SUPER BOWL GLORY DIDN'T LAST LONG FOR FORMER EAGLES COACH
Dysfunction and unrest in locker-room sealed Pederson's fate after losing season
Seldom does a Super Bowl-winning team unravel as fast, and as ugly, as the Philadelphia Eagles did.
Only days after reports said Us$128-million quarterback Carson Wentz wants out came this bombshell news on Monday afternoon: Doug Pederson is gone as head coach.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie announced the surprising firing, less than three years after Pederson led the franchise to its lone Super Bowl championship.
This season, the Eagles finished 4-11-1, 15th out of 16 teams in the NFC and dead last in an awful NFC East division, whose title was won by Washington with just a 7-9 record.
“I've spent the last few weeks evaluating everything from this past year and looking ahead,” Lurie said in a statement. “We're all very disappointed with the way our season went, and eager to turn things around, not just for next season, but also for the future of the franchise.”
Dysfunction and unrest within the club seemed to skyrocket as the regular season wound down — and that dysfunction only continued over the past week.
It sure sounds as though the parting was mutual, or at least came as a relief to Pederson.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport on Monday cited two people close to Pederson in tweeting that “it sounds like this is what it boiled down (to): Pederson was sick of people telling him what to do.”
People within the organization, that is.
It was just 35 months ago, in February 2018, that Pederson coached up backup quarterback Nick Foles and guided the Eagles to victory over New England in Super Bowl LII.
Pederson was hailed as an offensive genius. Books were written, honours and accolades poured in. Man, was he great. Man, was Philly special.
Now this.
All glory is fleeting, as General George Patton reminded us.
In the 2018 season, Pederson's Eagles finished second in the NFC East at 9-7 and won one playoff game, at Chicago, with Foles again subbing for an injured Wentz, before Philly narrowly lost at New Orleans.
Last season, the Eagles finished 9-7 and won the NFC East, but lost their first-round playoff game at home to Seattle, after Wentz left the game early with a concussion.
Pederson's final records, then, as Eagles head coach: 42-37-1 (.531) in the regular season, and 4-2 (.667) in the playoffs. These couldn't have been the reason he was turfed.
Reports suggested that Pederson and Lurie didn't see eye-toeye on remedies to the team's ills, after a meeting last week and another Monday morning.
Do-no-wrong Howie Roseman apparently remains the Eagles general manager.
Pederson's ouster means every NFC East head coach that began the 2019 season has been fired: Jay Gruden in Washington, Jason Garrett in Dallas and Pat Shurmur with the New York Giants were all let go by the end of that season.
Since 2016, when Pederson took over as Eagles head coach, those other three NFC East clubs have combined for four playoff appearances and one playoff victory. His Eagles had three playoff appearances and four playoff victories.
Wentz, for whom Roseman twice traded up to select with the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2016, wants out of Philadelphia, per reports. Or at least away from Pederson, who benched the massively underperforming QB in early December. Subsequently, some close to Wentz let it be known his relationship with Pederson was beyond repair.
That might be a primary reason Lurie gave Pederson the boot, because the club can't really give Wentz the boot; it would cost the club $34 million in a massive, Nfl-record cap hit in 2021 to cut or trade him.
Easier and better for the club to fire an unhappy head coach.
Meantime, the benching of Wentz's late-season QB replacement, Jalen Hurts, late in the meaningless-for-philadelphia season finale for overwhelmed third-stringer Nate Sudfeld two Sunday nights ago not only enraged Giants fans — whose club needed Washington to lose to make the playoffs — but reportedly was unforgivable in the eyes of some of Pederson's Eagles players.
Perhaps that stain was too deep for Pederson to ever wash off.
Philly Special? More like Philly “specially dysfunctional.”
HAWKSHAW HONOURED
Canadian side judge Dave Hawkshaw worked his first NFL playoff game on Sunday when he officiated the Chicago at New Orleans NFC wild card game.
For the playoffs, the NFL employs only its highest-graded officials. Hawkshaw, a former longtime CFL official who resides in North Vancouver, has worked NFL games for the past two seasons. He was one of six side judges to work a playoff game this past weekend, meaning he graded out as one of the best in the regular season.
According to the CFL, Hawkshaw worked 189 games over 14 years in the three-down league, including three Grey Cups, primarily as a field judge.
A firefighter in his late 40s, Hawkshaw wears No. 107.
I've spent the last few weeks evaluating everything from this past year and looking ahead. We're all very disappointed with the way our season went, and eager to turn things around, not just for next season, but also for the future of the franchise.
BIG BEN TOO COSTLY?
If the Pittsburgh Steelers want QB Ben Roethlisberger back next season, it will cost them plenty. He's due a US$15 million roster bonus in March and the club would carry a US$23.8 million cap hit if he plays, or a US$41.3 million cap hit if he's cut, traded or retires, per Spotrac.com.
“I hope the Steelers want me back,” the 38-year-old said following the Steelers' playoff exit Sunday night.