Overrated Brotherly Love?

It’s the beginning of the end of the Nick Sirianni era. The Philadelphia Eagles organization moves off of people quickly. Doug Pederson was coaching a team anchored by an MVP caliber Carson Wentz back in 2017. Wentz unfortunately suffered a devastating ACL injury that registered him out for the remainder of that season…. It

didn’t matter… Philly rolled through the NFC bracket and met up with the dynasty New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52. Despite having backup quarterback Nick Foles, the Eagles won a shootout over the best quarterback of all time 41-33.

First ring in franchise history….Check

Beat a dynasty……Check

Won the Super Bowl with a back up quarterback……Check

Pederson has the utmost job security…….Uhhh..

The Eagles ended up faltering miserably in the 2020 season. After oddly selecting quarterback Jalen Hurts in the 2nd round of the draft, many had doubts about the future of oft- injured quarterback Wentz.

Those doubts were quickly put to bed after Wentz completely dive bombed in 2020. 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions and a measly 218 passing yards per game. Jalen Hurts took over as the Eagles signal caller in the middle of Week 13 of 2020. This marked the end of the Carson Wentz era in Philly.

At the end of that season, it was the end for Doug Pederson as well. Only three seasons removed from winning one of the most unlikely Super Bowls, Pederson was done. It didn’t matter what happened in the past, this franchise wanted to move on and start over. This is why Nick Sirianni will lose his job after the 2023 season. In order to understand why Sirianni will not be the Eagles head coach come 2024, we need to contextualize the situation and what factors into this inevitable decision. He has failed to add capable coordinators for a weakening team. Current coordinators, Brian Johnson and Sean Desai don’t look like they can get the most out of their personnel at least on a surface level. It resulted in Desai giving up play calling duties to Matt Patricia at the back half of the season.

After the 2022 season, offensive coordinator Shane Steichen and defensive coordinator Jonatahan Gannon received head coaching jobs after their work with the Eagles. Steichen had the Indianapolis Colts playing meaningful football in Week 18 with a backup quarterback and significantly less talent than the Eagles. Gannon was coaching up the Cardinals to a late season push…in fact…they beat his former Eagles on the road in Week 17.

What has Sirianni brought to the table as a head coach in his tenure? If it seems like the offense was mainly attached to Steichen and the defense Gannon, what does Sirianni do? Maybe he’s a culture guy? Maybe he’s a glue guy? Maybe he’s a cheerleader? The only one who can answer these questions are in that locker room. From the outside looking in, it doesn’t seem like this is a creative mind that is getting the most out of his players.

There are also a plethora of great head coaches available for the Eagles on this open coaching cycle. The league had already knew that the New England Patriots were parting ways with legend Bill Belicheck. Mike Vrabel, Ben Johnson, Bobby Slowik, Jim Harbaugh….they wouldn’t have to force themselves to hire “another guy.” If they are more than ready to kick Sirianni to the curb, there are plenty of viable options that can get a lot out of a very talented roster. A very talented roster that will, not may, yield an early playoff exit. The Baker Mayfield led Buccaneers are a pretty formidable threat. The three-win Cardinals looked pretty threatened a few short weeks ago!

Spiraling out of control, losing games to inferior teams, leaking defensively, no true identity. This is the uneventful reality of the soon to be finished Eagles season. Looked at as a vaunted collection of talent a season ago, it only took a year for this roller coaster to lose its wheels. Why?

Sure Jalen Hurts has thrown more interceptions than he did last season? Who cares

Josh Allen throws picks

Patrick Mahomes throws picks

What someone like Hurts needs to worry about, might be the logo on his helmet.

The Eagles move off their coaches….they move off their players as well.

The caveat in this is the $255 million dollar contract as well as the four more years linked to that contract. He’s a young talented asset that has been glaringly on the upswing…until this year. While still productive, it wasn’t quite what we saw a season ago. Feels like a broken record in this whole analysis. A team that has very rapidly faltered in a city that demands both answers and excellence. General manager Howie Roseman has drafted very well especially on the defensive side. Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Keele Ringo, Jordan Davis…have either produced immediately or have very high upside.

They have AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert as great pass catching options.

While he has regressed, there might still only be about 7-9 people in the world that can play the quarterback position better than Hurts. The offensive line is aging, but still one of the best units in the league.

Why can a team with this much talent falter this bad?

Why are their former coordinators getting the most out of worse teams elsewhere?

What will the Eagles do when another season falls massively shy of preseason expectations?

They make changes.

This is an organization and city that does not hold onto blind nostalgia. They moved off of Pederson and Wentz; made it to the big game with Sirianni and Hurts. Always looking to pivot and not holding onto what was productive in the past. Many organizations would keep Sirianni and keep running it back with the same look. Not the Eagles.

This roster is too talented….

There are too many great coaching options available…

They don’t have any allegiance to anyone’s past….

Sirianni’s time has come to an uneventful end. Despite only coaching three seasons, one

of which netted a Super Bowl appearance; it’s over.