PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles are used to being at the top of the NFC after 9-1 starts in both 2022 and 2023, and an 8-2 mark this season.
Philadelphia is currently deadlocked with the Minnesota Vikings for the second-best record in the NFC, one game behind 9-1 Detroit.
Because the Vikings trail the Lions in the NFC North, the snapshot of Nov. 18 says that the Eagles are the No. 2 seed in the conference and within earshot of No. 1 with seven games to play.
Nick Sirianni and his coaching staff handled the strong get-offs well in 2022 when they went to Super Bowl LVII before coming up short against Kansas City, and poorly, finishing last season 1-6 after spiking at 10-1.
Philadelphia Eagles On Si asked Sirianni what he’s learned from the polar opposite results to the strong starts over the past two seasons.
“And then the first year too, even in '21, we started 2-5 and finished 7-2. So we've had a couple different paths there,” Sirianni said. “Every season is a little bit different. But learning from all your circumstances. Again, it's about your mindset and trying to control what you can control. Because having success can be just as dangerous as having failure, as far as the scoreboard says.”
The mindset is about staying dialed into the moment and not looking either backward or forward.
“It's just so important that we have that mindset,” the coach said. “That we aren't focused on anything else, not the past, not the future, just literally where we are.
“We try to talk about that every single day, showing the mountain that we're going to climb. ‘Hey, you can't look up; you'll slip. Can't look down; you'll have a mistake.’ Just being locked into where you are.”
Sirianni also realizes that’s easier said than done and human nature can be overwhelming.
“Does that mean it goes perfectly every time? No, obviously not,” said Sirianni. “But that's the mindset we try to have. I think mental toughness is just as important in this game of football as physical toughness. So we try to pride ourselves on that.”
The Eagles have again proven to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders, Whether they reach that goal will likely depend more on their mental toughness rather than their physical acumen.
“Of course, you try to learn from your mistakes in the past. If you're referring to last year, we learned a lot from that,” Sirianni said. “We're on the path that we are from a lot of the lessons and a lot of the adversity we went through last year to end the season.
“We’ll have to continue to learn those lessons to put ourselves in positions to move forward. But really, at the end of the day, we're not worried about anything but this next football game that we have.”
