Interesting Off Day

The Eagles had this week off so I spent Sunday watching other games and the Red Zone channel. It can be interesting to spend a day focused on the rest of the league and not just the Eagles.

The first thing that jumped out is that a lot of teams have issues right now.

The Niners are 2-3 after falling to the Cardinals. Injuries have been a major issue, but it is still surprising for such a loaded team to be 2-3 right now. Last year they started 5-0 before losing three in a row. Then they won six in a row to get to 11-3. We’ll see what happens this year.

Doug Pederson got questioned this week about possibly losing his job. That seemed to surprise him, despite an 0-4 start. The Jags won today to get to 1-4. One of his biggest issues is the lack of development by Trevor Lawrence. He was seen as a potentially great QB coming out of Clemson, but hasn’t come close to living up to expectations.

Shane Steichen did a brilliant job in helpin the Eagles get to the Super Bowl in 2022. He is now coaching the Colts and they went 9-8 last year. The Colts are 2-3 this year. Steichen’s handling of Anthony Richardson is a bit troubling. Richardson hurt his hip last week and left the game for a bit. He can back in and ran the ball, hurting his hip and missing the rest of the game, as well as this week. It looked like the play was a read-option. You wonder about the wisdom of that with a star QB who just got hurt and missed some time. Richardson missed most of his rookie year due to injury. Steichen is a great play-caller, but he’s got to find a way to keep his young star QB healthy.

The Bengals went to the Super Bowl in 2021 and looked like a team on the rise. They went 9-8 last year and are off to a 1-4 start this season. Yikes. The team that looked so good and so loaded now is a mess.

Cleveland went 11-6 last year, largely due to having the best defense in the league. The offense is really struggling right now. They have yet to total 300 yards of offense in a game. The defense is middle of the pack, a far cry from the group that looked so dominant a year ago. Rookie QB Jayden Daniels lit them up for 34 points. The Browns are off to a 1-4 start and haven’t played well at all.

Miami lost Tua Tagovailoa to a concussion a few weeks back. The high-flying team that scored 70 points in a game last year is long gone. Coming into this week, the Dolphins were the lowest scoring team in the league. Mike McDaniel might be an offensive genius, but he hasn’t been able to find any answers this season.

The Jets went 7-10 in 2023 with arguably the worst QB play in the league. This year they have Aaron Rodgers, but the results are a bit too familiar. The Jets are 2-3 and still struggling to score points. It would appear that Rodgers good buddy Nathaniel Hackett might not be the right answer for that team. Or any other NFL team. Robert Saleh’s seat gets a bit hotter each week.

The Rams were thought to be a playoff contender coming into the season. They have been decimated by injuries and sit at 1-4. Their only win was an unlikely comeback victory over the Niners. Sean McVay is a brilliant coach, but the best gameplans in the world don’t do you any good if you don’t have the players to make them work.

Think about coaches who are consistent winners. Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. He also hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016. Sean McDermott has won 10 or more games the past five years. He hasn’t gotten Buffalo to the Super Bowl. McDermott hasn’t been able to get them to the AFC championship the past three years. John Harbaugh has been a great coach for the Ravens, but he only has two playoff wins in the past decade. He’s not been to the Super Bowl since 2012.

There is no doubt that the Eagles have issues. There is no doubt that Nick Sirianni has issues. It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming the worst and thinking about changes to the roster and coaching staff. That could happen, but be careful about wanting things to go bad so there will be changes. A lot of great coaching hires proved to be not so great. And players can be erratic as well. Deshaun Watson has been an epic disaster for the Browns. Aaron Rodgers hasn’t proven to be the savior the Jets hoped for. We’ll see how that turns out. The Eagles spent a lot on Bryce Huff, expecting a big year from him. The results have been a tad disappointing. Using the word “tad” makes me think of this great scene.

Airplane II is a highly underrated comedy.

I’m really curious to see how this season plays out. The Eagles have enough talent that they could get hot and build up a good record. They also have some flaws that could be problematic all year long.

The NFL was nuts on Sunday, with upsets and wild games all over the place. It was a good reminder to expect the unexpected. It was probably a good thing the Eagles were off. God only knows what kind of craziness they would have given us.

Sirianni better have some answers ready for his team this week. They need to get back on track in a hurry.

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