The Eagles season has been over for quite some time now but the effects of their collapse are still rippling throughout the fanbase and even the players themselves. They went into this season with high expectations after an incredible 2022 season that led to them making it to the Super Bowl.
But with high expectations comes the brightest of lights. Lights that can’t overlook anything under the microscope. That’s just what comes with the territory especially when the NFC only had four teams that were considered contenders at the start of the season.
The season took a toll on everyone in the football world. No one could figure out what was going wrong. The offense was stale and was making it hard for their QB to perform. Jalen Hurts had an expected completion percentage of 61.6% this season which was second to last. The Eagles QB led the NFL in completion percentage over expectation at 4.9%. This means that the offense over-performed even with the scheme working against them.
Britain Covey was recently interviewed during Super Bowl week and he had this to say about the Eagles season, “I definitely think we got emotionally tired, trying to figure out what the problem was…There was some miscommunication from coaches to players, there was some pointing fingers from player to player and there was letting outside voices impact our love for the game and the happiness we had. All of that combined to kind of make us spiral.”
This makes a ton of sense. We saw arguments on the sidelines that led to several fans wanting the team’s best playmaker to be traded (That’s still a bit of a head-scratcher for me). We witnessed a team that was never satisfied with how they won or the fact that they won. The fun of the game was sucked out of them due to the expectations that were set out in front of them.
It was the complete opposite of who they were during the 2022 season. A season where you saw great celebrations from both sides of the ball. Where you saw the QB and his received smile from ear to ear as opposed to giving each other a mouthful. The Eagles looked like a victim of their own success. Nick Sirianni’s culture disintegrated and the humbleness and grit of the team disappeared as the weeks continued. It didn’t help that their head coach and front office demoted the defensive coordinator at the time that they were 10-1 in favor of Matt Patricia.
This season was just full of dramatic chaos which ultimately led to the team becoming its own worst enemy. Now, can the changes that have been made help revitalize the love of the game within the Eagles locker room? It’s too soon to tell but I can assure you that they mean business now. They have the right staff in place so far and it looks like we may get a very pissed-off version of the Eagles in 2024.
Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire
