The most troubling aspect of the Philadelphia Eagles’ late-season collapse in the 2023 season was the inability to identify “the problem,” something that cost coordinators Brian Johnson and Sean Desai their jobs, along with a significant portion of the supporting coaching staff.
Shuffling names and faces on the coaching staff was the business-as-usual approach to issues in the NFL, a disappointing course correction for an organization that values its forward-thinking reputation.
It’s the wrecking ball vs. the scalpel, and even if you want to argue the former was needed, the ill structure wasn’t taken down to the studs.
Jeffrey Lurie’s idea was to be surgical with the wrecking ball.
While jumping to the conclusion that head coach Nick Sirianni has been neutered in that aftermath may be a bridge too far, it is fair to say the coach’s power in the organization has been curbed somewhat to a role as overseer (he has been a CEO coach since giving up play-calling to Shane Steichen in 2021) of all things football.
When it comes to Sirianni moving forward, however, his role will be under the microscope, particularly with the offense, which has been the head coach’s baby since he arrived in 2021.
The plan is for new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to be in the pace car, an end game defined by Lurie’s insistence on fresh ideas. Defensively, the Eagles are more comfortable with Vic Fangio and would have preferred a seamless transition from Jonathan Gannon to the new DC last season but the timing didn’t work out and Fangio, a consultant for Philadelphia in the two-week lead-up to Super Bowl LVII, took a $4 million work vacation for one season in Miami.
The theme of Super Bowl week for the Eagles that did invade Radio Row in Las Vegas again highlighted that no one had a real feel for what went wrong.
Once Kansas City topped San Francisco in overtime during Super Bowl LVIII, NBC’s Peter King got one-on-one access with Andy Reid and the former Eagles’ coach who just earned his third Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs offered up quite a bit of interesting information, everything from his speed-in, speed-out “corndog” motion look near the goal line to the idea on SB overtime that Kyle Shanahan flubbed.
Reid’s most interesting revelation had nothing to do with the game, though. After winning, Reid texted Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce to thank him for the Christmas Day effort Las Vegas put in at Arrowhead Field under a then-interim coach.
The Raiders upset the Chiefs, 20-14, on the strength of two defensive touchdowns. It was the final Kansas City loss of the 2023-24 campaign and one that woke up a playoff-tested giant.
“I texted him,” Reid told King. “I just said, Hey, beautiful facility, first of all. And I appreciate you kicking our tail because you taught us a lesson. You get complacent in this business, the margin between winning and losing is tiny.
“You better step up. There’s a time and a place for these players that have been here before. You know what it takes. If you’re the veteran that’s dropping the ball or you’re the veteran getting the penalties, you better figure it out. Figure it out quick. This season’s gonna go down.”
Reid’s words hit me like a truck.
While anyone and everyone at the NovaCare Complex was uncovering every rock to find out how 10-1 receded to incompetence, “complacency” was the answer staring them right in the face.
After 24 wins in 26 starts with Jalen Hurts at quarterback, the Eagles started to believe winning was a birthright.
You can use entitlement or hubris if you like but in a league driven by parity, a successful coach for a quarter century has a good handle on the NFL so when Reid says “the margin between winning and losing is tiny,” it’s not lip service.
Back in 1999, Reid set the GPS for the course Lurie’s Eagles are still on today and also saved the organization from a second grave coaching mistake by pointing them toward Doug Pederson in 2016.
Lurie flew to Vegas to watch his friend win ring No. 3, and if the Eagles’ owner was listening after the game, his wrecking ball will be retired.
