Following the team’s stunning collapse, details of the turmoil within the Philadelphia Eagles are starting to surface.
Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson’s future may be even more questionable than that of head coach Nick Sirianni.
Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports reports that Johnson had a falling out with starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, who had actively lobbied for Johnson to be the offensive coordinator in 2023. The relationship appears to have “soured,” particularly in the latter part of the season, as a result of the Eagles’ offensive woes.
“One team source said Hurts audibled and freelanced more frequently late in the season, and that he and Johnson rarely seemed to be on the same page,” Vachiano stated.
It is hardly surprise that there is a divide given the Eagles
despite having maybe one of the NFL’s top offensive lines, which included explosive wideouts DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, tight end Dallas Goedert, and running back D’Andre Swift, underperformed on that side of the ball.
Many critiqued the team for lacking originality and being too “predictable” in 2023, only one year after they made it to the Super Bowl behind Hurts and an offensive line that seemed unbeatable. Even if the eye test revealed the same information, the data demonstrate how the offense has deThe Eagles were worst in the NFL in both motion and snap motion percentage after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13, which dropped them to 10-2. This trend persisted throughout the closing weeks of the season.
In the meanwhile, following ranking
They were third in 2022 with 28 points per game; this season, they are seventh with 25. In addition, the unit witnessed a decrease in running yards per game (148 to 129) and throwing yards per game (241 to 225).
On the surface, it might not appear like a dramatic fall from grace, but over the last seven weeks of the year, the issues were most apparent. The Eagles finished the regular season with a five-game losing streak, crawling into the playoffs before suffering a humiliating 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs in the wild-card round.
With 218 passing and 109 running yards, the offense managed just 19 points per game on average throughout that time.
Hurts isn’t going anywhere, having recently signed a $255 million, five-year contract deal. Despite the fact that he and Johnson have known each other since Hurts’ high school years, it seems as though the franchise will have a new face at OC at season’s end, regardless of what happens with Sirianni.
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