Lincoln Financial Field is one of the rowdiest atmospheres in professional sports thanks to how loud and passionate Philadelphia Eagles fans are. While the atmosphere helps the Eagles more than it hurts them, the noise appears to be getting under the skin of some players on the hometown team.
Fans inside the Linc don’t exactly take a play off as they’re just as loud when the Eagles are on offense as they are when the team is on defense. The noise from the fans when the Birds have the ball has started to affect cadence and rhythm, which may explain why 15 of Philadelphia’s false start penalties this season have come at home.
The Eagles’ offense has turned into an up-and-down operation this season, and a number of players have started pinning the blame on the crowd noise while the team is on offense, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“It kind of gets loud for the offense,” Jalen Hurts told the media after the team’s win over the Giants On Christmas. “It’s supposed to get loud for the defense.”
Offensive lineman Jordan Mailata took things a step further.
“I would love to hear the cadence,” Mailata said while admitting that the Eagles have had to use silent counts at home on occasion. “People don’t understand the gravity of playing at home. Because we can go on our cadence. Maybe draw them offside.”
Offensive players aren’t the only ones sending subtle messages to Eagles fans, head coach Nick Sirianni hinted at the crowd noise when his team is on offense too.
During Monday’s 33-25 home win over New York, fans could be heard chanting “run the ball” in the fourth quarter when the Giants started to put together a comeback effort.
“Yeah, you can hear that. I think I would hear that even if I had a double headset on,” Sirianni said after the win. “Sometimes we’ve got to let Jalen make some calls at the line of scrimmage. Maybe get that chant going, then Jalen has to quiet them down and let it go down a little bit.”
The Eagles have lost just one home game this season, and only four over the last two seasons, so by no means are they complaining about the home-field advantage, but trying to share the hint to the fans that when the team is on offense maybe take things down a half-notch.
There isn’t an easy way for the Eagles to tell their fans – people who spend their hard-earned money on tickets – to not cheer when they want to, however, it’s interesting to hear some not-so-friendly messaging from players and coaches after a win inside their own stadium.
