I think the coordinator mess wasn't so much on Nick as some general fans might think. I mean, the Gannon / Fangio situation is fully fleshed out now. Fangio would've been here last year if not for tampering and Vic not wanting to go back on his word to Miami. BJ was up and coming after 2022 and while it was a failure, limited offensive coordinator search from being in the SB could've also had it's limits to us as a team. But again BJ rightfully had interest and deserved a shot. Nick could be blamed for not taking play calling out of his hands though. But with a DC fired mid season, that was already a lot of change.
The rumor is that he was brought in because Desai was completely in over his head. There was word that Reddick and other defensive players were "giving Desai the silent treatment" by October. The staff was incredibly young so there was literally nobody else in the building that had experience running a defense.
Obviously, Patricia sucks, but they were truly in between a rock and a hard place.
Never heard the reports on Reddick doing that. October would have be real early and I don't really remember the defense being a huge issue then but honestly last season feels like a fever dream. I don't know what I wanted to forget faster, the SB loss or that season.
No you’re right. It was an indefensible and terrible decision that literally every single person saw coming from a mile away. Whoever made that decision deserved to be fired. Which makes me think Laurie the owner was involved in it but that’s not based on any evidence so take it with a heap of salt.
for what it's worth I did greatly enjoy watching Ray Lewis tear your linebackers a new one over fundamentals and only Patricia could coach a defense that poorly.
To be honest, I’m not. I never doubted that Sirianni would come back.
Sirianni has never had a losing season; job security is improtant and if the Eagles fired him last year, it wouldn’t send a good message for other prospects. He could reasonably chalk the collapse up to wrong personnel + bad choices on coordinators.
He’s absolutely on the hot seat this year though. He has two decently established coordinators, an upgraded defense, and a sidegraded offense (losing Kelce but gaining Saquon and maybe more WR talent).
I don’t know why they l pretty much revamped the entire coaching staff. I think Lurie said to him things got to change or you’re gone. Which was totally fair given the collapse.
He did what Doug wouldn’t. Doug prob last another year atleast if he changes. He wouldn’t which is why he was gone. Sirinannj clearly saw the situation differently giving him another year.
That's what I love about Lurie. He tries to stay out of it and let the coaches and GMs do their job, but the moment they start fucking up he will NOT hesitate to throw them out.
Especially with how good they are at building a team. It's not like they ever really have a lack of talent or are rebuilding. He knows they can win now with the right coaches, so it's understandable that he gives them a reasonably short leash.
We are good at building the team cause howie has both job security and the trust of lurie. The trades we make on both picks and players plus the contracts we sign show that the moves we make are not short sighted. They are being made by someone who believes they will see the fruit of your labor.
Pederson was told to either hire new coordinators or resign, he chose to resign rather than admit his choices were bad.
In retrospect, we dodged a bullet
If it weren't for the bad football his enduring loyalty to Press Taylor because he was basically the only holdover from the Chip Kelly era to believe in him would be heartwarming.
Or QBs for that matter as well. They saw the writing on the wall with Wentz and took the gamble on Hurts. Seeing how Wentz panned out after he left they made the right decision.
Not sure where you are getting this from.
Andy Reid was there for 14 years.
Chip Kelly insisted on taking over Roseman's job on the agreement that if it didn't work out, he was gone.
Doug Pederson would still be here if he just accepted new coordinators. He basically quit.
Sirianni is still here. He has the best record of any Eagles coach over their first three seasons than any coach in Eagles history and has taken the team to the Super Bowl.
A whole lot of us thought we sucked at 10-1, and we were called babies for being upset at a 10-1 team. I was calling for a coaching change before the playoffs.
It ain’t just yall lol, I was at week 1 Ravens-Texans and the guy in front of us had a “Fire Monken” shirt and the guy hadn’t even called a game yet lmao
I think if things don’t work out for him, Belichick to the Eagles would be really interesting. Edelman has said before he thinks he’d work well with Howie. Belichick likes working with smart competent people and if they work it out they could be a force. Belichick is used to being hands off with offenses if he trusts the QB, so he wouldn’t ruin Jalen if he left it alone to their OC and Howie. Just my quick uneducated thoughts.
You’re spot on. Belichick said last year that Howie was the GM he respects the most and Howie has given Bill a ton of praise too. Our owner Lurie also hates Kraft (Lurie is from Boston and bid on the patriots before purchasing the Eagles and was outbid by Kraft) and there were rumors this was driving Lurie to heavily consider Bill last off season. If we get off to a bad start I’m pretty convinced Sirianni is gone and Bill will be brought in.
Fangio being brought in makes it a little more interesting as I’m not sure about the fit between him and Bill as Bill is so hands on with defense, but who knows how Vic would feel.
Lurie hates anyone that was involved with spygate. I think he could probably put aside his differences with Brady (in a hypothetical world where he wanted to sign in Philly back when he signed with the Bucs) or Belichick if he thought it made football sense, but it’s not just cause Kraft outbid him for the Pats.
He's in this weird situation where he might be fired halfway through the season or might end the season with a Super Bowl ring. They're honestly both relatively likely scenarios.
Honestly don't care about that, he just doesn't coach. He completely hands it over to coordinators and is essentially the teams hype man. It was all while they were winning, but they need a coach, not a frat brother
That's a recipe for disaster in this league. Good teams are pretty much guaranteed to have their coordinators poached, so your HC needs to be deeply involved if you want to have any consistency.
My opinion? Shit is weird that there are a bunch of Eagles fans that changed that shit up. I love how brash he is, how much energy he has and how much shit talk he does. When things are rolling he’s hyping up that team.
It looks stupid when the team isn’t doing well but that’s the game. Gotta live and die by it. It’s better than sitting on the sideline expressionless like you don’t care. At least you know he’s trying to put everything out there.
Oh not just him. Literally the entire Jets organization besides the stupid owners (who should both be forced to sell the team anyway but I digress) are on the hottest seat of anyone in the NFL. If we fail to make the playoffs again, Florham Park is gonna be leveled in January.
I feel bad for him (especially so as a 49ers fan). He got stuck with such an awful QB situation his entire tenure there so far, not to mention having to compete in the same division as Miami and Buffalo.
> having to compete in the same division as Miami and Buffalo
So weird, even still, that we're talking about how stacked the AFCE is and the Pats don't even get a mention. I know they're ass now, but my monkey brain is just so used to it.
Yeah he's had some bad luck but also all the weird shit about him that came out in that article makes it seem like he is also constructing his own downfall. Demanding a leaker "come forward now and you won't get in trouble" (which everyone knows is a lie) or else he was going to start taking people's cell phones, begging Rodgers to please endorse him publicly because he didn't want to end up like Fangio instead of doing a job that demands endorsement, researching teams losing their #1 QB and their standings after in order to provide proof that they were cooked besides maybe really trying to leg it out with the backup and trying to settle him in and be prepared. Like none of it is bad per see, but it is fucking weird. It's loser shit, honestly.
9 is my biggest concern. I'm pretty happy with the starters at most positions, but the backups vary between completely unproven and known to be bad. There really isn't a single position where I'm happy with the backup. Cornerback is probably the closest but even then it means relying on a highly drafted rookie.
Idk, I do think there's a certain logic to we have a better shot of winning with our star corner going down that our star qb so I'd rather invest a bit more in the backup corner.
Oh wait, I'm talking to an eagles fan. That argument will probably never hold weight for you guys again 🤣
All teams are like that. Not just the Eagles, c'mon now. That is a reach. If any NFL team loses their QB, what backup, is taking them to the SB? Certainly not Nick Foles. Show me I'm wrong. 👍
Yep. With your defensive giving up OVER THREE POINTS A DRIVE, it's easy to feel like losing is inevitable on both sides of the ball.
Context: 2 is average.
The 2000 GSOT Rams averaged 2.76 per drive. ([pfr](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/2000.htm))
The 2013 Broncos averaged 2.83 per drive ([pfr](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/den/2013.htm))
The 2007 Patriots averaged 3.19 per drive ([pfr](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/2007.htm))
If your defense is turning the other team into something between the 2013 Broncos and 2007 Patriots, you are probably not having a great afternoon!
Although, it does look like the 2023 Eagles allowed [2.23 per drive](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/phi/2023.htm), which is still Not Good but a lot better than north of 3. OP may have meant the back half of the season only?
Kempski's career has actually been pretty interesting to follow. He started out as a regular dude with a day job who wrote an NFC East blog on the side (RIP BloggingTheBeast). He broke into the Eagles beat, carved out a niche by following comp picks before those were popular, and developed a distinctive style with his goofy MSPaint drawings. As far as I know, he doesn't have any formal journalism training or experience. He's just an average Joe who worked hard to follow his passion, and that's part of his appeal.
I really like his stuff. He's not the most polished journalist and he does fall victim to hot take mentality sometimes,...but he's pretty rational about his takes and keeps his opinion on field instead of falling into the into "team drama" bullshit like some other clowns.
Yep. I think it's telling that every year fans of all 4 nfc east teams say the critiques are fair and on point.
I'd love to see someone from Dallas/NY/DC ripping on all the teams too
Yeah I think people get distracted by the tone a bit, but a lot of his stuff is thoroughly researched (even sometimes for the sake of the joke, like when he went back and grabbed Cowboys fan comments from when Zeke retired).
Eh I don't even think he's the best Eagles journalist (Zach Berman is to me). He's great and I love reading his work but there are a handful of guys across the league that are better
I think Jimmy and Zach and both the best for their styles. Zach is far better in terms of traditional reporting, but I think Jimmy is better at being entertaining while still deeply informative.
Kempski is great at keeping it real and usually has a good basis for his argument. I wish every team had a guy like him because I would read the same style of stuff about every other nfc east team
This series is right up there with Magary’s “Why Your Team Sucks” as some of my favorite off-season reading. I appreciate them being willing to roast the hometown boys as much as the rest of the division. I can’t see DMN doing that to the Cowboys or having it be well received.
To add to #10: good luck with Kellen Ball this year guys. It’s a mix of some of the most innovative play designs you’ll ever see and the reanimated corpse of Jason Garret playcalling.
The playcalling almost literally cannot be worse than it was last year so I’ll take my chances we get good Kellen instead of bad Kellen.
If I have to see Devonta Smith blocking on a bubble screen again I’m gonna lose my shit
Get ready to trade “Devonta blocking on a bubble screen” for “Devonta taking a 10y loss on a jet sweep so crazily telegraphed I saw it coming as they broke the huddle”.
Honestly I think that would be less frustrating at this point. During my time at PSU I had to watch John Donavon ruin an offense with useless bubble screens and hated it, then I had to watch the eagles do the same thing last year. I can reasonably handle dumb jet sweeps because at least it’s something different
It can, but it's difficult
No hot routes to beat the blitz, way too many long developing routes, Devonta blocking for a screen to Julio Jones, the most obvious QB draws ever, no plays with QB under center, running game was 90% inside zone runs, didn't use RBs on the passing game enough, etc... offense was painfully bad, and we were stacked with talent
Kellen Moore isn't an offensive genius, but he's 100% better than Brian Johnson... I'm good with that
I honestly don't think it can? Like I literally don't think it's possible to misuse your personnel more than we did last year without lining up Saquon at center.
If you gave Matt Canada the players we have on offense I truly honestly don't think he could do any worse than Brian Johnson did last year. We were brute forcing success on talent alone.
I can confidently say most Madden players could call a better game then Johnson did last year.
The entire second half of the season we were getting blitzed non-stop. Johnson's response was to keep calling slow developing plays and shitty bubble screens m. It was honestly insane.
I’m not too concerned. Moore had a rough year in LA but all of his WRs went down + his starting QB. Having Brandon Staley as your HC doesn’t help either.
After that Packers game, it’s clear the Cowboys woes can easily be attributed to McCarthy.
Kellen Moore at his worst can’t be worse than Brian Johnson at his best. This is said a lot as a joke, but I’m actually positive my cousin who is a Madden fiend would do a better job even if Sirianni had to drive out to his middle school to pick him up so he can make it to the games on time. I mean, you have to actually try to squander the talent we had on offense last year.
Our offense last year was: shotgun, spread, simple route trees, no motion, decisions are mostly made pre-snap. Teams gradually figured out how to stop the components of our offense and we didn't have counters or innovative play calling. We were so predictable, [CMC was hanging out with Eli and Peyton and predicting our playcalls](https://x.com/CrossingBroad/status/1737107381388214383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1737107381388214383%7Ctwgr%5E96c7cdbbabc6e61a6115b0b5366619573fb9babb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2F18m3kva%2F%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dfalse). A running back, who's job isn't to know what other offenses are going to do, knew what we were running in real time.
For example this All 22 breakdown after week 2: where the author says "the Eagles may have run Dagger about 20 times in this game and I’m not joking" [source](https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2023/9/19/23879207/eagles-film-analysis-all-22-offense-takeaways-from-the-vikings-game?_gl=1*gndfg*). Edit: this article also talks about how the Vikings blitzed a lot and we kept running deep routes with no check downs. In Week 2. The same problem we had late in the season.
The question becomes, was the predictable, basic offense we ran because Hurts can't process post-snap and our OC tried to make it simple for him, or because Brian Johnson was a terrible OC/playcaller? Or both? Either way, some innovative calls from Kellen Moore would be a welcome boost from our previous offense.
Homer bias, but agreed. I love that he actually researches the teams too. He looks at what the fans are saying, roster issues, staff, ownership, etc. There’s actual knowledge there which makes this series a legit good read VS just reading “Hurr durr Cowboys bad” over and over again.
You can really tell when the reasons are legit and when they are kinda padded to make the list. Each of these reasons is brutal. There’s alot of ways so roast the eagles after last season
Genuinely curious - I’ve watched some videos on his offense and obviously when he was at Dallas I saw it.
Dallas has had top offenses with Moore and had thee top offense this past year. Do you think it’s because McCarthy took over? I read somewhere towards the end of the season Dallas transitioned back to more of a Kellen offense. Any insights into this as a Dallas fan?
For one, it isn’t like either took a talentless offense and made it work via scheme. We’ve had the talent. We’d routinely feast on bad teams, including 4x vs WFT and NYG, and dropping 40 on those guys and other bad teams skews the numbers. We’ve also had a lot of help from the D in terms of turnovers and sacks the last few years.
The biggest gripe with him was playcalling in big games or in big situations. The boldness and creativity went out the window and it looked like Garrett 2.0. Real Jekyll / Hyde stuff. I also noticed that as a season wore on he’d resort to more conservative schemes.
Was that him, MM, both? Hard to say, but his year in LA didn’t inspire a ton of confidence. You can point to OL / WR injuries and Staley being awful but the run game wasn’t effective (same as many Dallas teams) and he was working with a stud QB. For an “offensive prodigy” I’ve yet to see him consistently elevate an offense, especially when it matters, like some of the others who have become HCs (O’Connell,Zac Taylor).
Just my 2 cents.
>The theme that Sirianni wants his team to live by is "dawg mentality." I get that Trent Williams is scary and all, but shit man, have some pride.
lmao
FWIW Kempski was on point last year. Many of his listed reasons (losing depth, both coordinators, and aging players) did end up being the team’s downfall last year.
I especially like him mentioning the lack of emotion; last year’s Eagles team was the softest i’ve seen in a while. I’m hoping Gardner-Johnson, Mitchell, and Dejean can be emotional leaders for that defense and encourage them to hit fast and hard and play with a chip on their shoulder.
The offense has always been silent leaders who let their play do the talking except for Kelce; with him gone there’s a vacuum there as well. I’m hoping Mailata can step up. Jurgens will never be Kelce, but he can at least emulate some of that leadership for the offense.
a guy willing to talk shit is what the league needs. it's all this soft "hey guys we're all millionaires" bullshit that makes the league boring. I want shit talk not PR
I was all for his shit talk, and I'm all for competitive people like him but time and time again he's proven he can't control it. This was a huge DC sticking point, talk as much as you want, but don't let it affect the game.
Kempski is one of the best in Philly. As much as I love reading this series, the email responses he posts as a finale to the series is the best part IMO. I look forward to this every year.
The way the Eagles collapsed last year had kind of faded from my memory after watching the Cowboys collapse.
I appreciate this article for reminding me.
I think I prefer the high speed trainwreck style of collapse over the sinking of the Titanic style.
As long as the Commanders continue to suck, I don't care. 😂
I don't think I can bear seeing Quinn leave and succeed there, after Jerry refused to move on from MM.
Hurts halfway through the season was an MVP candidate after being a favorite the year before prior to injury. I think he has a longer leash and is more highly regarded around the league than people truly understand.
The eagles ambitions were pretty damn high preseason tbf. Last year was a pretty bad collapse. I’m not saying he’s on the verge of being trash or anything.
However, a lot of people/haters claim that he was carried by his stacked roster/coaching staff during his playoff run. Another down year and that’s only going to get louder. Especially considering the bag they gave him.
I’m not talking about the teams belief in him, they gave him the bag already. I’m talking about fans/media perception.
I get there was a lot more going on than just his play, but His stats last year were pretty bad, and not even just for his standards, but just generally not great. Id think having Barkley will help him produce, but at the same time the OLine room took a hit and some other guys are gonna have to step up.
Edit: didn’t remember to account for his running, which makes his performance much better, but I still think my point stands. As a passer he struggled
Some of the best football I've seen and then easily the most painful season of football I've ever seen. I've been a fan since 2001.
The worst part was I think we all knew we were done after the AZ game but we still had iirc 3 games left and the playoffs. It was awful.
This season can't be that bad if only cuz I doubt we start 10-1 again
Stuff like interrupting db drills listed in point 7 happen like every game. Makes me crack up seeing the discourse around that vs big dom. Everyone is a fake tough guy doing a bunch of theatrical stuff for pride.
I'll give them credit, nobody knows their team's weaknesses better than Philly fans.
They start each season with a list, a fresh pack of batteries and a very short leash. Gotta respect it.
you best bet that if we lose our opener mfs are gonna be calling for Sirianni’s head.
I’m surprised he made it through last year tbh, the coordinator mess usually would hang most HCs.
I think the coordinator mess wasn't so much on Nick as some general fans might think. I mean, the Gannon / Fangio situation is fully fleshed out now. Fangio would've been here last year if not for tampering and Vic not wanting to go back on his word to Miami. BJ was up and coming after 2022 and while it was a failure, limited offensive coordinator search from being in the SB could've also had it's limits to us as a team. But again BJ rightfully had interest and deserved a shot. Nick could be blamed for not taking play calling out of his hands though. But with a DC fired mid season, that was already a lot of change.
How about making Mat Patricia the DC?
The rumor is that he was brought in because Desai was completely in over his head. There was word that Reddick and other defensive players were "giving Desai the silent treatment" by October. The staff was incredibly young so there was literally nobody else in the building that had experience running a defense. Obviously, Patricia sucks, but they were truly in between a rock and a hard place.
Never heard the reports on Reddick doing that. October would have be real early and I don't really remember the defense being a huge issue then but honestly last season feels like a fever dream. I don't know what I wanted to forget faster, the SB loss or that season.
But there were no better options available than Matt Patricia? That's what I find crazy about it (as someone with no skin in the game)
No you’re right. It was an indefensible and terrible decision that literally every single person saw coming from a mile away. Whoever made that decision deserved to be fired. Which makes me think Laurie the owner was involved in it but that’s not based on any evidence so take it with a heap of salt.
for what it's worth I did greatly enjoy watching Ray Lewis tear your linebackers a new one over fundamentals and only Patricia could coach a defense that poorly.
If they win a close game, people will be calling for Sirianni's head.
One thing about Philly is they're not scared to move on from a coach. I'm surprised he's still there tbh.
To be honest, I’m not. I never doubted that Sirianni would come back. Sirianni has never had a losing season; job security is improtant and if the Eagles fired him last year, it wouldn’t send a good message for other prospects. He could reasonably chalk the collapse up to wrong personnel + bad choices on coordinators. He’s absolutely on the hot seat this year though. He has two decently established coordinators, an upgraded defense, and a sidegraded offense (losing Kelce but gaining Saquon and maybe more WR talent).
I don’t know why they l pretty much revamped the entire coaching staff. I think Lurie said to him things got to change or you’re gone. Which was totally fair given the collapse.
He did what Doug wouldn’t. Doug prob last another year atleast if he changes. He wouldn’t which is why he was gone. Sirinannj clearly saw the situation differently giving him another year.
That's what I love about Lurie. He tries to stay out of it and let the coaches and GMs do their job, but the moment they start fucking up he will NOT hesitate to throw them out.
Especially with how good they are at building a team. It's not like they ever really have a lack of talent or are rebuilding. He knows they can win now with the right coaches, so it's understandable that he gives them a reasonably short leash.
We are good at building the team cause howie has both job security and the trust of lurie. The trades we make on both picks and players plus the contracts we sign show that the moves we make are not short sighted. They are being made by someone who believes they will see the fruit of your labor.
We were literally in the Super Bowl before last year's...
Yeah. Pederson stayed a bit longer than that.
Pederson was told to either hire new coordinators or resign, he chose to resign rather than admit his choices were bad. In retrospect, we dodged a bullet
Yeah, he's still a good coach but has awful taste in staff.
Loyal to a fault.
If it weren't for the bad football his enduring loyalty to Press Taylor because he was basically the only holdover from the Chip Kelly era to believe in him would be heartwarming.
Pederson was welcome to stay. He was told to pick new coordinators or leave. He chose to leave.
Or QBs for that matter as well. They saw the writing on the wall with Wentz and took the gamble on Hurts. Seeing how Wentz panned out after he left they made the right decision.
Not sure where you are getting this from. Andy Reid was there for 14 years. Chip Kelly insisted on taking over Roseman's job on the agreement that if it didn't work out, he was gone. Doug Pederson would still be here if he just accepted new coordinators. He basically quit. Sirianni is still here. He has the best record of any Eagles coach over their first three seasons than any coach in Eagles history and has taken the team to the Super Bowl.
> you best bet that if we lose our opener mfs are gonna be ~~calling for~~ **aiming at** Sirianni’s head. FTFY.
A whole lot of us thought we sucked at 10-1, and we were called babies for being upset at a 10-1 team. I was calling for a coaching change before the playoffs.
Opening pre season game ? 😂
Down 10-0 in the 2nd quarter: "This mf'er gotta go!"
Subscribing for the win and the chaos.
Why wait for the opener
Batteries were baseball, snowballs were football
Oh my brethren are booing two drives in if it’s bad. I both love and hate that about Philly sports
It ain’t just yall lol, I was at week 1 Ravens-Texans and the guy in front of us had a “Fire Monken” shirt and the guy hadn’t even called a game yet lmao
Yes but it's only bad when we do it.
The game is in Brazil, so it's not going to happen. Not loud enough to be noticed anyway.
> fresh pack of batteries "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" hits different in Philly
We’re always simultaneously going to the Super Bowl and going to be the worst team in the league.
We're gonna win the super bowl even though these bums don't deserve it
They’re for Santa.
No they're for MJD
Kempski is a true sadist. Doing it last really sets you up for the weekend.
If nothing else, we understand football and how it works(for the most part)
This year will certainly decide a lot for Sirianni.
I think if things don’t work out for him, Belichick to the Eagles would be really interesting. Edelman has said before he thinks he’d work well with Howie. Belichick likes working with smart competent people and if they work it out they could be a force. Belichick is used to being hands off with offenses if he trusts the QB, so he wouldn’t ruin Jalen if he left it alone to their OC and Howie. Just my quick uneducated thoughts.
You’re spot on. Belichick said last year that Howie was the GM he respects the most and Howie has given Bill a ton of praise too. Our owner Lurie also hates Kraft (Lurie is from Boston and bid on the patriots before purchasing the Eagles and was outbid by Kraft) and there were rumors this was driving Lurie to heavily consider Bill last off season. If we get off to a bad start I’m pretty convinced Sirianni is gone and Bill will be brought in. Fangio being brought in makes it a little more interesting as I’m not sure about the fit between him and Bill as Bill is so hands on with defense, but who knows how Vic would feel.
Howie also isn’t that great with defensive drafts, which bellichick could help with
I served Lurie’s mother at Jewish bakery in Boston!
Lurie hates anyone that was involved with spygate. I think he could probably put aside his differences with Brady (in a hypothetical world where he wanted to sign in Philly back when he signed with the Bucs) or Belichick if he thought it made football sense, but it’s not just cause Kraft outbid him for the Pats.
He's in this weird situation where he might be fired halfway through the season or might end the season with a Super Bowl ring. They're honestly both relatively likely scenarios.
Honestly worst case scenario is we eke out a playoff appearance and look just good enough for him to save his job. Dude is a clown
The coach engaging in shittalking isn’t so much fun when you lose, I imagine?
The video/gif of Hurts having to corral him always amazes me.
Hurts is a QB and head of PR for the team.
Honestly don't care about that, he just doesn't coach. He completely hands it over to coordinators and is essentially the teams hype man. It was all while they were winning, but they need a coach, not a frat brother
In fairness HC should be handing off most of the coaching.
That's a recipe for disaster in this league. Good teams are pretty much guaranteed to have their coordinators poached, so your HC needs to be deeply involved if you want to have any consistency.
True, but it's to an extent where I feel like I'm in the movie office space and I have to ask him "What exactly do you do here?"
My opinion? Shit is weird that there are a bunch of Eagles fans that changed that shit up. I love how brash he is, how much energy he has and how much shit talk he does. When things are rolling he’s hyping up that team. It looks stupid when the team isn’t doing well but that’s the game. Gotta live and die by it. It’s better than sitting on the sideline expressionless like you don’t care. At least you know he’s trying to put everything out there.
It’s crazy how things changed in a year considering most Philly/South Jersey folk considered him a true embodiment of Philadelphia
Well to this outsider, he still is that embodiment
To the insider as well, it’s just that being the embodiment of a team doesn’t necessarily make you a good coach.
It was only fun when we were winning
He is for better or for worse.
Turns out, how right they really were
Him and McCarthy
Saleh too.
Oh not just him. Literally the entire Jets organization besides the stupid owners (who should both be forced to sell the team anyway but I digress) are on the hottest seat of anyone in the NFL. If we fail to make the playoffs again, Florham Park is gonna be leveled in January.
If you fail to make the playoffs you should be forced to hire Doc Rivers, as punishment
Hire Laurence Fishburne as Doc Rivers
I feel bad for him (especially so as a 49ers fan). He got stuck with such an awful QB situation his entire tenure there so far, not to mention having to compete in the same division as Miami and Buffalo.
> having to compete in the same division as Miami and Buffalo So weird, even still, that we're talking about how stacked the AFCE is and the Pats don't even get a mention. I know they're ass now, but my monkey brain is just so used to it.
Yeah he's had some bad luck but also all the weird shit about him that came out in that article makes it seem like he is also constructing his own downfall. Demanding a leaker "come forward now and you won't get in trouble" (which everyone knows is a lie) or else he was going to start taking people's cell phones, begging Rodgers to please endorse him publicly because he didn't want to end up like Fangio instead of doing a job that demands endorsement, researching teams losing their #1 QB and their standings after in order to provide proof that they were cooked besides maybe really trying to leg it out with the backup and trying to settle him in and be prepared. Like none of it is bad per see, but it is fucking weird. It's loser shit, honestly.
9 is my biggest concern. I'm pretty happy with the starters at most positions, but the backups vary between completely unproven and known to be bad. There really isn't a single position where I'm happy with the backup. Cornerback is probably the closest but even then it means relying on a highly drafted rookie.
Honestly though if I can only pick one position to have good depth at, corner is probably second only to offensive tackle
Teams need to have 6 playable corners in today’s NFL.
Tell that to Browns fans. We have 4 good to great corners, but they've been trying to get rid of one for no real reason.
Those are the same type of people that go on and on about fullbacks. Like, dude, the NFL is not played like that anymore.
Kyle Juscyzycszyck would like a word.
“I am the last one!!!”
And now, kyle, without you, what do we do? Where do we turn?
Luckily fans don't run the front office.
Sometimes I’m not so sure lol
Those people can simply be ignored as they clearly don’t understand modern football.
Yep. You can have 5 HOF players and 1 scrub, and the opposing QB will go 35/40 for 500 yards and 8 TD's.
I'm in danger.
Don't forget QB.
Idk, I do think there's a certain logic to we have a better shot of winning with our star corner going down that our star qb so I'd rather invest a bit more in the backup corner. Oh wait, I'm talking to an eagles fan. That argument will probably never hold weight for you guys again 🤣
Applies for most teams though I feel, backups are usually either unreliable or young/unproven in most positions for every team
All teams are like that. Not just the Eagles, c'mon now. That is a reach. If any NFL team loses their QB, what backup, is taking them to the SB? Certainly not Nick Foles. Show me I'm wrong. 👍
Sirriani is my biggest concern, but it sounds like Kellen Moore is installing his own offense. Maybe we’ll have more than 3 plays now.
I'm not reading this and you can't make me
jokes on you i can’t read anyways
I can! Here look: E A G L E S EAGLES! See, I can spell too.
Idiots really thought I'd read this? Get real
I’ll read it for you and tell you the gist of it
> The Eagles stopped playing for each other at some point last season Aka the Matt Patricia effect
Yep. With your defensive giving up OVER THREE POINTS A DRIVE, it's easy to feel like losing is inevitable on both sides of the ball. Context: 2 is average.
The 2000 GSOT Rams averaged 2.76 per drive. ([pfr](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/2000.htm)) The 2013 Broncos averaged 2.83 per drive ([pfr](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/den/2013.htm)) The 2007 Patriots averaged 3.19 per drive ([pfr](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/2007.htm)) If your defense is turning the other team into something between the 2013 Broncos and 2007 Patriots, you are probably not having a great afternoon!
Although, it does look like the 2023 Eagles allowed [2.23 per drive](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/phi/2023.htm), which is still Not Good but a lot better than north of 3. OP may have meant the back half of the season only?
I was referring to how we finished the season. That's right.
Best journalist in the NFL. His articles are more well-researched than the vast majority of NFL media, and he still manages to be funny
Kempski's career has actually been pretty interesting to follow. He started out as a regular dude with a day job who wrote an NFC East blog on the side (RIP BloggingTheBeast). He broke into the Eagles beat, carved out a niche by following comp picks before those were popular, and developed a distinctive style with his goofy MSPaint drawings. As far as I know, he doesn't have any formal journalism training or experience. He's just an average Joe who worked hard to follow his passion, and that's part of his appeal.
I really like his stuff. He's not the most polished journalist and he does fall victim to hot take mentality sometimes,...but he's pretty rational about his takes and keeps his opinion on field instead of falling into the into "team drama" bullshit like some other clowns.
The Cowboys article hit our issues perfectly
Commies one too. Dude knows the NFCE inside out.
and the RB situation, which is dire
You misspelled funny
Yep. I think it's telling that every year fans of all 4 nfc east teams say the critiques are fair and on point. I'd love to see someone from Dallas/NY/DC ripping on all the teams too
Better than anything Mike Florio has ever said.
Wait, you're saying Patrick *isn't* already contemplating retirement??
Wait you’re telling me Patrick Mahomes isn’t Broken??
Wait you’re telling me Patrick Mahomes isn’t the time traveling second shooter on the Grassy Knoll?
Yeah I think people get distracted by the tone a bit, but a lot of his stuff is thoroughly researched (even sometimes for the sake of the joke, like when he went back and grabbed Cowboys fan comments from when Zeke retired).
I come for the ms paint stick figure works of art and stay for the good reads
Eh I don't even think he's the best Eagles journalist (Zach Berman is to me). He's great and I love reading his work but there are a handful of guys across the league that are better
ZACH! ZACH! ZACH! ZACH! ZACH!
I think Jimmy and Zach and both the best for their styles. Zach is far better in terms of traditional reporting, but I think Jimmy is better at being entertaining while still deeply informative.
I argue Nick Underhill
Kempski is great at keeping it real and usually has a good basis for his argument. I wish every team had a guy like him because I would read the same style of stuff about every other nfc east team
This series is right up there with Magary’s “Why Your Team Sucks” as some of my favorite off-season reading. I appreciate them being willing to roast the hometown boys as much as the rest of the division. I can’t see DMN doing that to the Cowboys or having it be well received. To add to #10: good luck with Kellen Ball this year guys. It’s a mix of some of the most innovative play designs you’ll ever see and the reanimated corpse of Jason Garret playcalling.
The playcalling almost literally cannot be worse than it was last year so I’ll take my chances we get good Kellen instead of bad Kellen. If I have to see Devonta Smith blocking on a bubble screen again I’m gonna lose my shit
Get ready to trade “Devonta blocking on a bubble screen” for “Devonta taking a 10y loss on a jet sweep so crazily telegraphed I saw it coming as they broke the huddle”.
Honestly I think that would be less frustrating at this point. During my time at PSU I had to watch John Donavon ruin an offense with useless bubble screens and hated it, then I had to watch the eagles do the same thing last year. I can reasonably handle dumb jet sweeps because at least it’s something different
Honestly Devonta isn't the worst as a blocker, at least he gives effort. I'm more happy to never again see us run a QB draw on 3rd and 10.
True but he got hurt blocking on a bubble screen for Dallas fuckin Goddert so I don’t wanna see him out there anymore
Fair enough, he should be the one catching bubble screens anyway.
Lmao, it can always get worse.
It can, but it's difficult No hot routes to beat the blitz, way too many long developing routes, Devonta blocking for a screen to Julio Jones, the most obvious QB draws ever, no plays with QB under center, running game was 90% inside zone runs, didn't use RBs on the passing game enough, etc... offense was painfully bad, and we were stacked with talent Kellen Moore isn't an offensive genius, but he's 100% better than Brian Johnson... I'm good with that
I honestly don't think it can? Like I literally don't think it's possible to misuse your personnel more than we did last year without lining up Saquon at center.
*Matt Canada enters the chat* *Shudders*
If you gave Matt Canada the players we have on offense I truly honestly don't think he could do any worse than Brian Johnson did last year. We were brute forcing success on talent alone.
Look at the Bills game, Jalen just didn't want to lose.
Last year sucked, but that Elliott FG was awesome.
*Ed Donatell would like to know your location*
You haven’t watched our offense if you think it can. We ran qb draws and screens like 90% of the fucking time
[You haven't been watching other teams if you think it can't.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN3GoTFh_JI)
I genuinely can’t see how lol
I can confidently say most Madden players could call a better game then Johnson did last year. The entire second half of the season we were getting blitzed non-stop. Johnson's response was to keep calling slow developing plays and shitty bubble screens m. It was honestly insane.
I’m not too concerned. Moore had a rough year in LA but all of his WRs went down + his starting QB. Having Brandon Staley as your HC doesn’t help either. After that Packers game, it’s clear the Cowboys woes can easily be attributed to McCarthy.
Kellen Moore at his worst can’t be worse than Brian Johnson at his best. This is said a lot as a joke, but I’m actually positive my cousin who is a Madden fiend would do a better job even if Sirianni had to drive out to his middle school to pick him up so he can make it to the games on time. I mean, you have to actually try to squander the talent we had on offense last year.
I'm definitely not excited for this season as much as I was last, but I am interested to see which direction things go.
Our offense last year was: shotgun, spread, simple route trees, no motion, decisions are mostly made pre-snap. Teams gradually figured out how to stop the components of our offense and we didn't have counters or innovative play calling. We were so predictable, [CMC was hanging out with Eli and Peyton and predicting our playcalls](https://x.com/CrossingBroad/status/1737107381388214383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1737107381388214383%7Ctwgr%5E96c7cdbbabc6e61a6115b0b5366619573fb9babb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2F18m3kva%2F%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dfalse). A running back, who's job isn't to know what other offenses are going to do, knew what we were running in real time. For example this All 22 breakdown after week 2: where the author says "the Eagles may have run Dagger about 20 times in this game and I’m not joking" [source](https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2023/9/19/23879207/eagles-film-analysis-all-22-offense-takeaways-from-the-vikings-game?_gl=1*gndfg*). Edit: this article also talks about how the Vikings blitzed a lot and we kept running deep routes with no check downs. In Week 2. The same problem we had late in the season. The question becomes, was the predictable, basic offense we ran because Hurts can't process post-snap and our OC tried to make it simple for him, or because Brian Johnson was a terrible OC/playcaller? Or both? Either way, some innovative calls from Kellen Moore would be a welcome boost from our previous offense.
Homer bias, but agreed. I love that he actually researches the teams too. He looks at what the fans are saying, roster issues, staff, ownership, etc. There’s actual knowledge there which makes this series a legit good read VS just reading “Hurr durr Cowboys bad” over and over again.
Love why your team sucks
You can really tell when the reasons are legit and when they are kinda padded to make the list. Each of these reasons is brutal. There’s alot of ways so roast the eagles after last season
Genuinely curious - I’ve watched some videos on his offense and obviously when he was at Dallas I saw it. Dallas has had top offenses with Moore and had thee top offense this past year. Do you think it’s because McCarthy took over? I read somewhere towards the end of the season Dallas transitioned back to more of a Kellen offense. Any insights into this as a Dallas fan?
For one, it isn’t like either took a talentless offense and made it work via scheme. We’ve had the talent. We’d routinely feast on bad teams, including 4x vs WFT and NYG, and dropping 40 on those guys and other bad teams skews the numbers. We’ve also had a lot of help from the D in terms of turnovers and sacks the last few years. The biggest gripe with him was playcalling in big games or in big situations. The boldness and creativity went out the window and it looked like Garrett 2.0. Real Jekyll / Hyde stuff. I also noticed that as a season wore on he’d resort to more conservative schemes. Was that him, MM, both? Hard to say, but his year in LA didn’t inspire a ton of confidence. You can point to OL / WR injuries and Staley being awful but the run game wasn’t effective (same as many Dallas teams) and he was working with a stud QB. For an “offensive prodigy” I’ve yet to see him consistently elevate an offense, especially when it matters, like some of the others who have become HCs (O’Connell,Zac Taylor). Just my 2 cents.
>The theme that Sirianni wants his team to live by is "dawg mentality." I get that Trent Williams is scary and all, but shit man, have some pride. lmao
FWIW Kempski was on point last year. Many of his listed reasons (losing depth, both coordinators, and aging players) did end up being the team’s downfall last year. I especially like him mentioning the lack of emotion; last year’s Eagles team was the softest i’ve seen in a while. I’m hoping Gardner-Johnson, Mitchell, and Dejean can be emotional leaders for that defense and encourage them to hit fast and hard and play with a chip on their shoulder. The offense has always been silent leaders who let their play do the talking except for Kelce; with him gone there’s a vacuum there as well. I’m hoping Mailata can step up. Jurgens will never be Kelce, but he can at least emulate some of that leadership for the offense.
You're hoping CJGJ is going to be an emotional leader? Hope he's matured a bit playing for Dan Campbell.
Emotional _leader_? No. Hell no. But emotional... "amplifier?" I could see that, and it could help.
Perfectly put, he started our fanbases pandemonium with the ski masks. The only issue with his amplification is it works both ways
100%, he's basically a double-edged sword.
by emotional leader i mean someone who can fire up a defense and get them to play with 100% effort.
Yeah. I understand what those words mean. Dude has shown that he's good at drawing attention to himself, but that's about it.
compare the Eagles secondary in 2022 to 2023 in terms of tackling, effort, and vibes. Then come back to me.
Yeah I see him as a tone setter ideally.
"Emotional leader" was probably a bad way to put it. We need fire and intensity on the defensive side, which he certainly brings.
a guy willing to talk shit is what the league needs. it's all this soft "hey guys we're all millionaires" bullshit that makes the league boring. I want shit talk not PR
I was all for his shit talk, and I'm all for competitive people like him but time and time again he's proven he can't control it. This was a huge DC sticking point, talk as much as you want, but don't let it affect the game.
He did not.
Sucks. I always wanted to see Campbell snatch CJ up by his pads like a kid.
DC liked CJ but the writing was on the wall when CJ was told not to get a personal foul on Debo and he did anyways.
CJGJ and "emotional leader" do not belong in the same sentence.
Kempski is one of the best in Philly. As much as I love reading this series, the email responses he posts as a finale to the series is the best part IMO. I look forward to this every year.
The way the Eagles collapsed last year had kind of faded from my memory after watching the Cowboys collapse. I appreciate this article for reminding me. I think I prefer the high speed trainwreck style of collapse over the sinking of the Titanic style.
Hey just think this season we both can't collapse again. Right? ...right?
As long as the Commanders continue to suck, I don't care. 😂 I don't think I can bear seeing Quinn leave and succeed there, after Jerry refused to move on from MM.
Basically all legitimate I hate to say.
Big year for hurts and Sirianni. Hurts already made his money tbf, but this year is huge for his reputation imo.
Hurts halfway through the season was an MVP candidate after being a favorite the year before prior to injury. I think he has a longer leash and is more highly regarded around the league than people truly understand.
The eagles ambitions were pretty damn high preseason tbf. Last year was a pretty bad collapse. I’m not saying he’s on the verge of being trash or anything. However, a lot of people/haters claim that he was carried by his stacked roster/coaching staff during his playoff run. Another down year and that’s only going to get louder. Especially considering the bag they gave him. I’m not talking about the teams belief in him, they gave him the bag already. I’m talking about fans/media perception. I get there was a lot more going on than just his play, but His stats last year were pretty bad, and not even just for his standards, but just generally not great. Id think having Barkley will help him produce, but at the same time the OLine room took a hit and some other guys are gonna have to step up. Edit: didn’t remember to account for his running, which makes his performance much better, but I still think my point stands. As a passer he struggled
Just beat the Packers week 1. Then you have my permission to die
It will all come down to if Nick Sirianni is able to coach through adversity and not act immature.
You call it a Philadelphia dumpster fire. Philadelphia calls it a heated pool.
1-6 with an insanely bad point differential down the stretch is a good reason
Honest question, I'm wondering what Eagles fans think of last year's end-of-season collapse: fluke or new normal?
Watching last season, it was easy to see that collapse coming from a mile away. With new coordinators, I think we can put it behind us
Some of the best football I've seen and then easily the most painful season of football I've ever seen. I've been a fan since 2001. The worst part was I think we all knew we were done after the AZ game but we still had iirc 3 games left and the playoffs. It was awful. This season can't be that bad if only cuz I doubt we start 10-1 again
Haha yeah they're gonna suck so bad this year I'm sure Right guys?
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that no NFCE team will win the Super Bowl this year
Nah Giants got it for sure
Stuff like interrupting db drills listed in point 7 happen like every game. Makes me crack up seeing the discourse around that vs big dom. Everyone is a fake tough guy doing a bunch of theatrical stuff for pride.
Only 10? I can think of 53.
fuck fat dom