Inside the Eagles’ Bye Week: Self-Scouting, Coordinator Envy, and Taco Soup

The Eagles are one of two NFL teams who can put their feet on the ottoman this weekend as the 12 other playoff clubs put their seasons on the line, and the 18 have-nots around the NFL continue post-season autopsies to determine where it all went wrong.

Nick Sirianni’s team piled up a franchise-record 14 wins with a top-five offense and defense, and are set to traverse an NFC landscape that looks like the Big 12 compared to the AFC’s SEC.

It’s a golden opportunity and one Philadelphia must take advantage of but it’s also uncharted territory for Sirianni unlike former Eagles coach Andy Reid, who is prepping for his seventh postseason bye week of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Sirianni, conversely, has never even been through the process as an assistant

“You like to think you invented an idea or something like that,” Sirianni said when asked about his first time and the plan he put together. “In actuality, you take little bits and pieces from each coach you’ve been around. Whether that’s the good things you’ve been around or the bad things you have been around.”

Sirianni’s NFL mentor, former Indianapolis coach Frank Reich, went through the process as the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia en route to Super Bowl LII and is always on the speed dial.

“Because I haven’t been in this scenario, obviously now it’s calling the coaches that I trust, calling the coaches that have experienced this before, asking them how they handled it,” said Sirianni. “At the end of the day, just like I have to do with everything, I have to take a little bit of information from everywhere.”

Then decisions need to be made.

“I have to make the decision that I think is important, that benefits the team the most,” he said.

The plan has started to unfold with the coaches getting the day off Monday before returning Tuesday for an extensive self-scout.

The Eagles have no idea who their divisional-round opponent will be but it can be narrowed down to four options:

No. 7 seed Seattle if it upsets red-hot San Francisco.

The Sixth-seeded Giants if the Niners hold serve and Minnesota lays an egg at home against New York.

Or the winner of Tampa Bay-Dallas if chalk holds with the 49ers and Vikings.

Because of the Eagles’ extensive history with their divisional rivals, a little more time will be given to Seattle and Tampa Bay just in case.

A bleary-eyed Sirianni, meanwhile, took time away from the self-scout Tuesday to talk with reporters and showed the effects of the grind it can be.

Coming off a franchise record of 70 sacks in the regular season, Sirianni went to that aspect of the team's film to describe what the self-scout is like.

“What you're trying to do is go through and you're watching the tape of these things, right? For instance, we just got done watching the sack tape,” he explained. “... There's the data of it, you have one coach that summarizes that data, you see common denominators of what that data may say, then you put the tape on and let the tape tell the story.”

From there it’s about spitballing what’s worked and what hasn’t.

Feedback from his assistants is important to Sirianni.

“That's a really important part of the process," he said. "We feel like we always tweak our process to get better at it and we really feel good about how that goes. It is a grind, but that's what we do. We grind to make sure we can find the answers to put our guys in better spots and to coach them more efficiently.”

Prone to a folksy manner, Sirianni pulled out one of his trademarked analogies to illustrate the evolution of the process, turning from fertilizer to taco soup.

“I make taco soup sometimes for my family. I make the taco soup how I made it the last time because, well my kids don't love it, but my wife likes it,” he said. “I make the taco soup the way I did last time. Why do my kids not like it? Well because I didn't give them enough Fritos on the side. So maybe then I’ll add a couple of Fritos.

“I'll probably get made fun of for that, but that's okay.”

The Eagles’ success has been no joke, however, and preparation is a big part of it.

Later in the week, the pause button gets pressed for Sirianni’s two highly-regarded coordinators.

Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen has been requested by three teams to interview for their head-coaching position - Houston, Indianapolis, and Carolina.

Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is in the mix with the Texans again after nearly getting that job last year.

Sirianni isn’t concerned with his top lieutenants' abilities to compartmentalize.

“You hire guys like Shane and Jonathan that are committed to the team," he said. "Also, obviously, they want to be able to do what’s best for them and their families.

“I know that first and foremost, is that these guys are committed to this team. You have some time off here later in the week as far as we’re not grinding until 10 o’clock, maybe every night. There is some time that’s happening later in the week for them to be able to (interview)."

The players return for practice on Thursday and Friday, and Sirianni has planned more of an offseason or training camp environment where technique and fundamentals will be stressed, along with high-leverage situational work.

The Eagles could find out their opponent by Saturday night if the Seahawks upset the 49ers, Sunday if San Fran triumphs, or as late as Monday night when the Bucs and Cowboys meet if both the Niners and Vikings win as home favorites.

Whenever that domino falls, it's back to business as usual, albeit with the stakes raised by the urgency of sudden-death football.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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