Adversity demands leadership and Nick Sirianni hasn’t provided it for the Philadelphia Eagles in what’s mushroomed into a three-game losing streak that has outsiders settling all debts with a coach that doesn’t mind spiking the football when things are going well.
It’s hard to keep up with the knives being hurled at an Eagles team that went from 10-1 legitimate Super Bowl contender to a 10-4 overreactionary, panic-stricken bunch in the blink of an eye after a 20-17 late-game collapse against a Seattle team playing a backup quarterback on Monday night.
San Francisco MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey took to ESPN’s Manningcast to highlight just how predictable Sirianni’s offense has become.
How predictable is this Eagles offense?
Christian McCaffrey knows what the Eagles are running from his couch. pic.com/VnTdo1U5oS
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) December 19, 2023
ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky lamented how much the offense relies on three or four signature plays.
The Eagles offense has to stop running the same 3-4 plays over and over and over again if they aren’t gashing the defense
-2X2 stack-RPO
-3X1-Goedert over the ball
-Empty-Hank (RZ is P-R-O)— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) December 19, 2023
Orlovsky’s take had former All-Pro cornerback and Amazon analyst Richard Sherman champing at the bit to get back on the field.
Wish I got to play this offense. Would have booked at least 2 of those hanks. https://pic.com/H5IfDBFHWn
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) December 19, 2023
Meanwhile, NFL Films analyst Brian Baldinger offered up some “Baldy Breakdowns” that serve as pornography for Eagles’ haters.
. @Eagles v @seattle. 3 plays that make you go. Hmmmmm. #BaldysBreakdowns https://pic.com/IW6ua931aj
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 19, 2023
To save time and space, we will end it there but understand you could fill up a book with those lining up to take their pound of flesh from Sirianni’s program.
Meanwhile, Sirianni’s only answer to the leaking oil was sacrificing now-defensive coordinator in name only Sean Desai to the circling sharks, eschewing his credibility in the process.
“I did what I thought I needed to do in the best interest of the football team,” Sirianni said when discussing the shift to Matt Patricia that was made on Tuesday and not revealed until Sunday when it leaked to FOX’s Jay Glazer.
Brandon Graham told the Philadelphia Inquirer it was the monolithic “media.”
“It’s media-driven out here, man,” Graham said. “It had to be a change because everybody calling for his head.”
John McMullen/Eagles Today
The only impressive thing the Eagles have done recently is keeping that Band-Aid on the broken leg quiet while Sirianni lied in at least two media sessions and forced Desai to pretend it was business as usual during his weekly media briefing leading up to the Seahawks game, all in the name of “competitive advantage.”
Calling all of this a clown show right now is an affront to face-painted pranksters everywhere.
There’s an identifiable measuring stick for Jeffrey Lurie’s patience in the form of Doug Pederson’s journey from Super Bowl champion to unemployment in three years.
Scapegoating tends to be the first step in an attempt to lower the heat off those with greater power doing the finger-pointing. Assigning blame, however, typically buys some time but it comes with a host of other fingers pointing right back at the offender as evidenced by those launching salvos at Sirianni’s team.
Related: Jalen Hurts’ Brutal Reaction: ‘We’re Not Committed!’
This emperor has no clothes and there is only one card left to play in Philadelphia and it’s not the media or us vs. them, it’s the Eagles’ superstars taking ownership of this mess and masking the deficiencies of the people who are supposed to be leading them.
“Show me a good coach and I’ll show you a bunch of good players,” Sirianni has said.
It’s time for great players like Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Hasson Reddick, and Jalen Carter to validate that thesis.
