Less than 12 hours after hoisting the Lombardi trophy, Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni kept things simple at his morning news conference, just as he did game planning for the Super Bowl.
“This game doesn’t have to be complicated,” Sirianni said, discussing defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s plan Sunday. “At the end of the day, did you tackle well? Did you get off blocks well? Did you hustle to the ball? Our guys did that. Do you take the ball away? Our guys did that. Vic did an unbelievable job.”
Philadelphia sacked Patrick Mahomes a career-high six times on Sunday night — becoming the eighth team in Super Bowl history with at least six sacks — all without blitzing once. According to Next Gen Stats, there was a point in the third quarter where the defense generated a dazzling 52.4 percent pressure rate against Mahomes without sending more than four pass rushers.
“Just like on offense, the game dictates just how the game’s played,” Sirianni said. “So we didn’t need pressures at all yesterday. We were getting home with four and being able to keep seven in coverage.”
The game plan was a continuation of what Sirianni calls the team’s “core values”: “Tough, detailed, together.” He echoed those sentiments in his pregame speech, when again Sirianni took the simple approach.
“The ‘Any Given Sunday’ talk by Al Pacino was really awesome,” Sirianni said, “but it don’t work that way, right? My job is not to inspire them, it’s more to just remind them of the things they already know. I keep it really short. I talk a lot all during the week. So before the game, it pretty much is consistent Week 1 to Week 37 — whatever we are on.”
The 43-year-old Eagles coach now has the most wins of any coach — regular season and postseason combined — in their first four years of coaching, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at the news conference. Sirianni has yet to coach a losing season and made the Super Bowl twice in the last three years.
Sirrianni and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts became the first head coach and quarterback duo in Eagles history to reach two Super Bowls. Hurts, the Super Bowl MVP, said he approached the game similarly to Sirianni and prioritized only what he could control.
When the Chiefs took away a major portion of Philadelphia’s offensive game plan by holding Saquon Barkley to just 2.3 yards per carry on 20 attempts, Hurts posted the third-highest completion percentage of the season (77.3 percent), passing for 221 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while rushing for 72 yards and another touchdown. Hurts’ 72 rushing yards were a Super Bowl record for quarterbacks. He also became the first player to throw for 200 yards and rush for 50 yards in a Super Bowl multiple times.
“It’s never been about what anyone else is doing,” Hurts said. “It’s always been about you yourself, the team and the work and the effort that you guys put in as a collective group. Just really trying to dominate your role, dominate your box.”
Up 40-22 with under two minutes to play, backup QB Kenny Pickett entered the game in place of Hurts to kneel it out in victory formation. Even then, Hurts was not ready to personally celebrate.
“I’ve challenged myself, we’ve challenged ourselves really, to just lock in on focusing, having that focus and being able to finish,” Hurts said. “And you get so focused in, you kind of, ‘I can’t.’ It’s not over until the fat lady sings, until the clock hits zero. It required that level of focus.
“When you’re in that mode, you process and everyone’s coming to dap you up, and just my innate state, my personality and my competitive nature, I don’t do well when everybody’s congratulating (me). The game ain’t over. But it was a joyful moment. All of it, it was well deserved.”
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(Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
