December 19, 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles had no shortage of opportunities to beat the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football, but they repeatedly failed and have now lost three straight. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.
On Sunday it was revealed that the Eagles replaced former defensive coordinator Sean Desai with Matt Patricia.
"I made the decision," said Nick Sirianni. "I did what I thought I needed to do in the best interests of the football team. We made some adjustments there and I thought we weren't playing well enough on defense so I made an adjustment and it was my decision and that's what I did."
Asked who has final say on defensive matters, Sirianni answered succinctly, "Coach Patricia."
In other words, while the Eagles may say that Desai remains the "defensive coordinator" by title, he is not in charge. He is decidedly not the defensive coordinator by job description. Patricia is.
The defense was hardly the biggest reason the Eagles lost this game, and some of the defensive adjustments — such as playing more man defense, and moving the safeties closer to the line of scrimmage to help take away some of the easy pickings in the middle of the field — were positive developments.
But for a then 10-3 team to make such a major change in-season reeks of panic and instability. A win over the Seahawks would have deodorized a lot of stink associated with this team over the last few weeks. The loss will only make things even more unpleasant.
Hurts was hampered by an illness that was severe enough that he traveled to Seattle separately from the team so as not to get any of his teammates sick. I think we can all agree that being sick sucks. You're weak, you're sometimes in pain, and you're just not yourself.
With that disclaimer out of the way, Hurts just didn't have it on Monday night. He was 17 of 31 for 143 yards, 0 TDs, and 2 INTs.
His deep shot to A.J. Brown with time winding down in the fourth quarter wasn't there, but he fired up a YOLO ball anyway that was intercepted by Julian Love.
JULIAN LOVE CLUTCH SIDELINE INT! pic.twitter.com/GnIyn1KeEG
— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2023
Hurts' other INT on the night was a deep ball to Watkins that wasn't a perfect throw by any stretch, but was a decent enough decision, given that Watkins had a one-on-one opportunity against a safety (once again, Love) who had his back turned to the ball.
Julian Love intercepts the deep ball!
— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2023
📺: #PHIvsSEA on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/bbJNB6yPkz pic.twitter.com/bANR4cvL4l
One might argue that Love tugged on Watkins' jersey while the ball was in the air. Stop. Watkins needed to go make a play on that ball. Instead, he passively hoped it will get to him rather than aggressively attack it in the air. Love wanted this ball more than Watkins did. It's as simple as that.
"We've run that play quite a bit," Sirianni said. "We've hit that. The defense gave us a look that was an opportunity up over the top, and you'll take one-on-ones with safeties. Hats off to the guy to make a really good play. You can't allow an interception like that also. Quez has to do everything he can to break that up, but we'll take opportunities one-on-one with safeties."
It feels like whenever the Eagles trust Watkins to make a play it goes badly.
Missed tackles were a major theme in the Eagles' loss to the 49ers Week 13, and they were once again in their loss to the Seahawks. Sydney Brown notably put himself in position to make a few good plays, but couldn't bring ball carriers to ground. Of course, Brown did at least slow them down, but the Eagles as a defense largely did a poor job swarming to the ball and finishing.
The Eagles have failed at many of the fundamentals of the sport in recent weeks, like fumbling issues on offense, and tackling on defense. That is not what you would expect of a veteran team. It doesn't matter who is calling plays on defense if the players aren't getting guys to the ground.
For the better part of the night, the Eagles held the Seahawks' trio of talented receivers — DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba — in check. But on Seattle's game winning drive, Drew Lock found Smith-Njigba over the top on a 3rd and 10.
Lock to JSN for the lead!
— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2023
📺: #PHIvsSEA on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/bbJNB6yPkz pic.twitter.com/t7q0x5073q
As you can see Bradberry was beaten on the play.
"We were in man, it's 3rd and 10 and you want to be aggressive at the sticks," a typically accountable Bradberry said. "I think I was a little too aggressive, and that's why he was able to run past me."
The Eagles' pass rush pretty consistently stepped up earlier this season when their opponents had a chance to put together game-winning drives. They made plays, and closed. Lately, not so much.
With the ball at their own 8 yard line and two minutes left to play, the Seahawks needed to engineer a 92-play drive for the win. They had no choice but to drop back and throw the ball down the field, which meant opportunities for the Eagles pass rush to pin their ears back, get to Drew Lock, and make a play. That didn't happen, and frustration with that group is beginning to build. Josh Sweat was asked about the disheartening nature of being unable to close out a game from the perspective of a pass rush unit.
"S***... I don't know," he said. "I know from the outside it looks like if you don't get sacks, you ain't winning, ain't doing s***. You can f***ing win all day, win all game, I just want someone to get [to the quarterback]. It is what it is. Whatever the issue is, I'm still going to play hard. I don't care. I ain't like, Oh s*** the ball's out fast. That's my film. I ain't about people saying... it just comes on us. It comes back on us. It's like, 'These dudes ain't rushing,' and I'm like 'F*** that s***, excuse my language.'"
The Eagles' front office has poured a lot of resources into the pass rush, whether that's through the draft, or financially. As such, they are expected to close out games when those opportunities arise.
"It's important for us, especially closing the game," Sweat said. "It just ain't been working out that way. I know we can. It is what it is. Another week of people saying, 'You can't get there.' I'm there all the f***ing time, but it is what it is. I'm tired of that s***. That's really all I got to say."
Over the years, Kelce has moved the ball forward a half yard or so at the line of scrimmage before running QB sneaks. It was a clear advantage, and something that the NFL has apparently sought to eliminate from the game.
"I put a target on my back for doing that in the past," Kelce acknowledged. "That one... really not trying to do it. I just lined up a little bit too close, trying to get down and set. Usually you get a little leeway with it. I think because it was so short that the fact that I did it at all was going to be... it was just a stupid play. It was like an inches play, 90-something percent chance play. Really stupid, and it ended up costing us four points."
Referees called Jason Kelce for a false start @NFLOfficiating pic.twitter.com/usJ1rsKrG4
— DIE-HARD 🦅 Fans (@Eaglesfans9) December 19, 2023
"They've emphasized that in the past," Kelce said. "They've emphasized it less with me lately because we just haven't done that as much. I know that they're looking at everything on [Brotherly Shoves], so I really try my hardest not to do that."
The Eagles didn't even have to face Geno Smith in this matchup. They faced backup Drew Lock, who went 22 of 33 for 208 yards, a TD, and 0 INTs. This wasn't the first time the Eagles lost to a backup quarterback this season. If you'll recall they also somehow lost to the Jets' Zach Wilson.
For the Eagles to earn the 1 seed, they were going to have to win out and hope that the 49ers lost at least one game. Now? They have to win out and hope the 49ers lose two games. Spoiler: That's not happening.
It wasn't that long ago that the Eagles only had 1 loss, and every other team in the NFL had at least 3.
When the Cowboys lost to the Bills on Sunday, they provided the Eagles with an opportunity to pad their cushion in the NFC East. Instead, both teams are now tied again at 10-4.
If the Eagles win out they will still win the NFC East, and likely the 2 seed. But honestly, "win out" should not be part of anyone's vernacular at the moment when it comes to the Eagles. We should probably see if they can just win "a game" first, which we haven't seen them do since November.
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