John, how are you? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me.
Well, thank you so much for taking the time. You think about where things were last season as the defense was torched and people were looking at Nick Sirianni, kind of crazy. What are your thoughts on how things have just changed in a matter of a year? Yeah, well, it's interesting you bring that up, because I think the bigger I think the obvious thing that's kind of splashing is the headliner for most people, Saquon Barkley. It's been a historic year. He needs 30 rushing yards in the Super Bowl to break Terrell Davis' single-season record when he includes post-season.
So he'll probably do that in the first quarter. It's been historic, but I think the biggest part of this return is the defense. Last year, you could make a strong argument at the end of the season, it's the worst defense in football. And they bring in Vic Fangio, and they're the number one defense in football. You just don't see that kind of turnaround in one season. So I think Vic Fangio deserves a ton of credit, but also the development of Jalen Carter, Zach Baughan coming out of nowhere to be a defensive player of the year candidate, Quignon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean as rookie cornerbacks, starting and excelling is rare. So that turnaround, I remember talking about it in the offseason, we were saying, well if Vic can get this defense from the bottom of the NFL to 15-16, the Eagles would have a chance. He got them to number one.
Number one. And John McMullen is here with us, covers the Eagles for SI Now. Vic Fangio comes in, they completely switch things up in all the coaching rooms, and Nick Sirianni is here. There was conversations right before the season that if things didn't turn around, that he might be on the way out. Have you noticed any changes in how he approaches the game? Does he seem more settled? It was kind of a shock when they went to the Super Bowl a few years ago and said, hey, Nick Sirianni is already here.
And then he got beat up in the court of public opinion. How has he evolved as a coach, if at all? I think he's evolved pretty significantly. He's a full-time CEO coach now, which I think a lot of teams should go in that direction. I've advocated that for years. I don't want to hire a head coach that is essentially a super coordinator and doesn't pay attention to one side of the football. To me, that position is more about leadership than X's and O's than schemes. Because schemes are going to change. Players change. And good coaches change their schemes to fit their players.
To me, it's a much bigger job than people realize. And he's settled into that CEO role. In the Super Bowl era, he is the only coach to make the postseason in his first four years and make two Super Bowls.
Nobody else has ever done it before. So his personality rubs people the wrong way at times. A little bit over the top, which I think doesn't play well. But as far as wins and losses, other than Andy Reid, nobody's in his realm right now.
Well, Jon, you talk about scheme. The Eagles have certainly, even throughout all the success this year, they've been criticized. The usage of the ball in the air. We know about the addition of Saquon.
You certainly want to hand it off. We see that's going to get him likely an Offensive Player of the Year award. What's going on with Jalen, if anything? He didn't look all that worse for wear yesterday with that knee.
What can we expect over the next few weeks? For him to be fine? He threw things and he didn't show any worse for wear. He's definitely banged up.
He was going to wear a brace and seemed to have a lot of trouble with it and ditched it right before the game. He moved around well enough. I don't think he was his typical mobile self, but he threw the football better, which I think has a lot to do with just throwing with more conviction. When he does that, I think he's very effective. When he holds onto the footballs, when he starts to have problems.
I think there's unintended consequences to everything. When you run the ball as effectively as Philadelphia, again, historically good, that's going to have an impact on the passing game. You just don't throw it as much. That's kind of what happened to the Eagles. AJ Brown has certainly been in the news throughout the course of the season for how often he's gotten the ball and not often enough or whether he's reading a book on the sidelines. Yesterday, 96 yards receiving and a touchdown. Do you think he's been misunderstood throughout the course of the year?
What is the general public missing or not understanding? Well, I think in nature that because of the way the NFL has been over the years, people kind of automatically default to wide receivers as divas. Sometimes it's true, sometimes it isn't. In the case of AJ, he's a team captain. He's voted that by his teammates.
It's not assigned. But he's a very accountable guy. Earlier in the season when the passing game wasn't working well, he called that out. I think a lot of people focused on that. The same week, Wayne Johnson did the same thing. Jordan Mylotta did the same thing. Devante Smith did the same thing.
Even Jalen Hurts did the same thing. But for whatever reason, whether it's because of the position, whether it's because of the perception, it sort of rained down on AJ Brown. But I think, you know, second team All-Pro and they don't throw the ball a lot. He's one of the best receivers in football.
If you look at the 60-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the game, it was a crack toss play. It was AJ Brown coming down to get the block that initially sprung Saquon Barkley. It's funny, if you talk to the Eagles, including Saquon, most people say, who's the best player on the Eagles? Everybody says Saquon. Saquon says AJ Brown.
Let me ask you this, John. There was no Saquon Barkley on that team that went to the Super Bowl. We know AJ Brown is going to get his shot now as well. Would they be here if they did not sign Saquon Barkley last offseason?
Probably not, but there's a host of things. I mentioned the defense. I mean, they could have signed Saquon Barkley. And if they don't sign Vic Fangio as a coordinator, if they don't bring in Zach Bond, if they don't try to ask Quinnion Mitchell, if they don't try to ask Cooper Eugene, they're probably not in the Super Bowl.
So there were a host of moves on both sides of the football that worked out, that got them to this point. The offensive line is having an historic season to the point where a former GM just texted me last week and said, this is the first time I've heard this and I thought about it. He said, this is one of the best offensive lines of all time.
Of all time. And you look at it from left to right, Jordan Mylotta, Landy Dickerson, Cam Jurgen, Makai Becton, Lane Johnson, it's been dominant. And, you know, people in New York, where you guys are is they saw Saquon for six years.
He didn't do this in New York. They didn't have that offensive line. So everything sort of has fit together perfectly. John McMullen joining us from SI now. What do you think this means when we actually get to the game Sunday? Do you think the Eagles are finally going to get over the hump of Kansas City or do you think Kansas City will three-peat?
Well, it's tough to bet against the coach quarterback duo of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. I mean, one of the best of all time. We all thought, all right, you know, when Tom Brady finally retired that he sort of broke everyone's perception. You're not supposed to win that many Super Bowls. And that's going to take a long time for that to happen again.
Well, maybe not. Patrick Mahomes is doing what he's doing. I think the Eagles are the more talented team from 1 through 53. But you have a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame quarterback. And that twosome is very, very difficult to beat. The Eagles were the better team in Super Bowl 57 and they lost because of that quarterback and that coach.
And they're still there. Rick Flair rules apply for any wrestling fans. You got to beat the man.
We heard the same thing from from Josh Allen and he certainly understands how difficult it is to get past this combination of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. But John, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. Where can people follow you and all of your work? They can read me at SI.com backslash NFL backslash Eagles. You can listen to me, view me on Purse 365 every morning and see it at my X platform.
Actually, I think Mullen watching on YouTube Monday through Friday. Purse 365. John, thank you so much and enjoy the next couple of weeks. It could be a big one. OK, thank you. Thanks for having me.
