Two months ago, many NFL pundits were convinced that the Philadelphia Eagles was the best team in the NFL. They may have made the playoffs but, since then, they’ve essentially fallen apart.
In the NFC East, that’s a role usually occupied by the Dallas Cowboys. However, after they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas put together a winning streak that included beating the Eagles en route to a division crown and No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.
Meanwhile, after the 49ers thumped the Eagles, the Birds broke down, winning only one of their last six games and limping into the playoffs as the No. 5 seed.
What exactly went wrong? You can blame a lot of factors but let’s start with the defense. The Eagles finished the season 31st (out of 32 teams) in Passing Defense and 26th in Total Defense. Their offense helped make up for that issue for the first part of the season, but they could only stem the tide for so long.
Another disappointment has to be quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts was a strong candidate for Most Valuable Player last year and it seems he may have been exposed too. Although he has thrown for nearly 4,000 yards, his 23 touchdowns and 14 interceptions don’t make for an effective ratio. Certainly, the playcalling plays a role here as well.
Their young, brash head coach Nick Sirianni, whom Eagles fans have adored, is now being looked at as someone who is in over his head. Without his assistants from last season who left, he may just be an average coach and not the genius that some made him out to be last year.
I mean, I didn’t even feel this low during the 4-11-1 season in 2020 and we all know how that offseason went.
Jeffery Lurie and Howie Roseman seriously need to consider moving on from Nick Sirianni… https://t.co/7CjnGLABQv
— Kendall Beck (@KBeckEagles) January 7, 2024
By this past Sunday, despite having plenty to play for, the Eagles showed just how much they’d given up, losing to the lowly New York Giants. this is not the same team from last season that went all the way to the Super Bowl. The players may be the same, but something is very wrong with the mindset.
Nick Bosa was not wrong about that Eagles Blueprint…… pic.twitter.com/N1jVo5CYkL
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) January 7, 2024
The Eagles aren’t a horrible team by any means, but this is a team that has Super Bowl expectations and now appears to be on life support heading into the playoffs. They find themselves on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team they handily defeated back in September, though things look very different now.
If Philly loses that game, Sirianni may have to fall on his sword for their downfall. Perhaps that’s unfair given that the team was in the Super Bowl one season ago, but you won’t find too many NFL experts picking the Eagles to make it back there next season at this point.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.