Very late Monday night, a reporter asked Nick Sirianni if he’d known his Australian punter/holder, Arryn Siposs, possessed the kind of jets that would allow Siposs to run down Vikings cornerback Kris Boyd after a field-goal block. Siposs prevented what could have been a momentum-turning touchdown in the Eagles’ 24-7 victory over the visiting Minnesota Vikings.
“His jets are not on display very often, and I’m not sure I knew that,” the Eagles’ head coach said. “It was impressive.”
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Eagles nickel corner Avonte Maddox followed with an interception of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, and the visitors came away with no points from the sequence, despite having taken over at the Eagles’ 30, with three minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
“Obviously, that’s great speed by Arryn to track him down and great effort by Arryn to track him down,” Sirianni said.
Sirianni was not alone in his astonishment.
“I was probably a bit surprised myself,” Siposs said Tuesday.
Patrick Peterson, now in the twilight of a career that included eight successive Pro Bowl selections as a cornerback when he played for Arizona, was spry enough at age 32 to fly in off the edge and easily swat down Jake Elliott’s 41-yard attempt. The Vikings overloaded the left side, overwhelming Eagles backup tight end Noah Togiai.
“They put five over two,” Togiai said. “[Peterson] got a good jump on it. I did my job the best I could, put a hand on him, and he just made the play.”
Togiai said when he came off the field, special teams coordinator Michael Clay reassured him that he’d done “exactly what we taught you. ... He’s just a great athlete.”
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Togiai, too, was taken aback by the punter/holder’s closing speed and tackling ability.
“You don’t really see him sprint [in practice],” Togiai said. “I was actually really impressed. I didn’t know it was him at first, until I watched the replay.”
Siposs had his head down, as holders generally do, when Peterson flew in, but he said he quickly realized something bad had happened.
“If you hear a quick noise ... a thud, afterwards, you know something hasn’t gone right,” Siposs said. “I saw one of their guys kind of run past me, so I [figured] the ball is obviously behind the line of scrimmage, he’s going to try and pick it up and score. I kind of just followed him and then I was able to kind of see where the ball was.”
Boyd, a seventh-round draft pick from Texas in 2019, ran a 4.45 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine that year. According to Wikipedia, he is a cousin of former Eagles Pro Bowl corner Bobby Taylor. Minnesota lists him at 5-foot-11, 195.
Siposs, listed at 6-2, 212, played Australian Rules football growing up, before going to Auburn to punt. At the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine, he posted a 5.09 40, and probably didn’t do a lot of preparation. He said he had to be a “jack of all trades” in the Australian game, and did a good bit of tackling. Siposs said he’d made one other NFL tackle, when he kicked off in a 2021 preseason game against the Jets.
“I can do it,” he said. “I’d obviously prefer not to.”
As dominant as the Eagles were Monday night, outgaining the Vikings 486 yards to 264, they also were lucky, as is often the case when teams win big. Minnesota wide receiver Irv Smith dropped what would have been a long touchdown pass in the first half. Siposs’ tackle and Maddox’s interception probably took Minnesota points off the board. Both of Darius Slay’s INTs came in the Eagles’ end zone, the second after a Jalen Hurts pass bounced off the hands of running back Kenneth Gainwell, straight to former Eagles linebacker Jordan Hicks, who ran it down to the Eagles’ 9.
On the other hand, Slay couldn’t quite come up with two other potential picks, on a night when Cousins was just dreadful, and several of the Eagles’ seven offensive penalties negated solid gains. The final score could have been as lopsided as the Eagles’ 38-7 victory over the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game following the 2017 season.
“The defense was certainly very appreciative of me being able to stop [Boyd], because at least it gave them a chance,” Siposs said. “We want to be able to put the three points on the board, and have that not occur at all, but [the coaches] certainly were very happy that I was able to go down there and do that.”
Siposs, who punted four times Monday night for a 43.5-yard net, said he isn’t looking to expand his role.
“Hopefully I don’t have to do down there and start playing kickoff, or anything like that,” he said.
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Les Bowen is a freelance columnist who covers the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL for NJ Advance Media.