Eagles' Vic Fangio downplays Nick Sirianni's involvement on defense

Nick Sirianni didn’t make a defensive play decision in the Eagles’ win over the Browns on Sunday, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said Tuesday.

Didn’t happen.

So what happened?

“It wasn’t a defensive decision,” Fangio explained. “It was just a situational thing where he just said, ‘Hey, be alert.’ He didn’t call any defense.”

Sirianni pounced on both sides of the football Sunday afternoon, trying to uncover a mistake he made on the defensive side of the ball. He also accepted blame for an offensive play call that didn’t work.

But it’s clear that Sirianni likes to act as something of a lightning rod for the coaching staff. Something goes wrong? The head coach is to blame for this.

“I called for the defense,” Sirianni said after the 20-16 win over the Browns. “It just didn’t work out, you know, I’m going to put this out there. It wasn’t Vic’s fault. I won’t tell you which piece. I will do that from time to time. This time it didn’t work. That’s because of no one else but me.”

Fangio, 66, has spent nearly three decades as an NFL defensive coordinator, first taking on such a position in 1995 when Sirianni was a freshman in high school.

So it seemed a little odd to me that Sirianni went out of bounds and made a defensive play call at a crucial moment on Sunday. And Fangio doesn’t need the head coach to take the blame away from him.

What was the situation on Sunday when Sirianni spoke out?

“It was just when they had the ball near midfield and it was third-and-long,” Fangio said. “He said, ‘Hey, be alert that they might check it out,’ or something like that. They’re trying to get into field goal range.”

It’s likely that the incident Fangio was referring to occurred in the second quarter when the Browns faced a 3rd-and-14 from the Eagles’ 44-yard line. The Eagles gave up a 10-yard pass to Amari Cooper for a 4th-and-4 pass from their 34-yard line, which the Browns converted on their first scoring drive of the afternoon.

While Fangio said the Eagles gave up more yards than he wanted on that third pass, he thought Sirianni’s warning was “inconsequential.”

And when asked about Sirianni’s commitment to his defense compared to other coaches he’s worked for, Fangio said, “It’s pretty similar.”

Sirianni’s role this season is a little different. He is expected to be a CEO head coach overseeing both sides of the game. But aside from having a little more time to periodically drop in on defense meetings, Fangio clearly has autonomy in his defense. And he should.

Eagles’ Vic Fangio downplays Nick Sirianni’s involvement on defense – NBC Sports Philadelphia

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