Eagles Never Regained Their Groove in Lost Season
Despite winning 11 games, this will go down as one of the most disappointing Eagles’ seasons as they proved that they couldn’t simply flip the switch.
The late-season regular season collapse extended into the postseason.
There will be plenty of time to discuss the future of the coaching staff and make no mistake, owner Jeffrey Lurie won’t settle for the status quo. Nick Sirianni, with three trips to the postseason, including a Super Bowl appearance in his first three years and a 34-17 record might keep his job, but there will be staff changes.
Speaking of that, the move from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia as defensive play caller for the final four regular season games and the one playoff loss, appears to have made a bad situation worse.
Sirianni said it was his choice, but would anybody be surprised if we eventually discovered that the front office had its fingerprints on that decision?
It was a decision made out of desperation.
The Eagles at the end were a desperate team with no answers.
They will also have plenty of roster changes, but that’s a subject for another day.
This season’s obituary came during Monday’s 32-9 loss to the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round.
The Eagles couldn’t recapture the magic that contributed to their 10-1 start.
After losing five of their last six regular season games, the playoff loss to the Bucs was a true clunker.
This isn’t a vintage Bucs team, which is why the Eagles were a 3-point road favorite.
The most troubling aspect of the loss is that the Eagles looked like they forgot how to tackle, while the Bucs were just the opposite.
As much as he may have created waves with his complaining demeanor, the Eagles also got to see what it was like to play without injured Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Brown.
DeVonta Smith (8 receptions, 148 yards) showed he could be a No. 1 receiver in Brown’s absence, but nobody else on the offense stepped up.
The Eagles continued to have problems against the blitz-happy Bucs, a situation that plagued them all season.
Jalen Hurts (25-for-35 passing, 250 yards, 1 TD, no interceptions and a 100.09 passer rating) had decent stats, but it only produced nine points.
Here was the most telling stat–Hurts rushed just one time for five yards.
As we have stated before, Hurts was not the same this year. Hurts insisted that the bruised knee he suffered earlier in the season was fine, but he didn’t display his usual explosiveness.
People say the Eagles showed no heart and that’s a difficult accusation to make.
What they did show was no confidence.
This was a lost team that couldn’t find its way back to competence.
Photo of DeVonta Smith - courtesy of Philadelphia Eagles
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Author: Marc Narducci
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