Why it’s not all Brian Johnson’s fault, Sean Desai’s needless press conference and Josh Sweat’s recent struggles.
It’s a must-win game against the Giants Monday afternoon and this is a must-read Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Observations.
1. Brian Johnson has become an easy target the last few weeks because the offense has been terrible, and while there’s no question he shares a chunk of the blame, it’s not all on him, and sometimes what appears to be a bad play call in reality is a bad decision or poor execution. Keep this in mind when we’re talking about Jalen Hurts’ ill-fated deep throws, which have become a real problem lately: Most play calls include a deep shot, a medium-range throw and a safe underneath throw, and the quarterback is going to look deep first, then mid-range and if there’s still nothing there he’ll dump it off. Not every call has those options built in, but in this offense most do. So where the ball goes is often up to the quarterback within the options of the play call. So it’s not like Hurts has to throw deep when he throws deep. And when Hurts gets picked off trying to connect with Quez Watkins instead of just making a safe throw to continue a drive that started out with three methodical plays for 30 yards or when he gets picked off in the final seconds forcing a deep shot to A.J. Brown when Kenny Gainwell is open underneath for a potential gain to get into Jake Elliott range, these aren’t necessarily bad play calls. They’re quite likely bad decisions by Hurts. “All of these plays really have multiple options,” Johnson said Thursday. “And the ball can go to a bunch of different places based on how the defense is presented.” He also started to question Hurts’ decision making on the second INT before stopping: “With two timeouts there you’ve got to just – we’ve got to put ourselves in a position.” The most concerning thing about Hurts’ play Monday night was his decision making, and honestly poor decisions have been behind as many of his 12 interceptions as poor throws. Hurts is naturally aggressive and it’s one of the things that makes him such a dangerous player. But he’s got to be smarter when it comes to understanding the situation and what is best for the team at that point in the game. Sometimes a boring eight-yard gain is the perfect play.2. At their current pace, the Eagles will face 673 pass attempts this year and intercept seven passes. No team in NFL history facing 673 or more pass attempts in a season has ever intercepted fewer than 14 passes.
3. Six of the last 24 Super Bowl champs had a losing streak of at least three games at some point during the season. The 2000 Ravens, 2005 Steelers, 2009 Saints, 2012 Ravens and 2021 Rams all lost three straight and the 2011 Giants lost four straight. Potential 2023 playoff teams that lost three straight at some point this year: The Jaguars, Steelers, Colts, Rams, 49ers and Bengals. The Eagles have reached the postseason nine times in seasons that included a three-game losing streak: 1979, 1981, 1988, 1996, 2006, 2013, 2019 and 2021.
4. I still can’t believe Nick Sirianni quite likely had Sean Desai go out in front of the Philly media a week ago Wednesday – Dec. 13 – and pretend he was still the defensive coordinator after he had already almost certainly been demoted in favor of Matt Patricia.
Sirianni said after the Seattle game he didn’t remember when he made the change, but he did say it was “right when game planning was going on” and “sometime in the middle of the week.” And coming off the loss to the Cowboys on a Sunday, certainly the Eagles were game-planning for the Seahawks by 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Sirianni also said he didn’t want to announce the change because he felt “it was competitive disadvantage if I did tell you guys.
” So either he sent Desai up there to hold a press conference after his demotion because he didn’t want the Seahawks to know the Eagles had a made a change on the coaching staff or Sirianni didn’t make the change until after the presser, which would have been Wednesday afternoon at the earliest – three days after the Cowboys game ended. I’m not sure which is worse.
To Desai’s credit, he’s handled this with class, and by all accounts he’s been willing to help out Patricia in any capacity. But if the Eagles really made the guy stand up there in the auditorium and on a live stream answering defensive coordinator questions when he had already been stripped of those duties, that’s really bad form on the part of Sirianni. You just don’t treat a guy like that.
5. Reed Blankenship is the only player in his 20s who has an interception for the Eagles this year. The Eagles had six players in their 20s pick off at least one pass last year (Blankenship, James Bradberry, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Avonte Maddox, Josiah Scott, Josh Sweat). The Eagles have never gone through an entire season with fewer than three players in their 20s intercepting a pass. They had three in 1961 (Maxie Baughan, Jimmy Carr, Irv Cross), 1977 (Herm Edwards, Randy Logan, John Sanders) and 2011 (Nate Allen, Jamar Chaney, Kurt Coleman). Only six teams in NFL history have gone through a full season with just one player in his 20s recording an interception.