The inability to make adjustments paired with a defense that couldn’t stop anyone led to the collapse of the defending NFC Champs.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
ABOVE PHOTO: Coach Nick Sirianni Photo: Webster Riddick
After the Philadelphia Eagles’ ignominious exit from the NFC Wildcard playoffs at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, all that’s left for angry fans is speculation about what went wrong and who’s responsible.
Watching Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie seethe in the press box as the 32-9 loss progressed, was a microcosm of how what started as a season filled with promise and a return to the Super Bowl ended with the team losing six of their seven. That hangover of losing the previous year’s Super Bowl crashed down on the Birds in stunning fashion.
It all came down to the coaching staff and the player’s failure to clean up the shortcomings that plagued the team even when they jetted out to a 10-1 start. It was the failure of the coaching staff on both sides of the ball because they made no adjustments to help their players on the field, especially after that devastating loss to the San Francisco 49ers back in November.
In that game, the Eagles’ defense couldn’t tackle anybody. Deebo Samuel tossed linebacker Nik Morrow aside like he was day-old garbage.
The Niners defense blitzed and pressured Jalen Hurts to the point where 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa said that they gave the Cowboys and probably the rest of the league the template to defend Hurts, who, along with the rest of the offense, was never the same after that game.
It’s easy to put the blame on Hurts, who threw a career-high 15 interceptions and had five lost fumbles — 20 total turnovers. There are some observers who are saying that he has regressed from his outstanding season last year. The numbers don’t lie.
But as much as you can talk about Hurts troubles at reading the blitz, especially in Monday’s loss to the Buccaneers and the regular-season finale against the New York Giants, all the noise from the Eagles’ collapse has obscured the fact that Hurts was responsible for winning the majority of the 11 games the team won this season.
In games over playoff teams like the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills, Hurts made plays to lead the team to wins.
In those 10 wins, Hurts and the offense had their share of sluggish starts while the defense was giving up 472 to a team like Washington, the team that finished in last place in the NFC East, the refrain from players and coaches was “We’re going to clean this up.”
After struggling to get an overtime home win over the Washington Commanders back on Oct. 1, which made them 4-0, I asked A.J. Brown if the team was on its way to playing their best games of the season, especially in light of the team’s inconsistency on both sides of the ball. He said that the Eagles were eventually going to get it together.
“We’re still putting it together,” Brown said back then. “Nobody wants to be playing their best right now. We’re still striving each and every day to fix the little things and head in the right direction.”
Unfortunately, it never came together.
The 42-19 loss to the 49ers not only exposed the weaknesses of both the defense and the offense, but how poorly the coaching staff led by head coach Nick Sirianni and the players responded to being punched in the mouth. The losses mounted.
It went from bad to worse. After getting blown out by the Dallas Cowboys, head coach Nick Sirianni demoted defensive coordinator Sean Desai and inserted Matt Patricia in his place.
It didn’t help at all.
In the next game, the Eagles’ defense allowed the Seattle Seahawks, led by a backup quarterback, to drive 92 yards to a game-winning touchdown. One week later, the defense allowed the last-place Arizona Cardinals to roll up 221 rushing yards while scoring 35 points.
Even after a lackluster win over the New York Giants, the Birds’ offense, led by offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, never found its rhythm again. In two straight weeks — the regular season finale and their wildcard playoff loss to Tampa, Hurts and the Birds’ offense could not attack the blitz.
In the end, the Eagles’ season came to an abrupt end because the coaches did a poor job of making any kind of adjustments to help the team in the last half of the season. While the offensive issues are obvious, I’ll add General Manager Howie Roseman and his continued inability to recognize the importance of a good linebacker to what went wrong with the defense.
It might be a good idea if in the upcoming draft, the Birds’ front office focused on the defense and drafted a quality linebacker, something they haven’t had since Jeremiah Trotter, and a better defensive backfield.
As for the offense, I would suggest that the Birds next offensive coordinator focus on developing a running game, working with Hurts on how to read blitzes better and how to make adjustments as the game goes along.
As I write this, Eagles owner Jeff Lurie is getting ready for his year-end interview with Sirianni. My guess is that anxious fans who would rather be preparing for Division Series parties this weekend will have their eyes on the results of that meeting.
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