It is difficult to comprehend that this Philadelphia Eagles squad was in the Super Bowl just a year ago. It’s even more unbelievable to think that they were leading the conference with a 10-1 record less than two months ago.
Since neither of them resembled the Eagles club that failed to appear in their wild-card playoff game on Monday night. They are no longer in charge of the lines of scrimmage. They do not rely solely on their potent running style. Additionally, they don’t cover and tackle opposition receivers or put pressure on rival passers.
Their identity was stolen. They lost sight of their identity.
And thus their incomprehensible fall has ended. They were humiliated and eliminated by the Bucs, 32-9, at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, a year after flirting with a title. Their recent run of six losses in seven games, which dates back to the beginning of December, was unpredictably bad.
And the only positive takeaway from their performance on Monday night is that they’ve finally perfected the complementing football playmaking technique.
They were awful at every stage.
“Going from 10-1 to losing six of seven is really embarrassing,” Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson said. “There will most likely be some adjustments. It irritates me.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni remarked, “It’s almost like we couldn’t get out of the rut we were in.” “We need to find some answers.”
If he manages to hold onto his job, Sirianni will have months to look for those answers and attempt to understand how they came to be so swiftly and totally collapsed. However, they may begin with this: Their general manager, Howie Roseman, constructed them to be a formidable team on both ends of the court. They were designed to be a ground-based, tough offensive that used the run to create openings for deep passing plays. Additionally, they were
entered the game aware that their top receiver, A.J. Brown, was sidelined and that quarterback Jalen Hurts had a dislocated middle finger. It appeared to be the ideal opportunity to return to their running roots, particularly against a club that blitzes as much as the Bucs under Todd Bowles.
Indeed, it appeared as though they did at the beginning of the game. D’Andre Swift was used in their opening two plays. However, offensive coordinator Brian Johnson seemed to think that was plenty, as he called passes on 13 of the following 14 plays, a brave but utterly foolish move. By halftime, Johnson had called passes on 21 of 26 plays, and the Eagles were fortunate to be only behind 16–9.
That was nonsensical. Nor are they the Eagles. Their strategy is run-pass option. Hurts is one of their most potent weapons when he’s running the ball. However, Hurts only ran once and threw 35 times for 250 yards in the Eagles’ biggest game of the season. And it
Once, Johnson’s heave-ho tactic did manage to work. Hurts made it a 16-9 contest at the half after hitting tight end Dallas Goedert for a 5-yard touchdown pass after finding DeVonta Smith for a 55-yard reception late in the first half. However, that was all there was to it. It’s not like Johnson changed his run-and-shoot approach. Over the course of 53 offensive plays, he called just 15 runs. Even though it was still a 9-point game late in the third quarter, he was calling the game as though the Eagles were behind 30 points from the outset.
“It’s easy to look at the stat sheet and say ‘Oh, they didn’t run it enough,'” Sirianni stated. But when you’re in second-and-long and third-and-long, there are factors that aren’t being taken into account. When you’re
The one silver lining in all of this is the offense, as the Eagles defense has been a complete catastrophe this season. On Monday night, they did sack Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield four times, but he had enough of time to exploit the Eagles, finishing the game with 22 of 36 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns. If it weren’t for his receivers, who had at least six drops and butter fingers, his numbers would have been significantly higher.
The Eagles can’t cover or tackle, so the drops didn’t hurt, but they sure have looked lost since Matt Patricia took over as defensive play caller and defensive coordinator Sean Desai was demoted. They appear to be a club that is unsure of their defensive system.
Trey Palmer found himself with a short pass late in the third quarter, and although Eagles cornerback James Bradberry was right there to tackle him, he slid around him and down like he was a firepole. Palmer was unfazed and took off for a 56-yard touchdown that broke open the game and left the Eagles down 25-9 going into the fourth quarter. But that’s what they’ve turned into, a team that can’t tackle on defense and won’t run on offense. Their offensive line was unable to handle pressure, and their defense was unable to consistently create pressure. Their secondary was awful in coverage, and it would have been difficult to tell these were the Eagles if their helmets weren’t green. Ultimately, that’s on Sirianni
