The Philadelphia Eagles were the talk of the NFL during the 2022 season and the first 11 weeks of the 2023 season, but they are now striving to recover from a three-game losing skid.
Their most recent defeat, against the Seattle Seahawks, was heartbreaking. The defense gave up numerous 3rd and 10+ plays on the game-winning drive after Matt Patricia took over play calling duties from Sean Desai. The offense scored only 17 points and appears to be out of rhythm.
The loss was made all the more painful by Seahawks defender Julian Love’s comments regarding Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni back in February.
“He’s a guy who really is doing a good job because he’s not getting in the way of his team,” Love said on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football.
“He has an experienced roster from top to bottom — offense, defense… They have a talented roster and [Sirianni] is just doing the best thing he can do. I think it’s a players’ league, and he’s just taking a step back and letting his team play…”
“… He’s in for a free ride right now. You guys can coach this team.”
Some interesting Nick Sirianni comments from Giants safety Julian Love on GMFB this morning. pic.twitter.com/xdxeKGjuhD
— Bob Wankel (@Bob_Wankel) February 2, 2023
Sirianni’s meddling results in fourth quarter collapse
It’s remarkably ironic how Love previously highlighted Sirianni’s “hands-off approach,” only for the head coach to alter defensive play calling responsibilities before the Monday night game.
The outcome included a collapse in the fourth quarter, as Drew Lock orchestrated a 92-yard drive culminating in the game-winning touchdown—a 29-yard pass to Jaxson Smith-Njigba over James Bradberry, who was in man coverage.
Undoubtedly, the defense was a concern entering this game, conceding a whopping 109 points over three consecutive games prior to Week 15. This was a significant issue.
However, Monday’s game marked the third consecutive instance where the Eagles’ offense scored 19 points or less. This contrasts sharply with their average of 28 points per game in the initial 11 games of the season and scoring below 19 points only once in that period.
It’s evident that the offense is also facing challenges. So why solely emphasize the defensive struggles? Sirianni opted to delegate play-calling duties previously, a move that didn’t yield favorable results.
Love notably excelled during Monday night’s game, achieving his first multi-interception game. This adds another dimension considering it happened against the head coach he publicly criticized before joining the Seahawks.
At first glance, Sirianni’s intervention ahead of the Eagles’ trip to the West Coast appears misguided. Attempting to fix something seems to have backfired. There’s still time to see how things unfold, but the turnaround needs to begin in Week 16. Otherwise, more criticism is likely to follow regarding Sirianni’s decisions.
Leave a Reply