American Football

Nick Sirianni almost named a finalist for AP Coach of the Year … we think?

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Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

What we DO know for sure is that offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is a finalist for AP Assistant Coach of the Year.

The NFL and the Associated Press started announcing the finalists for various end of the season awards on Wednesday morning and, predictably, a number of Philadelphia Eagles were named as finalists. Nick Sirianni, a head coach who led his team to the NFC East Division title, the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, and the most wins (tied) in the league was one of the five finalists for the AP Coach of the Ye…hold on, I’m being handed a note.

Well, that sure is interesting and confusing!

Despite the official NFL Twitter account posting a graphic that includes Sirianni with the caption “Which HC will be named the 2022 AP Coach of the Year?” on Wednesday morning, the Eagles head coach is NOT actually a finalist for the award.

There were five “finalists” and then later on Wednesday morning the AP announced the three real finalists: New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, Jacksonville’s Doug Pederson (<3 u forever, Dougie P.), and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan.

The AP’s Rob Maaddi received some heat on Twitter from understandably perturbed Eagles fans, but he explained that only the MVP award has five finalists while the other AP awards all have three. Why did the NFL account tweet out the graphic with the five coaches? I’m sure we’ll get a full explanation from the transparent to a fault league office later.

Sirianni was named Coach of the Year by the Maxwell Club, so I guess he has that going for him, which is nice.

In less confusing news, Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is one of the finalists for the the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award along with Detroit’s OC Ben Johnson and San Francisco’s DC DeMeco Ryans. The chess match between Steichen and Ryans in the NFC Championship should be a real treat for football fans.

The Eagles are No. 1 in the NFC in yards per game (389.1), total yards (6,614) and points per game (28.1), and fourth overall in the NFL in third-down efficiency (45.9%) and third overall in red-zone offense percentage (67.8). The Niners have allowed the fewest points in the league (16.3 per game) and the fewest yards in the NFC (the Eagles allowed the second fewest) with only 5,106 surrendered.

The winners will be announced at NFL Honors on Feb. 9. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the start of the playoffs, per the AP. For all the awards besides MVP, first-place votes equaled five points, second were three, and third were one.

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