Eagles can only hope story of season goes from epic collapse to stirring Bowl comeback
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - JANUARY 07: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles drops back to pass during an NFL football game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on January 7, 2024 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty ((Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images))
PHILADELPHIA - The question around Philly — let’s broaden that, the NFL — has been raised, dissected and poked at from a thousand angles since early December.
What the heck is wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles?
How did a team just months removed from a Super Bowl appearance, one that boasts Pro Bowl and All-Pro talent such as Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Darius Slay, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson, go from a 10-1 start to this season to a 1-5 finish and enter the postseason limping toward a wild-card matchup at Tampa Bay?
Forget dreaming of a Super Bowl parade.
This year’s Eagles have already been lumped in with the 1964 Phillies and the 1997 Flyers among the biggest choke artists in Philadelphia sports history.
There will be consequences for this failure, including possibly coach Nick Sirianni’s employment.
Fans are irate — some have camped out with protest signs outside the team complex — former players are chirping, and injuries to key starters have derailed any sense of cohesion in the starting lineup.
In their last six games, the Eagles have been outscored 182-123.
Sirianni has to figure out how to fix his team by Monday night. That's no small feat when he hasn’t come up with a real solution over the past month.
"I think anyone can lead when times are easy," he said. "When times are hard, this is when you see what you’re made of and how you lead. I look at it as a challenge that I know we can get out of this slump that we’re in. It’s my job to make sure that we do, and I look at it as a challenge and how sweet it will be when we do get out of it because I know we will. I know we’ve got the right guys to get out of it."
There’s plenty of blame to go around, and Sirianni and Hurts, the coordinators and even the front office must all take their share of responsibility.
COORDINATED EFFORT
The Nos. 1 and 1A public enemies in Philly are the coordinators. Brian Johnson was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator when Shane Steichen took the head job in Indianapolis. Sean Desai was hired as the defensive coordinator to replace Jonathan Gannon, whom Arizona hired as its coach.
Desai almost looks good in hindsight after he was stripped of his play-calling duties with the Eagles at 10-3 and coming off consecutive blowout losses to San Francisco and Dallas. All Matt Patricia has done since he was elevated is get outcoached by Gannon in Arizona’s Jan. 1 win at the Linc — when the Cardinals scored TDs on four straight possessions — and again by the Giants in the season finale.
The defense finished with 43 sacks after nearly setting an NFL record with 70 last season. Patricia (and Sirianni) have been ripped for dropping pass rusher Haason Reddick into coverage. Reddick said the late coaching swap has made it difficult to adjust to changes.
The defense allowed at least 100 yards rushing in each of the last eight games. Patricia was in charge when Seattle went 92 yards on the final drive to rally past the Eagles. Philly blew a 15-point halftime lead to the Cardinals. The Giants dominated from the start.
"I think certainly as you get toward the end of the year and you’re playing really good teams, teams that have either a second chance to play you or have a longer look at what you’ve done through the course of the year, you want to make sure you’re adapting and adjusting as the season goes," Patricia said.
HURT HURTS
Hurts has played with a bone bruise on his left knee and, now, an injured middle finger on his right (throwing) hand. Hurts ran for 105 fewer yards this season than last and had 15 interceptions after throwing just six in 2022.
He hasn’t taken a next step — or least maintained his level from a year ago — and his health could be a large factor. Sirianni has hinted that Hurts is playing through more than just the knee injury.
"I don’t like to talk about the injuries," Hurts said after the season finale.
Injuries to Smith, Slay and others kept key starters out of the game. Yet it appears the Eagles could have all 22 of their regulars in the lineup Monday.
SIRIANNI’S FATE
Has Sirianni lost the locker room? The Eagles publicly say all the right things about the third-year coach, even if the endorsements don’t bowl anyone over. His rah-rah schtick worked well when the Eagles were winning. It gets eyerolls when they’re not.
His job status has been a hot topic of late, though it seems inconceivable owner Jeffrey Lurie would fire a coach a year after he went to the Super Bowl. A coaching staff shakeup appears likely.
But all bets are off if the Eagles are blown out by the Buccaneers.
"We’ve lost five of our last six, but that doesn’t discredit the rest of the season," Sirianni said.
KEEPING THE FAITH
It’s not all doom and gloom in Philly.
The Eagles already beat Tampa Bay once this season and are three-point favorites to advance, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Somewhere in that locker room are players who know how to win big games. The Super Bowl and the 10-1 start aren’t faded memories from a decade ago -- the work ethic, the play-calling, the results are still fresh.
Maybe instead of a collapse, the story of this season's Eagles can be one heck of a comeback.