by Team Del Genio
Wednesday, Jan 31, 2024The Philadelphia Eagles collapsed in the second half of the season with five losses in their final six regular games. Defensive coordinator Sean Desai got demoted in December with Matt Patricia given the play-calling responsibilities. Rumors abound that this was a decision made by executive vice president and general manager Howie Roseman rather than head coach Nick Sirianni.
Patricia then attempted to install new terminology on the fly which is an ambitious project late in the season. The change did not work as the Eagles gave up 29 points per game and 385 yards per game in their final three regular season games. They got embarrassed in their final regular season game in New York against the Giants in a 27-10 loss where they gave up 415 yards.
The Philadelphia run defense was one of the biggest problems as it simply collapsed in the second half of the season. After holding their first nine opponents to 66 rushing yards per game, they returned after their bye to allow 146 rushing yards per game in their last eight games.
Turnovers have been an issue as well. After week 12, the Eagles had a 10-1 record with just a -2 net turnover margin. Since then, Philadelphia lost five of their final six regular games with a -8 net turnover margin. They gave up 30 points per game and 383 yards per game during those final six regular season games while averaging only 20 points per game and 330 yards per game.
The defense struggled in pressuring the quarterback and registering sacks. The linebacker unit was not as good as last year. Their secondary got old and too slow to keep up with good wide receivers. Just a year removed from reaching the Super Bowl, Sirianni appeared to be on the hot seat going into their playoff game at Tampa Bay. Roseman had fired successful head coaches before as Doug Pederson can attest.
Injuries were playing a role, as they usually do. Jalen Hurts was playing through a finger injury. In his last four regular season games, he had only four touchdown passes and five interceptions. His top wide receiver target A.J. Brown was unavailable to play against the Buccaneers due to a knee injury.
The Eagles had lost money for the bettors in six straight games going into the postseason. An 0-6 against the spread run might have intrigued some contrarian bettors in their wild card game against Tampa Bay, yet to believe in Philadelphia at that point required faith that they could simply flip the switch from all this negativity. Yet the Eagles had not covered the point spread in their last four games after a double-digit loss to an NFC East opponent. They had covered the point spread only twice in their last eight games in January as well.
Rather than successfully flipping the switch, Sirianni’s team appeared to quit on him in their 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers. While Tampa Bay only averaged 17.6 points per game and 317 yards per game at home during the regular season, their offense torched an uninspired Eagles defense for 426 yards.
Since that game, Roseman decided to retain Sirianni as the team’s head coach for his fourth year leading the team. Yet offensive coordinator Brian Johnson along with Desai and Patricia were all let go. The organization made big splashes by hiring Kellen Moore as their new offensive coordinator and Vic Fangio as their new defensive coordinator. Yet if Sirianni can not rebuild the culture inside the building, the best coaching in the world won’t fix this team.
Good luck - TDG.
Patricia then attempted to install new terminology on the fly which is an ambitious project late in the season. The change did not work as the Eagles gave up 29 points per game and 385 yards per game in their final three regular season games. They got embarrassed in their final regular season game in New York against the Giants in a 27-10 loss where they gave up 415 yards.
The Philadelphia run defense was one of the biggest problems as it simply collapsed in the second half of the season. After holding their first nine opponents to 66 rushing yards per game, they returned after their bye to allow 146 rushing yards per game in their last eight games.
Turnovers have been an issue as well. After week 12, the Eagles had a 10-1 record with just a -2 net turnover margin. Since then, Philadelphia lost five of their final six regular games with a -8 net turnover margin. They gave up 30 points per game and 383 yards per game during those final six regular season games while averaging only 20 points per game and 330 yards per game.
The defense struggled in pressuring the quarterback and registering sacks. The linebacker unit was not as good as last year. Their secondary got old and too slow to keep up with good wide receivers. Just a year removed from reaching the Super Bowl, Sirianni appeared to be on the hot seat going into their playoff game at Tampa Bay. Roseman had fired successful head coaches before as Doug Pederson can attest.
Injuries were playing a role, as they usually do. Jalen Hurts was playing through a finger injury. In his last four regular season games, he had only four touchdown passes and five interceptions. His top wide receiver target A.J. Brown was unavailable to play against the Buccaneers due to a knee injury.
The Eagles had lost money for the bettors in six straight games going into the postseason. An 0-6 against the spread run might have intrigued some contrarian bettors in their wild card game against Tampa Bay, yet to believe in Philadelphia at that point required faith that they could simply flip the switch from all this negativity. Yet the Eagles had not covered the point spread in their last four games after a double-digit loss to an NFC East opponent. They had covered the point spread only twice in their last eight games in January as well.
Rather than successfully flipping the switch, Sirianni’s team appeared to quit on him in their 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers. While Tampa Bay only averaged 17.6 points per game and 317 yards per game at home during the regular season, their offense torched an uninspired Eagles defense for 426 yards.
Since that game, Roseman decided to retain Sirianni as the team’s head coach for his fourth year leading the team. Yet offensive coordinator Brian Johnson along with Desai and Patricia were all let go. The organization made big splashes by hiring Kellen Moore as their new offensive coordinator and Vic Fangio as their new defensive coordinator. Yet if Sirianni can not rebuild the culture inside the building, the best coaching in the world won’t fix this team.
Good luck - TDG.
