Do Eagles miss Jonathan Gannon culture? Cardinals coach takes the high road after upsetting former team

Gannon, who took plenty of blame as Eagles DC, downplayed beating them in his return to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA -- Jonathan Gannon is fully aware of the vitriol he gets from the city of Philadelphia. The man blamed for the Eagles losing Super Bowl LVII, who never came back on the plane to Philadelphia and elected to stay in Arizona to take the Arizona Cardinals head coaching job, Gannon had every chance to rub salt in the wounds of a reeling organization after the Cardinals' upset win in Week 17. 

Instead, the former defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles took the high road. All Gannon did was help Arizona take away the NFC East lead from the Eagles by erasing a 15-point halftime deficit -- the franchise's biggest blown halftime lead since 2011. 

Gannon had his chance to gloat, smirk. Instead, his response showed why the Cardinals have overachieved with the roster they have.

"I feel good for the players. Not for me, man," Gannon said. "I feel good for the players."

The Cardinals weren't supposed to be average in 2023. They certainly weren't supposed to beat the Eagles, a team that entered Sunday's game 11-4 and had the NFC East in front of them. All Philadelphia had to do was beat the 3-12 Cardinals and the 5-10 new York Giants (entering Week 17) to capture the NFC East title. Home-field advantage was still up for grabs (the Eagles needed was a San Francisco 49ers loss) and the road to the Super Bowl would have gone through Philadelphia again. 

This time, Gannon really did ruin the Eagles' season. At the very least, he made the path to the Super Bowl harder for his former team. 

"I'm happy for the players. Honestly, obviously the year has been a tough year. We didn't do enough to earn the right to play in January," Gannon said. "So you know, I was really proud of them, down 21-6 versus a good team. You could lay down there and get beat by 30. Guys did not do that. So really just happy for the guys, how they responded all week. And a good win down the road versus a good football team."

The Cardinals could have been like most teams at this point in the year. Their season has been over for weeks and Arizona could have just played out the string, making sure they are in the best draft position possible. Losing Sunday would have been beneficial for Arizona, who would've been in position to have the No. 2 overall pick heading into the final week. 

After beating the Eagles, the Cardinals currently sit at No. 4, having locked up the No. 1 pick for the Chicago Bears -- who own the pick via the 2-14 Carolina Panthers in the offseason deal that netted Carolina Bryce Young. Accepting losses isn't what Gannon is preaching to his franchise, evidenced by the wins against the Dallas Cowboys (11 wins), Pittsburgh Steelers (nine wins) and Eagles (11 wins).

Two of those victories have come in the last four weeks. That's more wins than the Eagles -- a team heading to the playoffs -- have in that stretch. 

"I don't know. I mean, we just played well enough today to win. You know what I mean?" Gannon said. "But our guys know if we play football the right way, we can play with anybody. 

"And I know our record isn't what we want it to be, and that falls on me. But they have confidence. They never waver. And what I'm really pleased about is the way they practice that effort. They stay together. They focus. Attention to detail.

"A lot of teams just pack it in right now. That's not our guys in there. So that's just a tribute to the character in the locker room."

Gannon has installed a new culture in Arizona, the same culture that his players bought into during his two years in Philadelphia. The Eagles miss that culture, one Gannon took out west when he decided to stay in Phoenix following the Super Bowl loss. 

"This place was awesome for me," Gannon said. "Working for Nick [Sirianni] and the Philadelphia Eagles, you guys know I loved it here. That's the reason I'm sitting at the podium right now is a huge reason that organization and Jeff (Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie) and Howie (Eagles general manager Howie Roseman) and Nick [Sirianni] and it was great to see them.

"I'm always pulling for him, but not today. Obviously. Like he told me. But yeah, I love the guy."