Back in May, the Eagles’ HC Nick Sirianni shared his secret to sustaining success. As he put it, “it’s really about the daily grind that you go through day in and day out. There’s a mental toughness to being able to do that and go through that every single day.” And that daily grind isn’t just for the HC or the players. It resonates throughout the whole city. Step into a Philadelphia sports bar and you’ll feel it. The raucous pride, the dissecting intensity, and the constant undercurrent of ‘prove it again.’ In Philly, the legends get made on an unforgiving turf. But even then, many are greeted more with skepticism and raised eyebrows than with statues. It’s very hard to get “flowers” in Philly, especially if you’re the man behind the headset.

You’d think a Super Bowl ring would end the debate. Yet Nick Sirianni—the high-energy, sometimes polarizing head coach who led the Eagles to another championship—still walks the city’s streets like he has something left to prove. Because as the talk shows and podcasts roll on, the question remains: does Sirianni really deserve his due, or did he just ride the wave of a stacked roster and a front office genius?

On the 3 and Out podcast, a listener’s comment asked: “Doesn’t Sirianni deserve some flowers, too?” John Middlekauf noted, Nick Sirianni doesn’t have a lot of say in the building’s internal mechanisms, but his contributions to the players are undeniable. “But when it comes to the players, motivating them, there is no disputing. He deserves a lot of credit. You win the Super Bowl. I don’t give a s— what the circumstances were. Obviously, their team was loaded, but you beat the Chiefs like that. You have the team ready, like, you are 100% spot on. It’s by far the most intense market in terms of the stories, in terms of the way the team’s covered locally and nationally.” While the crowds may suggest otherwise, the wins back up Sirianni.

Two Super Bowl appearances in his four-year stint so far, and one Lombardi Trophy backs up Sirianni’s leadership. He has also mastered the hardest trick. Keeping the Eagles locker room resilient in the white-hot glare of Philly scrutiny. His ability to adjust mid-season based on the personnel he’s got is also a huge resource on par with his flashier peeps. Yet, you’d hardly know it from the national narrative. In NFL circles, Sirianni is respected, but his credit always seems just a rung below the guys regarded as the full architects—Dan Campbell in Detroit, Andy Reid in Kansas City.

Sirianni’s fingerprints are all over the team’s evolving play style and the strong relationships he builds with players. But the challenge lies in perception. In Philly’s power structure, GM Howie Roseman is a shadow looming over all success. Sirianni does not have the “autonomy” to pick his staff or completely control his destiny like some of his counterparts. Numbers suggest most GMs would choose Campbell over Sirianni if hiring straight up, not because he’s less effective, but because he’s viewed as having less “juice”. That’s the Philly dilemma: do your job well in tandem, and everyone thinks it’s the tandem doing the heavy lifting.

But the credit gap isn’t just a Sirianni problem; it’s woven into the fabric of Philly football. His QB, Jalen Hurts, also finds himself in the middle of scrutiny less than half a year after winning the Super Bowl.

Jalen Hurts faces criticism just like his HC, maybe more.

This offseason, Jalen Hurts has found himself outside the top five QB rankings across the league. Not because he lacks the results, but because of the weapons around him. This sentiment hangs over both Hurts and Sirianni. In the eyes of outsiders, the magic isn’t theirs. It’s the roster, it’s the front office, it’s Philly’s relentless depth chart. Even after leading the most intense market in sports through a storm and out the other side for victory laps, they’re still waiting for the headline that just says, ‘They did it.’ Instead, it’s always, ‘They did it, but…’

In ESPN’s top 10 QB rankings, Jalen Hurts landed the 9th spot. But even his own city isn’t buying it. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mike Sielski wrote after the rankings came out, “Everyone knows that Hurts isn’t the ninth-best quarterback in the league. He’s the worst quarterback in the league.” Sielski went on to cite 11 reasons to make his case. While 10 reasons stacked Hurts against other players in the league, the 9th reason really drove it home. As Sielski wrote, “How good is he, really? How good does he have to be when he has Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, that offensive line, that defense, that coaching staff, and that infrastructure around him? Totally fair point. A truly great quarterback should prove that he can do more with less.” 

Last season’s numbers also tell a mixed story. On one hand, Hurts posted a career-high 68.7% completion percentage. His 103.7 passer rating was also the best in all his years. But with only 361 passes attempted (lowest since his rookie season), the trajectory shifts. Saquon Barkley came to Philly to win the Offensive Player of the Year leading with his carries. The rushing attacks drove home the wins for Philly. With a stacked roster, Hurts didn’t have to take the burden all on himself, and that’s the source of the criticism. If Hurts can flip the script this year even with the talent around him, he might be able to climb up the QB rankings once again. Till then, the 9th best QB in the league is Hurts’ reality.