The Philadelphia Eagles are trending within the unsuitable course through the stretch run of the common season and their protection has been the primary wrongdoer of their collapse. Regardless of the unit’s poor play on the sphere, head coach Nick Sirianni is making an attempt to maintain the religion.
His protection had one other depressing displaying on Sunday as they allowed 35 factors to the Arizona Cardinals in a surprising 35-31 loss, dropping the Eagles again down right into a wild-card spot within the NFC and handing them their fourth loss in 5 video games for the month of December.
After Sunday’s efficiency, the Eagles are permitting 25 factors per sport and rank among the many backside 10 within the league in factors towards. They’ve additionally allowed greater than 30 factors six occasions this season, together with 3 times in December.
It’s a big fall for a unit that completed eighth within the NFL in factors towards only one 12 months in the past on their approach to the Tremendous Bowl.
“I do imagine. I nonetheless imagine within the guys in that locker room, the gamers. I nonetheless imagine within the coaches. I feel we’ve acquired the blokes on this place to get turned in the suitable course. We don’t have a lot time, clearly, proper,” Sirianni said. “We’ve acquired another sport earlier than playoffs begins, and we’ve acquired to do the whole lot we will do to get again on monitor this upcoming week. I feel there’s been spurts, clearly, the final couple video games the place we performed good ball on protection. Tonight wasn’t a kind of occasions.”
The Eagles misplaced defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon this previous offseason when he took over the head-coaching job for the Cardinals. There have been main points since his departure and it has left the Eagles scrambling for in-season solutions.
The largest change concerned stripping defensive coordinator Sean Desai of his play-calling tasks and giving them to Matt Patricia. That has not come near fixing the issues because the Eagles protection has repeatedly been overwhelmed within the weeks since that change.
In fact Sirianni goes to say he nonetheless believes in everyone as a result of no coach – particularly a coach of a playoff crew – goes to say anything at this level within the season. What he says and what he truly believes deep down, nevertheless, is perhaps two very various things.
The Eagles are nonetheless heading to the playoffs, however they’re now able the place they could let home-field benefit, a bye week and maybe even a single house sport all slip away. No person in Philadelphia ought to be optimistic about this crew going into the playoffs.