The record is a testament to preparation, fortitude, and, well, having a heckuva good football team for a long time: In Nick Sirianni's three-plus seasons as the Eagles' head coach, the team is – now get this – 22-9 on the road.
Twenty-two wins.
Nine losses.
Away from Lincoln Financial Field.
"You want to be calm in situational football. So, we do a lot of things in situations, not only in the meeting room, but also out at practice every single day. We've done that through Training Camp. We do that every single day in practice," Sirianni said Monday at his weekly press conference of a record that is right there with Kansas City's (22-8) in the same time period. "So again, being calm in situations is critical. On offense, being able to handle the noise is going to be really critical. It gets annoying to hear the crowd noise as you go, but obviously that's a big deal.
"I think the biggest thing out of all that is just having that mental toughness that everyone is going to be against you on the road. Now, we travel pretty well, and I've been really appreciative of the Eagles fans that show up no matter where we are. But you still feel like the stadium is against you. It's just an opportunity for you to unite as a team, lock arms as a team. And have that mental toughness, that dawg mentality as far as understanding just play the next play, control what you can control, and unite as a team. Those are two of our big-time core values: connect and toughness. So we take pride in that. Then I just think that speaks volumes of our players and coaches that they handle that."
Sirianni is correct that Eagles fans travel well, and that will again be on display on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium in California when the Eagles play a good Rams team coming off a win over New England. The Rams are 5-5 and in the thick of the NFC playoff picture. Eagles fans will no doubt do their best to even out the Los Angeles home-field advantage, as they did last season when Philadelphia played at SoFi and came away with a 23-14 victory on October 8.
But it's more than the fans, of course. The Eagles always talk about how every game is just as important as the one before/after. They live that. They breathe that. They believe that.
And so they don't look in awe at all of an opposing stadium. That obstacle is just in the way of the objective: To win that football game.
"We've been pretty good away from home for a while now," right tackle Lane Johnson said before the win two weeks ago at Dallas. "You go in there as a team and it's you against the world and we like that feeling. The noise and all of that, you just prepare for it. You prepare for whatever you are about to face and you go play your best football. That's how we look at it."
The preparation doesn't just begin the week of the game. Sirianni talks about connecting and earning trust and administering those values from Day 1 of the offseason program. Preseason games away from Lincoln Financial Field are treated with utmost importance as the team uses the same timelines and practice principles as they do in the regular season.
The Eagles playing in prime time on Sunday night in L.A.? It's just another game. It's just another chance to grow as a football team.
That approach – and having a darn good football team year after year – has added up to wins at home and on the road.
"That's a cool stat, and we take pride in that," Sirianni said. "That's just another opportunity to lock arms, and go at it together, and try to battle all game and win."
