Coming off of his team’s bye week, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni fielded many questions about new additions to his squad’s roster, including cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Michael Carter
II and pass-rushers Jaelan Phillips and Brandon Graham, but Sirianni did have a little time to talk about his team’s next opponent, the Green Bay Packers, during his Thursday press conference.
When asked about what he thought about the Packers, overall, here’s how Sirianni responded.
“I think this is a talented group of guys, both offensively and defensively, special teams-wise. A lot of respect for their coaches. I think Coach LaFleur does a phenomenal job. I’ve always thought that and looked at his offenses and how his teams play from afar, and have a lot of admiration for him and the job that he does.
They play hard. They play with good fundamentals. They have good schemes with good, talented players. A lot of good players throughout every layer of their defense. A lot of good players throughout every layer of their offense and special teams.”
After that, he was asked specifically about Green Bay pass-rusher Micah Parsons, formerly a divisional rival with the Dallas Cowboys, and how the Carolina Panthers slowed him down. Here was Sirianni’s answer:
“Micah Parsons is a phenomenal football player that can hurt you in many different ways. Just creates a lot of disruption. I think sometimes you only think about it in the pass game. He creates a lot of disruption in the run game. I think about a fumble that he caused in our game against him in 2022. It was a run play.
So much respect to the player and who he is. I can’t say enough good things about him. Thankfully, we only play him once a year. Well, we played Green Bay twice last year, so we’ll see how that goes.
Carolina did a good job. They stayed efficient on first and second downs. Stayed out of some known pass situations, where he can be even more disruptive, but, again, like I said, he can be disruptive in everything he does.
They’re doing a good job in moving him around, putting him in different spots. So you have to account for where he is, but it’s hard to account for where he is because he’s moving around so much. A lot of respect for their defensive coaches and what they’ve been doing there.”
The Panthers, who pulled off the biggest upset win in Green Bay history last Sunday, limited the Packers’ Cheetah packages, with three defensive ends on the field at the same time, to half of the team’s season-long rate on defense. Their quarterback, Bryce Young, only needed to complete nine passes before the final two-minute drill of the game, in part because Green Bay’s offense never forced the Carolina offense to chase points throughout the game.
Look for the Eagles to try the same strategy on Monday night. If Philadelphia can sit in two-high defenses, which force the Packers to check the ball down and run the ball, they can keep the offense to a low-scoring effort, like the Cleveland Browns and Panthers have done in 2025. Keeping the game short and close means that Green Bay will be limited to their number of pressure packages.
In 2025, the best defense is a good offense. The old adage has completely flipped on its head.
