December 17, 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles have made a shocking change on their defensive staff, as Matt Patricia will replace Sean Desai on the sideline during games, according to a report from Jay Glazer of FOX Sports.
A little @Eagles scoopage today: Philly very quietly made a change at defensive coordinator this week moving out Sean Desai to another position and replacing him with Matt Patricia. Desai remains with the team in different capacity but Patricia now runs and calls the defense…
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 17, 2023
Per a league source, Desai will remain the "defensive coordinator," but Patricia will call the plays. Of course, on a team with an offensive-minded head coach, a defensive coordinator who doesn't call plays is pretty much only a defensive coordinator by title.
The Eagles' defense has been bad over the last three games, two of which were blowout losses:
| Opponent | Yards allowed | Points allowed |
| Bills | 505 | 34 |
| 49ers | 456 | 42 |
| Cowboys | 394 | 33 |
The Eagles' defense also gave up points on 10 straight drives — and touchdowns on 7 straight drives (not including kneeldown drives) — over a span of two games against the 49ers and Cowboys. Not only were the numbers awful, but on the eye test it all looked way too easy for opposing offenses to move the ball.
Patricia was the Patriots' defensive coordinator from 2012-2017, before landing a head coaching job with the Lions in 2018. He was fired in 2020, went back to the Patriots in a role on offense, and called plays on offense in 2022. He was relieved of those duties after a disastrous season, and landed with the Eagles as a "senior defensive assistant."
A season ago, the Eagles faced virtually no adversity whatsoever, and so far their response to two bad losses is interesting, to put it mildly. While the defense has unquestionably been bad, this is a drastic panic move that screams bad vibes for a 10-3 team that still has a decent chance at earning the 1 seed.
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