Another Nick Sirianni "What Did He Do Now" Moment

Even after last week’s frustrating loss to the Commanders, the Eagles are still tied fourth in terms of Super Bowl favorites at most sports books. Only the Lions have better odds to win the title coming out of the NFC. That they are doing this with a, shall we say, volatile head coach speaks as much to the Eagles’ sheer talent as it does to Sirianni’s “leadership.” In other words, oops, he did it again.

In the email today:

• 🙄 Nick Sirianni Can't Stop Being a Silly Distraction

• ‼️ Sixers Drop Christmas Shocker on Celtics

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

We don’t claim to be the authority on Nick Sirianni’s erratic behavior. The Eagles’ head coach’s proclivity to get pulled into controversy — or cause it himself — is well documents.

If your Christmas celebrations were anything like ours, you got stuck in at least one conversation about whether the Eagles can win a Super Bowl with an overgrown adolescent at the controls.

When we had to answer that question, we said Sirianni’s players seem to love him and play hard for him, that he’s 46-20, and that therefore his oddities have to be taken as more of a feature than a bug.

It appears that to all of the descriptives you might have about Sirianni’s demeanor, you can add sore loser.

Our colleague Anthony SanFilippo wrote thoughtfully about this most recent Sirianni “dust up” and what it might mean for the fortunes of his team.

There is so much about this not to like.

The Eagles blew a 14-point lead. In the process, they all but took themselves out of the hunt for the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs. If it was good coaching that helped build the lead, then it was certainly poor coaching that contributed to the loss.

Above all, though…this is Zach Ertz. Put aside for the moment that Ertz made three Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl with the Eagles, that he’s a nailed-on lock for the Eagles’ Hall of Fame.

Putting all that aside, Ertz is not known for being an agitator, a bad guy or a trash talker. Conversely, he’s the sort of guy teams nominate as their Walter Payton Man of the Year.

The apology is better than not apologizing, just about.

The Eagles will be best served, though, by having their head coach concentrate on not being “part of the story” as long as this season has Super Bowl potential.

The Sixers had lost six of their last eight regular season games against the Celtics going into their Christmas Day game at TD Garden.

Joel Embiid was going to be available after getting himself ejected from the Sixers’ win two days earlier against the Spurs in Philadelphia.

This is Embiid we’re talking about, though. It’s always something.

When normal people trip over seemingly nothing, it’s usually unremarkable. When Embiid does it, the result is unavoidably comic, tragic and something of a spectacle.

Fortunately, Embiid didn’t end up tearing multiple ligaments in both lower extremities. Instead, he played — quite well, really — and the Sixers were really feeling themselves after claiming a 118-114 win.

Embiid had 27 points and nine rebounds in 31 minutes. That’s remarkable production for playing less than two-thirds of the game. It also meant other Sixers had to pick up the slack. Other Sixers did, most notably Tyrese Maxey and Caleb Martin.

There’s nothing bad to say about an upset win over the Celtics. Every Christmas should bring us one of those.

The win moved the Sixers to 11-17 in advance of a four-game swing through Utah, Portland, Sacramento and Golden State.

“I think we got a high ceiling…we will be better,” Embiid was quoted as saying after the win. We agree on this much: Any time Embiid, Maxey and Paul George play, the Sixers can compete at a high level.

The question is how many more times we will get to see this version of the Sixers this season.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

We’re pulling this one forward from Sunday because we don’t publish on Sundays and because we’ll use any opportunity to mention Wilt.

📊 Poll

🔗 Links

• 🌴Jimmy Butler might need to get comfortable in Miami.

• 🏃‍♂️Lamar Jackson broke the NFL quarterback rushing record which previously had been held by Michael Vick and Randall Cunningham.

• 🦅 It’s looking more and more like Jalen Hurts will miss Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.

• 🤠 Meanwhile, the Cowboys are shutting down CeeDee Lamb.

• 🏌️‍♂️Hurts and Saquon Barkley went in together on tricked out golf carts for the Eagles’ offensive line.

📺 Coming Up

Games before our next send.

Saturday, December 28, 2024

• Flyers at Ducks, 4:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

• Sixers at Jazz, 9:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Sunday, December 29

• Eagles vs. Cowboys, 1:00 p.m. (FOX)

• Flyers at Kings, 9:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Thanks for reading. See you Monday.

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