‘Evaluate everything’: Eagles stand by OC, but admit change is needed
- The Philadelphia Eagles lost 24-15 to the Chicago Bears, marking another disappointing offensive performance.
- Head coach Nick Sirianni stated he will not change offensive play-callers but will evaluate everything during the team’s layoff.
- Philadelphia’s offense struggled to establish a running game, while their defense allowed the Bears to rush for 281 yards.
PHILADELPHIA – A lot can change in 10 days, the length of the layoff between the Philadelphia Eagles’ 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears on Nov. 28 and their next game, against the Los Angeles Chargers on “Monday Night Football” on Dec. 8.
So when Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni says that he’s not taking play-calling duties away from offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, much to the dismay of a disgruntled fanbase that played into its reputation for booing the home team, it’s important to take his word – but not to be believed blindly. Continuing to do the same thing over and over again with an expectation of changing the results is sometimes defined as insanity.
Sirianni repeated his refrain of recent weeks: the Eagles’ issues on offense extend beyond one person. Later in his postgame news conference, he was asked directly about reassigning the first-year coordinator.
“We’re not changing the play caller, but we will evaluate everything,” Sirianni said. “This weekend, we’ll have another little mini-bye, another short week that leads to a long weekend where we’ll evaluate everything.”
Eagles’ inability to get ground game going paints them into a corner
Philadelphia was thoroughly outplayed in the ground game, with the Bears rushing for 281 yards with both running backs, D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, rushing for more than 100 yards – quite physically – and a touchdown apiece.
Once again, the Eagles could not get their own stud running back, Saquon Barkley, going behind a beleaguered offensive line that is a shell of itself compared to the one that paved the way for a 2,000-yard rusher a year ago. Barkley, held to 56 yards on 13 carries in a game the Eagles trailed from the first quarter on, was left searching for answers.
“We keep talking about it. We keep saying it. We’re addressing it,” he said. “It’s just not clicking right now. That’s just the truth. I hate to say it. We just got to figure it out, and we got to figure it out pretty soon, to be honest.”
Wide receiver A.J. Brown, not afraid to give his opinions about his own production within the unit, said running the ball is something Philadelphia simply has to do to be a successful offense.
“(Defenses are) making it extremely tough to run the ball,” said Brown, who had 10 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. “And we have to run the ball. We have to. That’s how you get the game going. I think today was a unique situation because we got down and the time was running (we were) forced to throw the ball.”
Perhaps the most telling moment after the Eagles’ game was when tight end Dallas Goedert was asked point blank how often he feels like the offense has a strategic advantage over the opposing defense.
Five seconds passed.
“Tough question,” he said. “I don’t know if I have an answer for that.”
Philly’s offense lacks breathing room to overcome mistakes
Even if his stats aren’t gaudy, quarterback Jalen Hurts’ ability to protect the ball let the Eagles at least rely on their defense. But an interception and a fumble – on the tush push, no less – reversed that narrative.
“That’s been a direct correlation with success for us, being able to protect the ball (and winning),” Hurts said, “and so that really, really killed us.”
An early third down play with eight yards to go in the second quarter on the border of the red zone was an example of how out-of-sync the Eagles can look at times. DeVonta Smith, arguably Smith’s most reliable target, broke open on a slant across the middle with plenty of room to run (Goedert was also wide open running up the opposite seam). Hurts thought Smith would sit down past the sticks for a first down.
“It was two guys on two different pages and that’s a bit of the issues that we’ve kind of been having,” the quarterback said. “We weren’t detailed enough in that, I wasn’t detailed enough in instructing him on what to do as we prepared and making myself clear on that, and so I’m trying to find as many particulars as I can when it comes to the level of execution we have, and that’s a group effort that has to be there.
“It’s not ideal. It’s not something that you desire, but going off of how the flow this year is going, it’s kind of similar to my response last week and saying ‘no’ of any surprises of where we are. It’s just a matter of picking ourselves up, and continuing to press forward, and staying together in it, and being committed to it.”
Inside the Eagles’ locker room after the game, Hurts and Patullo huddled for a private conversation at the quarterback’s locker. The theme of the talk, according to Hurts, was moving forward.
“That’s it. Going out there and trying to find ways to move the offense down the field, put points on the board and I’m always encouraging of sitting in an identity,” he said, “and so we’ve all got work we’ve got to do.
“I have confidence in him. I have confidence in this team. I have confidence in us when we’re collaborative. I have a lot of confidence when we have an identity, so I think that’s the first thing that we have to establish that we’ve talked about.”
