The playoffs are here! Before the Eagles take on the 49ers on Sunday, I’ll answer some Birds-related questions I’ve received on social media in a mailbag. Ideally, I’d like to do another one later in the week, so hit me up on Bluesky if you’d like to shoot a question my way.
Let’s get after it…
@akurokey (Instagram): Eagles have become offensive coordinator merchants. Do you foresee any kind of stability soon?
@karmitthesnitch: Should the Eagles hire Kevin Stefanski as OC next year regardless of playoff results?
I’ll handle these all together because they’re interrelated.
Let’s not do the “when” yet, everyone, about the Eagles bailing out of the postseason early. The Eagles are the defending champions and are hosting a home playoff game on Sunday. Let’s have some pride! Let’s dream big! Let your mind run wild about the third Super Bowl parade of your life come five weeks from now. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Anyway, the top scapegoat, if the Eagles do, in fact, fail to get back to the Super Bowl, will be offensive coordinator and play-caller Kevin Patullo. This is not an intel-based take at all, but it feels like he’d need to have a second Super Bowl title to his name in a month for the Eagles not to move on from him in the offseason. That’s brutal pressure, but such is the name of the game when it comes to a winning organization like the Eagles and the expectations of coaching in a place like Philadelphia. You also can’t fire a guy after sharing a parade float with him! If they put it together and win the whole dang thing, he’s going to stay, no?
As noted in one of the above questions, this is the world the Eagles inhabit when it comes to the churn at offensive coordinator and play-caller. There will be highs (Shane Steichen, Kellen Moore) when they nail that position and inevitable dips (Patullo, Brian Johnson to a lesser extent) when they whiff. That’s the problem a lot of people in the city have with Nick Sirianni remaining the head coach, right? He’s only as good as his offensive coordinator despite making the Super Bowl twice with two different ones.
It’s a cycle that’s going to repeat as long as Sirianni is here. The capabilities are apparent with that system: trips to the Big Game, a Lombardi Trophy, historic winning percentages, etc. The downside, however, is too: inept offensive structures and laughable returns on investment for what should be one of the game’s highest-powered offenses. Again, it’s what adds to the ire people have about Sirianni locally, but the results he’s brought, even if the process isn’t the most sound ever, are staggering.
The only path to stability while Sirianni is entrenched, at least for two-to-three years at the offensive coordinator spot, may be to eschew going for a young, up-and-comer and look for an ex-head coach who is under no pretense that they’ll get to a position like that again. Mike McCarthy? Frank Reich? Bill O’Brien? Doug Pederson? Your mileage may certainly vary there.
So, OK, my scapegoat rankings in the event the Birds are swiftly eliminated:
- Patullo
- Sirianni
- The offensive line as a whole (a distant third)
As for making a move for Kevin Stefanski specifically, the two-time NFL Coach of the Year and graduate of both St. Joe’s Prep and the University of Pennsylvania, yes, he’d be a no-doubt-about-it-choice to be the next Birds offensive coordinator. I just assume he’s getting another head coaching job this cycle. The Giants are a disaster as they retain general manager Joe Schoen, but I wouldn’t like them bringing in Stefanski!
This Seahawks defense is ferocious, but the Eagles’ D can match their tenacity and success this postseason, if not best them.
However…
As wild as it sounds, the Eagles’ best mode of slowing down the 49ers’ offense, at least based on what transpired in the Seattle-San Francisco game last Saturday, may be to have a strong offense of their own.
Looking at the box score for that matchup, it’s clear that the 49ers, in putting up just three points on the evening, rarely had the ball enough to do something and when they did, they ran into a buzzsaw.
Seattle’s time of possession was 37:48. San Francisco’s was just 22:12. Seattle rushed the ball a whopping 39 times for 180 yards. San Francisco rushed the ball just 12 times for 53 yards.
Sure, there’s more to it. The Seahawks sacked Brock Purdy three times with 11 quarterback hits. That will make life hell for the quarterback and Kyle Shanahan’s offense overall and the Eagles can definitely accomplish that, but I can’t shake that the Eagles’ offense will need to do their defense a solid for once to advance in the postseason.
The Eagles’ best means have keeping their defensive line and linebackers fresh to shut down Christian McCaffrey will be to have a stout, methodic rushing attack on the opposite side of the ball!
Again, I’ll handle these questions together since they’re both about the offensive line.
I’m nervous that a week of rest isn’t enough for the likes of Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens. Those guys are warriors for gutting it out through injuries on the way to a Super Bowl win last winter, but those injuries haven’t subsided and they’re, frankly, hurting the team right now. I was a proponent of the Eagles playing their starters in Week 18, but, more than any spot on the roster, honestly, I get it from the perspective of hoping those two guys can get maybe minimize what they’re dealing with, but it’s concerning.
As for Lane Johnson, specifically, he exists in a separate category to me. If he plays on Sunday (and isn’t in and out of the lineup due to recurring injuries…), I have zero doubt that he will lock down the right tackle position regardless of whether he practiced in the lead-up to a given game. That’s still true even for the playoffs. The Birds need him back in the worst way to solidify this line.
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