Philly homecoming is sweet for Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Guess Philly can pin this loss on Jonathan Gannon, too.
Much maligned in Philadelphia for a defense that collapsed in the second half of last season's Super Bowl loss to Kansas City, then roasted for a clumsy exit from the Eagles, the former coordinator showed he still knows how to call the shots at the Linc.
In his first season as Arizona’s coach, Gannon downplayed the significance of returning to Philadelphia. He spent two seasons as defensive coordinator under Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, and Philly had the NFL’s No. 2 defense last season.
Gannon surely enjoyed watching most of his former players get rocked by his current ones.
The Cardinals — not an Eagles team that had so much at stake — played with the grit needed to rally from 15 points down at halftime, total 449 yards of offense and shut down Jalen Hurts in the second half, shocking the Eagles 35-31 on Sunday.
“The year’s been a tough year. We didn’t do enough to earn the right to play in January,” Gannon said. “So I was really proud of them down 21-6 versus a good team, you could lay down there and get beat by 30. Our guys did not do that.”
Not with Kyler Murray leading the comeback. Murray finished 25 of 31 for 232 yards and three touchdowns, and his two TD tosses in the third quarter tied the game at 21-all.
James Conner ran for a 2-yard touchdown with 32 seconds remaining, and the Cardinals (4-12) held on from there.
“I feel good for the players,” Gannon said. “Not for me, man. I feel good for the players.”
Gannon enjoyed his pregame reunion tour. He chatted with Sirianni and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. He hugged Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. The homecoming would only get better.
“You guys know I loved it here,” Gannon said. “That’s the reason I’m sitting at the podium right now, a huge reason is that organization.”
Gannon coached with swagger — though it helped that Cardinals had little to lose.
The Cardinals tied the game when they converted a 2-point conversion. Why not go for it? Tied 28-28, Gannon called for an onside kick. The Eagles recovered but only got a field goal. Conner's touchdown on the next drive was the winner.
“I wanted to make sure at all costs Kyler had the ball in his hand,” Gannon said.
Under Gannon, the Eagles led the NFL with 70 sacks last season — 15 more than any other team. Gannon was caught on social media profanely yelling at fans about how much the Eagles would, let’s say, mess up the 49ers in the NFC championship game. The Eagles then backed up their coordinator’s words with a 31-7 romp to reach the Super Bowl.
That’s when things took a turn for Gannon, who took the rap after the loss to the Chiefs. The Eagles coughed up a 10-point halftime lead and couldn’t stop Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, even though the MVP wasn’t moving at his best because of a sprained ankle.
Gannon refused to take questions after the game, leaving players such as James Bradberry out to dry, and then his preparation for the Super Bowl was questioned when it was revealed he had been preparing for his interview with Arizona.
The Cardinals said they self-reported that general manager Monti Ossenfort had a phone conversation with Gannon in the days following the NFC championship game, when contact is not permitted under NFL tampering rules. Gannon was hired by the Cardinals two days after the Super Bowl.
Sirianni has said he doesn’t believe Gannon’s head was elsewhere.
Loser of four of five games, Sirianni and the Eagles at this rate might join Gannon as Super Bowl viewers, rather than competitors. Gannon's successor, Sean Desai, already had his play-calling duties stripped and turned over to Matt Patricia.
Hurts threw three touchdown passes but could sense Gannon’s inside knowledge played to his advantage.
“Absolutely. He sat there in those meetings with us,” Hurts said. “He’s been in those meetings. He’s heard kind of what we’re thinking in certain situations and we practiced against them every day for the last two years.”
Murray wore a Sidney Crosby jersey to the game, then tormented the Eagles much like the Pittsburgh Penguins star has the Flyers for more than a decade.
And much like how another Arizona team, the Diamondbacks, finished off the Phillies in the Major League Baseball playoffs.
In a season with few bright spots, Murray was happy for Gannon.
“I know he wanted to win it really badly,” he said. "Just, you know, not alma mater, but his previous team. I would want to win it, so I know the guys felt that energy from him, that we wanted to come out here and do it for him.”
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