Heat is on Eagles coordinators to find way to stop Philly’s troubling slide

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Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

When the Philadelphia Eagles returned to work after being pummeled by the San Francisco 49ers two weeks ago, two fans greeted them outside their practice facility with a sign that read “Run the ball.” This week, when they came back after being crushed by the Dallas Cowboys, one fan stood outside with a sign that read “Fire Sean Desai.”

It’s a small sample size, of course, but one spin through the Philadelphia talk radio dial confirmed those signs were symbolic of a city-wide frustration. The Eagles may be 10-3, but after losing by a combined score of 75-32 to their two biggest NFC rivals in back-to-back weeks, the frustrations have mounted and problems have been exposed.

It feels like Philly’s Super Bowl train is beginning to tilt off its tracks. And the Eagles’ two new coordinators are becoming very easy to blame.

“I get it,” said Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. “There’s going to be scrutiny when we’re not playing and coaching well enough. That’s the case right now.”

It was probably inevitable, given how much credit the coordinators got for the Super Bowl run last season — a run that helped former offensive coordinator Shane Steichen get a job as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon get hired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. When quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson was promoted to offensive coordinator and Sean Desai was hired from Seattle to be the defensive coordinator, they knew they would always be under heavy scrutiny.

Over the past two weeks, it’s only gotten worse. And Sirianni is scrutinizing them, too. But unlike the protesters, he hasn’t lost faith in either man. He believes in the offense the 36-year-old Johnson is running and he’s convinced the 40-year-old Desai can fix their defensive problems, too.

And when he was asked if he had any intention of making any staff changes or taking away any of his coordinators’ responsibilities as a way to jolt the Eagles out of this mini-slide when they play in Seattle on Monday night, Sirianni gave a very quick answer: “No.”

“I feel good with the people that we have in this building,” he said. “We’re 10-3. We’re in control of our own destiny, and we’re going to keep rolling and finding answers with the people that we have.”

Can the Eagles get back on track in the final stretch of the season?

That might not be so easy to do on defense, where the Eagles have looked particularly vulnerable over the last six weeks. They’ve had their moments, like the final minutes of a 28-23 win over the Cowboys on Nov. 5, and the second half of a 21-17 win over the Chiefs on Nov. 20. But they’ve provided little resistance the last two weeks, when the 49ers and Cowboys exploited their poor tackling, particularly in the middle of the field.

There are other problems too, which have been evident all season. The secondary has taken a step back from last season, in part due to injuries (safety Justin Evans, nickel corner Avonte Maddox). And the pass rush has been inconsistent. They have 37 sacks, which ranks 12th in the NFL, but that’s far off the ridiculous 70 they had last season in the hyper-aggressive Gannon’s scheme.

The result of all that is the defense ranks a dismal 22nd in the NFL (353.9 yards per game against) and 28th against the pass (259.9). Teams are also converting 48.1 percent of their third downs against the Eagles this season, making Philly the worst third-down defense in the league.

“I think it’s just we have been inopportune,” Desai said. “We have not been able to get off the field when we need to get off the field. Yeah, in third down and situational football we got to be better. Third down, red zone — those have been our bugaboos. Not going to lie to you. That’s been our Achilles’ heel right now.”

The third-down defense has been an even bigger issue lately. The Cowboys converted 9 of 16 against them in a 33-13 win last week. The 49ers went 8 of 11 in a 42-19 win one week earlier. And even the Bills were 13 of 22 the week before that in a 37-34 overtime loss. That’s a ridiculous 61.2 percent conversion rate (30 of 49) over the last three games. That keeps the Eagles defense on the field longer, makes everyone more tired, and lets the yardage pile up.

“You bleed a little bit in the yardage areas when you’re staying on the field on third downs,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, we haven’t been good enough there.”

Time to worry about Jalen Hurts after Eagles loss vs. Cowboys?

But, Sirianni added: “To single somebody out, one person out, is not the right move here.” And he insisted he believes Desai will figure it out.

“Yeah, total confidence,” he said. “That’s why we hired him for the job.”

He has the same total confidence in Johnson, who had spent the previous two years as the Eagles quarterbacks coach and was the players’ clear choice for the offensive coordinator job when Steichen left. He knew the scheme that was in place and worked so well. He has a close relationship Hurts. All the ingredients for a successful transition were there.

And to be fair, Johnson’s offense isn’t exactly bad. It ranks eighth in the NFL (358.7 yards per game) and the Eagles are one of the top-scoring teams in the league (26.3 points per game). That’s not far off where they were last year either, when they averaged 389.1 yards and 28.1 points per game. But there are some clear differences. Their production hasn’t started nearly as fast as last season when the Eagles were a dominant first-half team and held halftime leads in 16 of 20 games, including the playoffs. This year the Eagles have already trailed at halftime seven times.

And Johnson doesn’t seem to be nearly as committed to the rushing attack early in games as the Eagles often were under Steichen, even though the overall numbers are similar (they’re averaging 30 runs per game this season compared to 32 last year). And some of the pass plays he calls seem to take an awfully long time to develop.

Some of that may have to do with the knee injury Hurts has battled through all season. He has seemed undoubtedly hesitant at times in the pocket and isn’t as quick to take off running. But there have been rumblings that players feel the play-calling is predictable and that they think the offense needs to move faster, too.

Sirianni said the coaches “obviously don’t think so” and chalks any unhappiness up to the frustration of the last two losses. But left tackle Jordan Mailata did reveal that Johnson addressed the offensive players after the Eagles offense didn’t score a single touchdown against the Cowboys — the first time that’s happened since the 2019 playoffs. He talked to them about his play-calling and took responsibility for what went wrong.

“I think this is all about accountability and being able to grow through what go through,” Johnson said. “It was a very, very unique game and we didn’t perform the way that we should. Ultimately, that starts with me. I think any time you’re in a leadership position, accountability matters.”

How much trouble are Jalen Hurts, Eagles in?

Another thing that matters, he said, is “self-reflection” which he insisted he’s done the last few weeks. And as much as he talked about “doubling down on our process” to fix the offensive issues, he also made it clear that changes may be coming, too.

“When something doesn’t go your way, the first thing that any great competitor I’ve been around (will) ask: ‘What could I have done better?'” Johnson said. “You always look inward.

“When the results don’t match your process for two weeks in a row, you need to evaluate and try to find new and creative ways to do things and put the guys in the best spots to go out there and execute the plan.”

Sirianni is convinced that Johnson, too, will figure it out. And he remains steadfastly defensive of both his new coordinators regardless of their current struggles, just like he always was with Steichen and Gannon. He understands the angst. He saw the signs outside of the Eagles complex. He hears the criticism that’s been piling up.

Believe it or not, he thinks some of it is useful and fair.

“Criticisms never feel good at first,” Sirianni said. “But if you can use them to your advantage, then we should. That’s how I look at this. There are some criticisms out there (that) I’m like, ‘Huh. Maybe we can look at that. Maybe we can do a little bit more there.'”

But that doesn’t mean he thinks the specific criticism of Johnson and Desai is fair. He doesn’t. Those are his guys, and he is standing strongly behind both of them.

“Do I understand that we always are going to have criticism? I do,” Sirianni said. “That’s part of the job. We know what we signed up for. We’re big boys and we can handle it.

“(But) that’s our family. If someone was offending your family you would be upset, too.”

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.