Too Fast?

For most of the season, it has felt like the Eagles were on autopilot. This team hasn’t lived in the moment, as Nick Sirianni wants them to. It sure seemed like they spent the past few months waiting for the playoffs to start. Well, here we are.

Are the real Eagles about to show up?

Or are we about to find out this team just doesn’t have the answers needed to turn things around?

Many of us assumed last year’s team was a sign of things to come. The Eagles would be competing for Super Bowls every year as long as Jalen Hurts was the QB and Nick Sirianni the coach. Those guys had all the right answers in a magical season.

Was it too much, too fast?

Think back to the Reid era. Andy Reid inherited a mess, a team that was 3-13 and had one of the worst offenses in modern NFL history. They averaged 10 points per game. Reid proved to be exactly what that team needed. He brought stability and organization to the franchise. They only went 5-11 in his first season, but you could see signs that the rebuilding process was working.

The Eagles then went 11-5 in 2000. They made the playoffs and even won a game, but were soundly beaten by the Giants in the divisional round. That loss showed the talent disparity between the two teams. The Eagles were 11-5 in 2001, but this time that was good enough to win the division. The Eagles won a pair of playoff games and got to the NFC title game. They lost to the Rams, but showed they could compete with anyone

There were huge expectations for the Eagles from 2002-2004. They won at least 12 games each year. They got to the NFC Championship in 2002 and 2003. They finally reached the Super Bowl in 2004. It took a long, steady climb to get to that point.

Nick Sirianni coached in the Super Bowl in his 38^th game as head coach of the Eagles. Andy Reid lost to the Cardinals 21-20 in Week 4 of the 2001 season in his 38^th game. Reid was in his 108^th game when he got to the Super Bowl.

Reid, his staff and the whole Eagles organization learned a lot of lessons on the way to the big game. Some of those were tough, unpleasant lessons, but they served Reid and the organization well in the long run.

Sirianni was in the playoffs in his first year and in the Super Bowl in his second year. Having that kind of success so quickly had to affect him. I’m sure he thought he knew his team and had all the right answers. Oops. This season is delivering some tough, unpleasant lessons to Sirianni. Reid didn’t always make the adjustments we wanted and he didn’t always adjust as fast as we wanted, but there was change.

Go watch the offense in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The same basic playbook is behind all of those units, but the style of play was different, largely based on personnel. In 2001, RBs caught 106 passes. The offense was still a bit simple. Antonio Freeman joined the team in 2002 and the slot receiver became a weapon for the first time. Reid got creative with WR runs and James Thrash had 18 carries and ran for 2 TDs. The 2003 team featured the 3-headed RB (Staley-Buckhalter-Westbrook) and also a lot more 2-TE sets. 2004 was all about stars. The Eagles fed the ball to Westbrook and TO instead of spreading it around.

Reid adjusted based on his personnel, the experience of his players and also as he found new things he wanted to mix in.

Sirianni’s team finished 3rd in points scored last year. Reid only finished that high once in his tenure with the Eagles (2010). Sirianni made adjusting during and after the 2021 season. That helped lead to the dynamic offense last year. The offense this year has the same playbook, but not the same quality of play-calling and certainly not the same level of execution. There is also the fact that defenses spent the offseason studying the Eagles attack so they’d be prepared to slow it down.

The Eagles have not been able to make the kind of in-season and in-game adjustments they needed to keep the offense at an elite level. It still finished 10th in DVOA and 7th in points scored this year, but that is due more to talent than scheme.

Failure is a great teacher. Sirianni had tremendous success last year, but I don’t know if he learned a whole lot. He’s getting a crash course in Bad Football 101 over the past month or so. Only time will tell if he learned the lessons.

Last year it felt like Sirianni pushed all the right buttons. This year it feels like he is simply guessing.

pic.twitter.com/oK3trDBjTu

— Out of Context Simpsons Couch Gags (@OOCCouchGags) January 7, 2024

Instant success has affected Jalen Hurts as well. The big plays that came so easily to him and the offense last year just aren’t working this season. Hurts is still forcing the ball downfield, though. Last year’s chunk plays are this year’s incompletions and interceptions.

Sustaining success is a lot harder than having some success. Sirianni and his players are learning that the hard way this season. Maybe the failures of the 2023 season will serve Sirianni and the Eagles well in the long run.

But that will only happen if Sirianni acknowledges the issues and is able to come up with good answers.

*****

On Sunday morning I watched Society of the Snow, the new film about the Uruguayan rugby team that was in the plane crash in the Andes and had to turn to cannibalism to survive. I did not anticipate that being the second most depressing thing I would see on Sunday.

— Tommy Lawlor (@lawlornfl) January 8, 2024

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Almost Over

The regular season came to a crashing halt on Sunday, as the Eagles got beaten by the Giants 27-10. For the second week in a row, the team with nothing to play for significantly out-played the team that needed to win. That is the reddest of red flags.

How bad did things get? The Giants were up 24-0 in the first half so Nick Sirianni pulled some of his key veterans. The hope was that he would do that in the second half when the Eagles had a comfortable lead. Oops.

A lot of fans don’t care that there is a playoff game next week. They want someone to pay for the epic meltdown this team has given us. “Fire Nick!” The Eagles 10-1 start is a distant memory. The team is 1-5 since then and has some embarrassing losses. Saying things have spiraled out of control would probably be an understatement.

I don’t think we can have a good discussion about Sirianni and the coaching staff until the season is officially over. We need to see what happens next week and possibly beyond that so we can put everything in context. This isn’t a way to try to defend anyone. I just think you need all the information to make the best judgment.

Some wanted Sirianni fired after last week. I objected to that, saying we needed to see how things played out. I assumed his team would win this week and that might help him. Instead, the dreadful performance will be used in the argument against him.

The biggest news in the game was injuries. AJ Brown left with a knee injury. He walked off on his own, but we’ll have to see how that is. Cam Jurgens had an eye injury. Sydney Brown was carted off with a knee injury. Reed Blankenship left the game with a groin injury. Jalen Hurts suffered a finger injury. He went into the medical tent and got it taped up. He came back for one more series before he got pulled.

So the Eagles got out-played, they lost and they got hurt while doing so. 2024 is off to a crappy start. Yikes.

Sirianni and Hurts started with the team’s messaging in their press conferences right after the game.

“We’re 0-0. Everybody is 0-0.”

“Our goals are still there in front of us.”

Both statements are true, but boy that doesn’t sound very compelling when we’re talking about a team that went 1-5 down the stretch and looked awful the lst two weeks.

Someone asked Sirianni why he still believes this team can flip the switch next week. He gave a typical coach answer. That’s fine. He’s not going to spill his guts in a PC. But I hope that question resonates with him and he really considers it.

The Eagles have the theoretical potential to win some playoff games. But the team hasn’t played well in forever. What makes anyone have confidence they will be able to get that switch flipped next week?

There isn’t just one problem with this team. Coaching is an issue. Jalen has had way too many turnovers. Key players have made mistakes on both sides of the ball. Injuries have been a factor. The coaching change on defense is an issue. Players getting old or underachieving is an issue. There isn’t just one thing to solve or fix.

I thought last week was rock bottom. Seeing the first half of the Giants game was even worse. There was no sense of urgency. How do you respond to a bad showing by giving us a worse one? That left me speechless.

Another week, another dismal performance.

I don’t know if Sirianni will be coaching for his job next week, but he needs to have that mentality. He and his players need to have an edge. They have got to find a way to win a game and try to get this thing turned around.

Or else.

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