When Nick Sirianni arrived in Philadelphia in 2021, he inherited a roster anchored by established stars. Throughout his first five seasons, reaching the playoffs alongside John Harbaugh as the only coaches in the free-agency era to achieve the feat in their opening years, Sirianni enjoyed the luxury of veteran leadership. He had Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Jason Kelce, Jalen Hurts, Fletcher Cox, and Darius Slay, alongside Javon Hargrave and Dallas Goedert. DeVonta Smith and Landon Dickerson joined months later. Above all, stability at quarterback was a constant, with Hurts starting 93 of the 101 games Sirianni coached, including postseason play.
Now, that stability has vanished. The Eagles sit at 2-4 after four consecutive losses, facing a daunting three-game stretch against NFC East rivals starting with a Monday night matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, followed by games against the Washington Commanders and the New York Giants. Compounding the slide is an extensive injury report that listed 24 players at one point during the week. While the team is slowly regaining some health, receiver DeVonta Smith will miss the game with a nagging hamstring injury, and No. 2 receiver Dontayvion Wicks remains sidelined with an ankle issue.
Most significantly, the quarterback position is entirely disrupted. Hurts is taking blood thinners to address blood clots in his lungs and is expected to remain on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, right tackle Lane Johnson has retired. With a heavily depleted lineup featuring backup offensive linemen, receivers, and running backs, questions loom over how Sirianni will perform without the star-studded foundation that defined his early tenure.
Running back Saquon Barkley is questionable to return from a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury, though his top two backups are on injured reserve. On defense, top edge rusher Nolan Smith Jr. may be absent, while Jalyx Hunt and Jonathan Greenard are questionable. Sirianni’s $17 million annual salary now faces its sternest test as critics recall how past coaches, such as Doug Pederson, managed to win a Super Bowl without key starters.
Across the league, NFL Week 7 brought widespread chaos, particularly in survivor pools where participants faced heavy casualties. The San Francisco 49ers suffered their first loss of the season at 6-1, falling to the Atlanta Falcons as Christian McCaffrey sustained a thigh injury, Brock Purdy threw two interceptions, and George Kittle fumbled. The undefeated Kansas City Chiefs also stumbled to a 5-1 record, dropping a 20-3 game to the Seattle Seahawks in a contest where Patrick Mahomes failed to reach the red zone for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings improved to 6-0 with a narrow 16-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, boasting a league-low 74 points allowed, and the Miami Dolphins secured their first win at 1-5 behind Malik Willis against the New York Jets.
Elsewhere around the league, the Green Bay Packers lost a tight game to the Detroit Lions following a series of controversial officiating decisions, including a bizarre unnecessary roughness penalty involving a player running after an unblown whistle and knocking down an official who threw a flag from his back. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers relied on 258 rushing yards and four forced turnovers to defeat the Carolina Panthers 43-13, despite Baker Mayfield throwing for just 64 yards in his return from a thumb injury. In Denver, Bo Nix rushed for a 62-yard touchdown, setting a career high and a franchise record for longest run by a Broncos quarterback in a win at Arizona. The Cincinnati Bengals erased a 13-0 halftime deficit to score 35 unanswered points against the Baltimore Ravens, and the Cleveland Browns maintained a tie for first place in the AFC North at 5-2 by defeating the Tennessee Titans, matching the Pittsburgh Steelers, who topped the New Orleans Saints in Paris.
