For the first two seasons of their tenure, Nick Sirianni’s staff has been one of the more surprising and efficient staff in football. A 22-10 record with a playoff appearance is certainly due to a mark of excellence that few coaching groups could even dream of.
Yet the last two weeks have been anything but smooth for Nick Sirianni and his group of young leaders.
And their more recent blunders could cost Philadelphia a chance at a second Lombardi trophy.
After losing in Dallas 40-34, the Eagles were at the mercy of four unforced turnovers that ultimately led to their second loss of the season. It didn’t help when Jonathan Gannon’s defense gave up over 400 yards of offense and was torched by Dak Prescott. After the game, both Jonathan Gannon and Nick Sirianni took the blame for the offense’s turnovers and their defensive struggles.
Nick Sirianni’s response..
“You’re pissed because it always starts with us as coaches, we’re always going to look at ourselves first, 100 percent of the time. So, we’re going to make some adjustments of how we drill it. We did this same thing after the Washington game. We were drilling it a certain way and we added a little more reps to how we drilled it, and we’re going to do the same thing this time.” Nick Sirianni told reporters Wednesday.
Jonathan Gannon’s response..
“Obviously, didn’t do enough on our end to give our team a chance to win, gave up too many points, and have to be better situationally. That’s me first, coaching it better than what we did last week, obviously, and we have to execute at a little bit higher level, and that comes down to me, as well, coaching it and calling it a little bit better.” Gannon echoed on Tuesday.
The miscues from the coaching staff go back a week further than just the loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
In Philadelphia’s 25-20 win over Chicago, the Eagles’ offensive staff ran Jalen Hurts 17 times which directly resulted in the sprained shoulder that has kept him out of practice over the last two weeks. Hurts’ absence was a major factor in the Eagles’ loss Saturday as well.
Philadelphia’s coaching staff made a major mistake by using Jalen Hurts as a top-running quarterback instead of as one of the more improved passers as he has shown to be all season. Because of this, their run as the top team in the NFC is in serious jeopardy if they can’t win Sunday against New Orleans.
A loss without Jalen Hurts means the Eagles would still control their on destiny, but the pressure would be even greater than before to play him. And with the large number of injuries that Philadelphia has suffered over the last two weeks, it’s even harder to see a path to winning in a couple of weeks when the playoffs begin.
Simply put, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles coaching staff has dug their own hole for their squad. Their mismanagement of Hurts’ and lack of in-game adjustments has led to a crossroads for the 2022 season. If they cannot move past these mistakes and have the team ready to go on Sunday, the panic in the city will be far greater than anyone is comfortable with.
AP Photo/Matt Slocum
