Philadelphia Eagles: Proof that Sirianni can fix Wentz or develop Hurts

Nick Sirianni’s next tenure will encourage Philadelphia Eagles fans.

After coaching with the Chiefs from 2009-2012, Sirianni joined the San Diego Chargers staff in 2013. He started out as an offensive quality control coach and then became the quarterbacks coach from 2014 to 2015. Despite the fact that Philip Rivers was sacked 76 times in those two seasons, he played fairly well and improved under Sirianni.

In 2014, at 33-years-old, Rivers had a 66.5 completion percentage, threw for 4,286 yards, and tossed 31 touchdowns versus 18 interceptions. Unfortunately, Keenan Allen only played in eight games that year. Malcolm Floyd (561 yards receiving) and Steve Johnson (497 yards receiving) were the next best receivers.

Running back Danny Woodhead was the team’s leading receiver that year. San Diego had a defense that couldn’t get off of the field as well. They were 28th in net yards per pass attempt and 30th in rushing yards per attempt. Considering the team around Rivers and his age, things weren’t too bad, but the 2015 campaign, Rivers’ second season under Sirianni, was definitely the better of the two.

Rivers was impressive. He threw for 4,792 yards and 29 touchdowns versus just 13 interceptions. He also completed 66.1 percent of his passes despite throwing the ball 661 times (the most in his career). Those extra passing attempts definitely boosted some of his numbers. He averaged close to the same yards per attempt in those two years with 7.2 in 2014 and 7.6 in 2015. The fact that he took care of the ball more while throwing 661 times is still encouraging though. With the way that Wentz played the entire season and some of the confusing throws that Hurts made towards the end of 2020, both could use Sirianni’s help.

Rivers was already an experienced pro by the time Sirianni got to San Diego. The way he bounced back in 2015 under Sirianni is still impressive though. Let’s move onto Sirianni’s last stint before he was hired by the Birds.