Nick Sirianni Has 1 Word to Summarize Eagles Defense vs. Lions
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Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni called his defense "awesome" after defeating the Detroit Lions in Week 11.
The Detroit Lions eclipsed the 30-point mark five times before Week 11. But the Philadelphia Eagles defense held Detroit to just one touchdown in their 16-9 victory on
The Eagles won the contest on fourth down. The Lions are as aggressive on the crucial possession down as any team in the league.
On Sunday night, the Eagles held Detroit without a fourth-down conversions — 0-for-5 overall. Detroit was also just 3 of 13 on third down.
When asked about his team’s fourth-down defense after the game, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni repeated one word a couple times.
“Awesome,” said Sirianni.
During his postgame press conference, the Eagles head coach used the word several times when describing the team’s defense versus the Lions.
Nick Sirianni Raves About Eagles Defense After Lions Win
The Lions weren’t as strong in October offensively as they were at the beginning of the season. But head coach Dan Campbell assumed play-calling duties ahead of Week 10.
Against the Washington Commanders last Sunday, Campbell’s play-calling sparked a 44-point output for the Lions offense.
Campbell’s play-calling, though, didn’t net the same results versus the Eagles. That was in large part to Philadelphia stopping the Lions on all five of their fourth-down tries.
“Those are turnovers in our mind,” Sirianni said. “Really, really good coverage and rush together.
“Aggressive play by the front. Good matching in the secondary. That’s a good football team, and to be able to go 5-for-5 [stopping fourth downs], outstanding. Outstanding.”
The two fourth-down stops Philadelphia made in the second quarter came in Detroit territory. However, the first two unsuccessful Lions fourth downs in the second half came in field-goal range.
The second of those two missed fourth downs for Detroit in the second half occurred at the Philadelphia 3-yard line.
Those stops directly led to the Eagles preventing the Lions from scoring.
Thanks in large part to those two stops, Philadelphia took a two-score lead early in the fourth quarter with a Jake Elliott field goal.
Sirianni Creates Pressure for Setting Eagles Defensive Tone
The Eagles were able to stop the Detroit fourth-down tries because of the pressure they placed on Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Particularly on the goal line stop, Goff had to release the ball earlier than he wanted.
But Philadelphia created pressure on the pocket throughout the night, not just on fourth down. Sirianni said that pressure from the defensive front was the tone setter for the Eagles defense.
“We were able to get some early pressure on him and get some hits on him. They are always going to effect quarterbacks. So we did a really good job there as a defensive front,” said Sirianni.
“Those bat downs were really, really impressive, but not surprising to us because that’s what practice looked like and has been looking like. So, practice is a great indicator of what the game is going to look like. Our defense in practice, the energy … the bat downs, the crushing of blocks. We just did a really nice job there tonight.”
The Eagles only sacked Goff twice. However, Philadelphia recorded 10 pass defenses, including five from defensive linemen Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.
Behind those deflections, the Eagles held Goff to only 14 completions on 37 pass attempts. Including a kneel down at the end of the second quarter, the Lions scored just three combined points on their final seven possessions.
Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes gets straight to the point about what’s behind skid
Patrick Mahomes says the Chiefs’ skid comes down to missed plays, admitting he passed up a key shot to Hollywood Brown.
After another close defeat, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes cut through any noise and put the skid on himself and the offense. Speaking to Sports Illustrated about why the Chiefs have now dropped multiple tight games they used to finish, he said it comes down to execution in key moments.
“Just not making the plays, not making the throws at the right time,” Mahomes explained. He pointed to one missed opportunity in particular, noting he had Marquise “Hollywood” Brown early on a route that could have jump-started a drive and flipped momentum.
For Mahomes, the fix is going back to basics: staying true to his progressions, trusting the offensive line to hold up, and giving his receivers chances down the field to change games with one play.
Mahomes’ comments signal he knows that, for all the outside chatter about coaching or roster moves, Kansas City’s stars will ultimately be judged on whether they hit those throws and catches when it matters.
He has already conceded the road back to an AFC West title is steep after falling to 5-5 with a 22-19 loss in Denver, telling SI it will be “hard to get back in the division race” and shifting the focus to simply getting into the playoffs and trying to make a run.
Mahomes went 29-of-45 for 276 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in that game, briefly putting the Chiefs ahead with a strike to Travis Kelce before a blocked extra point and two Wil Lutz field goals flipped the result.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill may be in Miami now, but his eye is still on Kansas City. During the Chiefs’ Week 11 loss to the Denver Broncos, Hill jumped on X, formerly Twitter, to praise his former quarterback, saying Patrick Mahomes was “feeling good slinging the rock” and that he loved seeing KC take shots downfield.
Former Chiefs wideout Gehrig Dieter immediately chimed in that Hill was “trying to come back to KC,” a half-joking reminder that, even after leaving in 2022, Hill keeps showing public love for Mahomes and the franchise while they grind through a 5-5 start.
The bigger concern is how often those minor mistakes are accumulating. This isn’t a Chiefs team getting blown out; it is one repeatedly letting winnable games slip. Drops, protection issues, and timing miscues have turned what used to be automatic fourth quarters into coin flips.
As he put it, Kansas City is “at that point where we got to find a way just to win football games,” one tight margin at a time.
