January 14, 2024
Vincent Carchietta/USA Today Sports
Nick Sirianni and Jason Kelce both stand at a pivotal crossroads for the Eagles.
Last winter's holiday extended way past New Year's Day in Philadelphia. It was a weeks-long celebration of an Eagles team that steamrolled through the regular season and was destined to reach the Super Bowl. Things ended horrifically in Arizona, but the ride was infectious throughout the city. There was a buzz. The atmosphere was electric. It was the epitome of how transcendent sports can be in a place like Philly.
Much like a lot of people out there, I'm sure, I'm in several text group chats dedicated solely to talking about the Birds. This week has been mostly crickets with deflating messages about the team's worrisome injury report sprinkled in. The cliché of "I'm about to run through a brick wall" when it comes to Eagles excitement feels eons ago.
The Birds have dropped five of their last six games and it might as well be 95 out of their last 100 with their current state of affairs. Yuck.
When was the last time Philly cared so little about an Eagles playoff game? For the last two-plus decades, at least, it's never felt like this. Even in 2021 when they sneaked their way into the playoffs as the final Wild Card team in the NFC and faced the defending champion Buccaneers, there was at least the thought that it was a learning experience for Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith and the young players. The Eagles weren't supposed to be there, so it was house money. They might have been on their way to take a licking, and they sure were in the 31-15 loss, but they could build upon that. That's exactly what happened when they went to the Super Bowl the following season.
Backup quarterback-led postseason berths in 2006, 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2018 all inspired more confidence than a team that was the Super Bowl favorite in the not too distant past! Going into a game just 42 days ago, they were 10-1. It's an astounding collapse that every facet of the organization should feel the heat from.
There is absolutely nothing salvageable about this season if they get dropped in the opening round. Nothing. It'd be an utter failure.
There are so many likable players here. The core four of Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox and Lane Johnson are franchise legends. Hurts was a legitimate MVP candidate last year. Smith and A.J. Brown are true star wideouts. Haason Reddick is a local-born force. Jordan Mailata can sing as well as he can maul defenders in the run game. Even with those great parts, the sum of this team has turned into something to be loathed. They reek.
How could 10-1 turn into "just get the game over with already" so quickly?
What went wrong during the 2023 season may not be known for years when Nick Sirianni is eventually no longer the Eagles' head coach and a new regime comes in, but for the time being, it's a baffling turn of events. It's an indictment of the coaching staff and player leadership that an enviable NFL locker room culture has become so sour. Winning cures all and every issue is magnified when a team's losing, but the pillars of this roster appeared so strong that this type of rotting felt impossible.
Maybe a smackdown of the Bucs in Tampa on Monday makes everyone forget the last six weeks and the fire for a return to the Super Bowl is ignited. Again, winning cures all. Pessimism has set in, however, and these Eagles don't remotely deserve that benefit of the doubt.
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