The Wide World of Dirt

I’ll just cut to the chase: that game was so eerily similar to the 2023 Eagles, it hurts.

Any and every thing that made me feel positive from week one is gone. Watching that game, I didn’t even have fun or an emotional reaction to what was happening.

Maybe that was because I just wrapped up my first day of my new position of my job, or maybe it was because I watched in real time that my team’s actual ceiling was lower than what I thought.

Perhaps this is a mediocre team after all?

Defense = Very Very Bad

This defense flat out stinks right now.

Just last week, I pointed out that this is a young roster with a young defense, and there is going to be growing pains. That still can be true with the caveat that maybe they have bigger concerns with that “young talent.”

Jalen Carter looks awesome on one series and completely disappears on the other.

Jordan Davis looks like a bust and hurts even more that the Eagles moved up to take him ahead of the Baltimore Ravens who selected Kyle Hamilton (who made the All-Pro team last year.)

The jury is still very much out on Nakobe Dean while Kelee Ringo hasn’t seen the field that much. Very uninspiring early returns for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Eagles fans were spoiled with great defensive line play the past 12 years. Why was that? It might be due to them having a future Hall of Famer in Fletcher Cox hold it down in the trenches.

Even though he wasn’t the same player the past few seasons, he at least played the run well. With Cox gone, the Eagles have a glaring problem in that their defensive line can’t stop the run or rush the passer.

In Fangio’s scheme (or to just even have a competent defense), you have to either stop the run or rush the passer, ideally both.

The Eagles are not doing that; it is very hard to watch.

https://x.com/TheFantasyPT/status/1836020134739112269

That is not good. It’s not good, especially when they have to travel to New Orleans this upcoming week to play a Saints offense that is firing on all cylinders with a rejuvenated Alvin Kamara.

I already had my doubts about the Birds’ ability to play in the SuperDome before the season, but now I am just terrified solely on how putrid the defense has looked.

Again, they are still young, one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. That said, these young players have to grow up fast with the Eagles eyeing a chance to compete long into January.

Bad Coaching Strikes Again

If I wrote the Philly Report last year during the collapse, an all-too-common theme in those articles would have been about how putrid of a coaching job Nick Sirianni and his staff was doing.

I was of the firm belief that after the dust settled on the blowout to the Buccaneers in the Wild-Card round, the Eagles had to fire Nick Sirianni.

On the surface, that seemed crazy to people as he was coming off his third-straight postseason appearance, won double-digit games for a second straight year & had a Super Bowl Appearance.

In case you forgot, Sirianni (still) doesn’t call the plays. His scheme got stale, he fired his underachieving DC for Matt Patricia (who was worse!), and lost the locker room.

His team finished the 2023 season on a 1-6 skid including the 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs. That is a fireable offense even if he has a good winning percentage.

Somehow — probably due to his record and willingness to step aside for coordinator hirings that control their respective sides of the ball — he kept his job this season.

It already feels like it’s a situation that we wait for when he’s fired, not “if.”

It’s a long season with a long road to travel; if the Eagles proceed to have a good season with the offense looking fresh again while Vic Fangio gets this young defense to show signs of development, great!

However, Sirianni will get none of the credit.

Conversely, if the Eagles struggle and many of the issues from last year persist, Sirianni will get all the blame. Fairly or unfairly, that is the reality of this situation.

It circles back to my earlier question: why would the Eagles even keep him? Optics? Maybe. Monday night’s game was the worst possible outcome early for Sirianni.

Going for it early in the game instead of taking the three points (which ended up being all they needed to win at the end of the game), electing to throw the ball instead of hand it off up 18-15 late, going for the three points after failing to pick up the first after throwing instead of running the ball and chewing up the clock.

All of that culminated in one of the worst losses the Eagles have sustained since Super Bowl LVII.

The schedule doesn’t appear to get lighter, and the Eagles really could enter their Week 5 bye with a 1-3 record.

If that’s the case, they might enter week 6 with a new head coach. 

Quick Hits on the Offense

I thought the offense was fine. When you are without AJ Brown (who might miss more time with a hamstring issue), you can’t replicate that.

Taking that into account, you have an expensive offense with great pieces. Dallas Goedert having three catches and being targeted only four times isn’t great!

The lull periods where Saquon didn’t get touches wasn’t great! Saquon dropping that pass on 4th wasn’t great.

However, DeVonta Smith showed he can be a WR1, and more importantly, Jalen Hurts looked dynamic again. 23/30 for 183 yards 1 touchdown and an interception (wasn’t great, but wasn’t his fault; he shouldn’t have been in that position) along with 13 carries for 85 yards and a TD on the ground.

His rushing looked like his 2022 form. If he is back to that level this offense should be a force when fully healthy. The offense should be a top unit when healthy again and score 30 points. With this defense? That might be necessary.

Onto the Bayou

I think this has a chance to get ugly fast for the Birds.

The Saints offense is absolutely flourishing under new OC Klint Kubiak. Through two weeks, they scored on 15 drives with Derek Carr under center.

They have blown out the Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys, so they have done this against a very bad and a very good (regular season) team.

The Eagles have been unable to stop the rushing attacks of the Green Bay Packers or the Atlanta Falcons.

They must now face another great running back to open the season with Alvin Kamara reverting back to his prime form.

The Saints’ offensive line looks like it’s experiencing a renaissance and has been pretty stout over the first two games. Not great for the Eagles’ lack of a pass rush!

Additionally, the SuperDome is a hard place to play.

In my memory, I can’t recall a single game where the Eagles played well there. Like I said, the Eagles’ offense is capable of keeping up with New Orleans…without AJ Brown though (I assume he won’t suit up), the offense’s ceiling is capped.

If fully healthy, the Eagles can make this a game, but I’m less confident in Philly after seeing how they performed against Atlanta. This might be an ugly game for the Birds while the Saints continue their torrent start.

Go Birds?

(Top Photo Credit: Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)