Leading OFF
Has Eagles coach lost the team? Player’s silence speaks volumes
PHILADELPHIA – We have seen this stink before from the Eagles.
But those were in the darkest of times, the 2020 collapse that led to the end of the Doug Pederson-Carson Wentz era, the blowout losses in 2015 that signaled the end of the Chip Kelly regime, and the nine-game losing streak in Andy Reid’s final season in 2012.
Such events weren’t supposed to happen this season. The Eagles were coming off a season that ended in the Super Bowl. They started out 10-1.
And then, everything has fallen apart. Again and again.
So now, the questions have started about head coach Nick Sirianni after the latest indignity, a 35-31 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 31.
“I still believe in the guys in that locker room, the players,” Sirianni said. “I still believe in the coaches. I think we’ve got the guys in this place to get turned in the right direction.
“We don’t have much time, obviously.” But do the Eagles believe in Sirianni? They’re certainly not playing like it.
These are the same Cardinals who came into game with a 3-12 record, with former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as the head coach, who embarrassed a Philadelphia defense that he coached to the Super Bowl last season.
“If we play the football we know we can play, we’re going to beat the (crap) out of every single team,” rookie safety Sydney Brown said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. I know what we can do on defense. I know the guys that we have on this team. There’s no flight in any of us.
“One bad game can’t be the single story of what our defense has done.”
Well, it hasn’t been one game. The Eagles have already switched defensive coordinators, going from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia (Desai kept the title), and it hasn’t made a difference.
The Cardinals gashed the Eagles in the run game, with 221 yards rushing, and in the pass game as quarterback Kyler Murray completed 25 of 31 passes for 228 yards. Arizona held the ball for 39 minutes, 39 seconds.
The Eagles never forced the Cardinals to punt. And every Arizona drive ended on the Eagles’ side of the field.
That’s not coaching. That’s not scheme. That’s surrender.
It’s why left tackle Jordan Mailata was asked if the locker room “is still with Sirianni?”
“Yes,” Mailata said. “Why would you say that?”
The questioner responded because the Eagles have lost the last four of five games.
“We got our teeth punched in (by the Cardinals) because we went out there and we thought they were going to be a pushover?” Mailata said. “No. It’s the NFL. It’s any given Sunday. That’s what makes this one of the greatest sports in the world.
“No, Nick has not lost the locker room.”
Then Mailata ended the interview, saying the question upset him.
Still, it’s hard to avoid now. No doubt, that question will be dealt with again at the end of the season, which certainly seems like is going to happen sooner rather than later.
The Eagles (11-5) are tied with the Dallas Cowboys for first place in the NFC
East. But the Cowboys hold the tiebreaker, meaning the Eagles most likely will begin the playoffs as a wild-card team, opening on the road against the NFC South winner.
That scenario could potentially mean winning three road playoff games in order to get to the Super Bowl.
“Obviously, it’s been done,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, you always want to play at home. You always want to win the division. The path might be harder, but shoot, our goals are ahead of us.
“We have to get things fixed and we have to get them fixed fast. We are not where we want to be right yet as far as how we are playing right now, and how we are coaching right now. But we’ve got time to get it fixed.”
The Eagles have been saying the same thing for the last five weeks, and still, no one has any answers.
And that’s from the players who talked. For a second straight game, wide receiver A.J. Brown refused to, saying, “I got nothing to say.”
Then he added, “It ain’t nothing against y’all.”
Could Brown be upset at the coaching?
After last week’s win over the Giants, Brown declined to comment, saying, “I’ve got nothing nice to say.”
Brown is clearly upset about something.
Consider what happened on the Eagles’ best chance to take over the game late in the fourth quarter.
Sure, the offense played well enough to win. Jalen Hurts completed 18 of 23 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns before getting intercepted on a Hail Mary at the end of the game.
But the Eagles had recovered an onside kick after Arizona tied the score at 28-28 with 5:26 left.
The Eagles took over at the Cardinals 39 and quickly got to the 20 on a pass to Brown. Mailata was called for holding. And then, curiously, Hurts ran the ball twice, picking up 4 yards and losing 3. On third-and-19, Hurts threw a screen to Kenny Gainwell for 4 yards.
He never once looked for Brown. Perhaps even more damaging, the Eagles’ other star receiver, DeVonta Smith, was injured blocking on that third-down play. He was seen after the game in a walking boot and crutches.
Both Brown and Smith have well over 1,000 yards receiving this season. No wonder fans were booing loudly even as Jake Elliott gave the Eagles the lead, hitting a 43-yard field goal with 2:33 left. The fans knew what was coming. As it turned out, the final insult happened as it usually has over these past five weeks – no pass rush on Murray, a short dump-off to Greg Dortch with shoddy tackling that became a 36-yard gain down to the Eagles 5 with 41 seconds left.
James Conner, with 128 yards rushing, barreled up the middle into the end zone, and that was it.
Officially, the Eagles have one regularseason game left, against the 5-11 Giants. They’re guaranteed one playoff game.
Anything beyond one game depends on how much the Eagles want to keep playing. That will answer the question of whether they believe in Sirianni.
“I know for us, it’s going to happen,” defensive lineman Brandon Graham said. “We just have to make it through this little storm right now. We believe in us. At the end of the day, I know we’re going to get it right, and I feel good.
“We’ll go out next week and take care of our business. And then it’s 0-0 (when the playoffs start). At that point, everything else is behind us.”
If only it were that simple.