The Philadelphia Eagles had one of the remarkable collapses in recent NFL history in 2023. After starting 10-1, they lost five of their last six regular season games and barely put up a fight in a wild card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A week after their season ended, offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who was the quarterback coach during the team's Super Bowl run the previous year, was fired. Head coach Nick Sirianni remained and Kellen Moore was brought in to run the offense. Assuming Moore takes over playcalling duties, it could make a huge difference for the team because it sounds like last year was just too much for Siranni according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini.
During the second episode of Russini's Scoop City podcast with Chase Daniel, Russini made it sound like last year Sirianni had bit off more than he could chew and Jalen Hurts was the one to suffer and there may be some lingering issues.
What’s going on between Eagles HC Nick Sirianni and QB Jalen Hurts?
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) July 19, 2024
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Here's the full context from the podcast.
— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) July 19, 2024
"Those 10 wins were a grind from what I was told," said Russini. "It was explained to me that just because they were getting W's, that doesn't mean that behind the scenes it was perfect and it was just this winning culture at all times. Every win felt like a really big feat for them because of the challenges that they were facing in terms of what they were doing on offense."
What they were doing on offense was running the ball, especially inside the 30-yard line according to Daniel. Russini continued, saying it was on the head coach.
"It was Nick Sirianni's show. Everything you saw on that field was Sirianni. And from just having a few discussions with people in Philadelphia it just seems that Nick just wanted to do it his way. And he's the head coach. If that's what he wants to do..."
At this point Daniels pointed out that Sirianni had bags under his eyes by the end of the season and maybe calling plays is too much responsibility for a head coach. Both Russini and Daniel agreed that the team was too conservative last season. Again, maybe Moore can help with that.
If he can't, it seems pretty clear who the real problem is in the Eagles locker room.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Eagles Struggles Began Before the Losses Last Season, per Report.
