hurts sprained an ankle in the previous game. Minshew completed his first 11 passes on his way to leading the offense to points on seven straight drives to beat the New York Jets, 33-18. He finished his game 20-for-25 with 242 yards, two touchdowns, and a passer rating of 133.7.
9. Covid outbreaks. December was a minefield of positive COVID tests across the NFL. The Eagles did probably a better job than most teams of navigating it without losing any important pieces, save for maybe Landon Dickerson two weeks ago for one game. Sirianni, though, landed in the virus protocols, but was able to emerge after just four days and never missed a game.
10. Harold Carmichael's Hall of Fame speech. The legendary Eagles WR waited a long time to hear the Hall’s call and when he did, the induction was delayed from 2020 due to COVID until the summer of 2021. On Aug. 7, he gave a speech that thanked everyone in his orbit and concluded with this message to Eagles fans: “Thank you for welcoming a 22‑year‑old kid from Jacksonville, Florida, and really accepting me as being one of your own. Thank you for the support, thank you for your relentless passion, your energy, your pride. To me, you're the best fans in the world.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
