Tough Times

[time2rock]

Tough Times

Posted: January 1st, 2024 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

As Charles Dickens famously said, it was the worst of times, it was the worsterer of times. That’s the way things feel in regard to the Eagles right now. There are all kinds of issues from Sunday’s debacle. There are questions about what will happen next Sunday. The playoffs are two weeks away, but nobody feels good about that right now. Then we’ll have all kinds of questions about the offseason.

Football is supposed to be a fun distraction from real life, right?

Ugh.

There is an upside to losing 4 out of 5 games. Jeff Lurie, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni will go into the offseason knowing some things need to be changed and/or fixed. If you think back to 2010, that team had some flaws, but Andy Reid and the front office focused on the highs. They made moves to put that team over the top. The 2011 Eagles started 4-8 before getting hot and finishing at 8-8.

There won’t be any cherrypicking with this season. The issues are blatanly obvious to everyone. That doesn’t mean solving them will be easy or that we’ll all agree on what should be done. The 10-1 start will be a distant memory. The focus will be on the blowout losses to SF and Dallas, as well as the choke jobs against Seattle and Arizona. Your suffering will not be ignored.

*****

More than a few people are talking about whether Nick Sirianni should be fired. I don’t think things have gotten to the point where you fire him. It may sound good to hold someone accountable, but you have to follow that up with the question of who replaces him. There is no guarantee you’re going to find a better coach.

I do think Sirianni will need to have good answers for Howie and Lurie in the offseason. Too many fans and media people get frustrated with Sirianni’s non-answers in his press conferences. That is Coachspeak 101. Go read Finding the Winning Edge by Bill Walsh. Coaches have one message behind closed doors and another one for the public. You don’t air all your dirty laundry. You keep that in house.

Just because Sirianni isn’t ripping guys in the media doesn’t mean he’s blind. Watch his actions. Quez’s playing time went down in a big way the last two games. That’s not an accident. That’s Sirianni telling him his performance isn’t good enough.

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The biggest thing for Sirianni is explaining what happened to the defense. Part is personnel, part is scheme. Part might be leadership. He needs to be able to present a plan for how this stuff is getting fixed. This is hard to watch.

Getting lit up is bad. When it looks easy for the other team, that is unacceptable.

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Howie will have some things to answer for as well. The back seven is a mess. The front office took calculated gambles on some players and they just haven’t worked out this year. I understand that when you pay a QB big money you’ll have to cut corners in some other spots. But there are too many whiffs.

Maybe there is some disconnect between the personnel staff and the defensive staff. All I know is that the performance by the back seven is a huge issue and has hurt the team all year long.

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I am curious to see how the Eagles respond this week. There is enough talent and leadership on this team that they should be able to regroup and focus on the task at hand. Go beat the Giants and play with some pride. Close the regular season on a positive note.

Dallas plays a struggling Washington team on Sunday. If the Cowboys win, as they should, they’ll be division champs and the #2 seed. That game is at the same time as the Eagles. Sirianni talked about trying to get his team out of their rut, regardless of what that means for seeding and the division. He wants to play to win.

No one will have any confidence in the Eagles in the playoffs regardless of what happens on Sunday. How could you after seeing them get out-physicaled by the Cardinals?

Sirianni isn’t worried about perception. He’s focused on trying to get his guys a bit of confidence as they head to the postseason.

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If you want to cleanse your palate and see some good defense, here you go.

http://igglesblitz.com/2024/01/tough-times/

[birdman#12]

The fact that the eagles are in this position is NOT and "upside" to fixing things this off-season.  We shouldn't even be talking about the offseason.....and I'm questioning the ability to "fix" things when a MAJOR problem hasn't been addressed.

And NO, the issues aren't blatanly obvious to everyone.  It sure doesn't seem to be obvious to Sirianni.  Replacing Quez is hardly a revelation.......he continues to see frustration on the part of his QB and his 2 top receivers, and everyone in the media and the fans see that the play calling is not only repetitive and boring, but is wasting the talents of Hurts, Swift, Brown, Smith and Goedart.

To continually go into games and see the same poor play calling, the boring scheme, the pathetic situational play calling, and the bad red zone offense, has led to questioning just WTF Sirianni is doing with brian johnson.  

The defense is bad.....but this offense is capable of putting up 30 points a game....CONSISTENTLY.......which would take a huge load of pressure off the defense and maybe allow the defense to play more aggressive.

This offense has not improved, nor has Johnson, over the course of 16 games.......Sirianni has not addressed it, which leads me to believe that he can't recognize the proiblem....so no, heading into and offseason after a mind-blowing collapse with the hopes of improving next year is no "upside"

[UK_EaglesFan89]

18 hours ago, time2rock said:

The issues are blatanly obvious to everyone

Here’s my concern… I’m not sure Sirianni sees those issues. I think he believes they can turn it around. A bit like Doug the year after the SB and how he didn’t make the changes and ended up getting fired. I don’t think Sirianni sees the issues here. Because he couldn’t see that against Arizona we needed a TD on that final drive because our defense can’t stop anyone.