Observations from the Eagles: Concerning issues with discipline, attention to detail, and player development | Sports

TAMPA, Fla. — Moro Ojomo sat with his face buried in each palms. The defensive deal with was nonetheless in full pads. Several teammates have been. The Philadelphia Eagles moved slower than regular after Sunday’s 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — some stirring, some staring — as a fidgeting mass of reporters waited at the heart of the visiting locker room, looking for indicators that somebody was prepared to give their say.

Much had already been stated. Brandon Graham, the group’s most tenured player, preached a well-recognized sermon on togetherness and self-accountability. Other voices from numerous lockers chimed in. But this was a distinct scene inside Raymond James Stadium. This wasn’t the 2023 wild-card elimination. There was no sense of finality, no doom from damning dysfunctions. There was solely the reminder of their expectations, of their potential, of the solely means to fulfill each.

“Everybody understands that we’re going to do this together,” Jalen Hurts later stated at the lectern. “We went out there and we didn’t do good enough as a team.”

This is a group that hasn’t but surrendered to its flaws. It’s too early for such resignation. The Eagles are 2-2 getting into their Week 5 bye. They’re inarguably one catch away from being 3-1. But they’re endangering their complete season, and presumably their teaching regime, with undisciplined play by a talent-laden roster, inadequate sport plans by a tenured workers and a sequence of developmental duds unbefitting of a broadly revered entrance workplace.

Each half incorporates its personal problems. None, if extended, bode effectively for Nick Sirianni, the fourth-year coach who can't afford one other season to go this fashion. Owner Jeffrey Lurie retained Sirianni regardless of struggling the indignity of the NFL’s largest late-season collapse of this century partly as a result of he believed Sirianni had his finger on the pulse of the group’s wants and would make aggressive makes an attempt to make modifications when wanted.

Sirianni should swiftly safe solutions for brand new issues. He takes pleasure in a tradition that doesn’t level fingers. “Accountability” is considered one of his core values. It’s a tenet that manifests publicly with phrases — Sirianni, Hurts and a number of gamers took possession of their errors Sunday — and that turns into tiresome in a metropolis that calls for motion. But Sirianni insisted such public admissions are solely “a piece of what’s going on,” that he’s at occasions a disciplinarian inside the NovaCare Complex, and that “there’s a lot that you don’t see, obviously, behind closed doors of how we get things fixed.”

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“Yes, as a coach, I’m going to go up there in front of the team, first and foremost, and say what I screwed up,” Sirianni stated Monday. “But then, I’m going to tell them what I feel like they screwed up. That’s my job as the head coach. And I’m going to tell the coaches what I think they — the coaches before the players even get there — what I think they screwed up. And it’s not an indictment on anybody. It’s all in the attempts to get better. And so, again, accountability is key if you’re going to fix mistakes. And you’ve got to look at yourself first. But then, as leaders on the football team, you’ve got to point out what the mistakes are.”

It must be a minimal expectation that the Eagles not cripple themselves.

They’ve been penalized 4 occasions for ineligible downfield passes, thrice for unlawful formations and as soon as for breaking a huddle with 12 males on the subject — the very antithesis of the “clean operation” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore wishes. They’ve dedicated defensive move interference twice on third downs (tied for the league lead), and, mixed with a third-down defensive holding and third-down roughing the passer, the three drives during which these occurred produced 13 factors. They surrendered a blocked punt to the Saints, and, on Sunday, Isaiah Rodgers deliberately shoved a gunner into punt returner Cooper DeJean pondering it will draw a flag. Instead, DeJean fumbled, feeding the Bucs a fast landing.

“You’ve still got to play by the rules of what you do,” Sirianni stated, referring to the Rodgers play. Sirianni would possibly as quickly have stated the identical for all the different gaffes. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re coaching it better,” he added. No group can be fully devoid of penalties or blunders. But the present fee at which the Eagles are committing them is a significant concern — particularly contemplating how a lot time Sirianni spends talking about fundamentals.

It’s alarming how Hurts has thus far failed to defend the soccer in a system he needed to command. He’s thrown 4 interceptions and misplaced three fumbles — extra giveaways than any quarterback apart from Tennessee’s Will Levis (8). The turnovers are premature. Two picks have been in the finish zone. Another prohibited a attainable game-winning subject aim towards the Atlanta Falcons. In a two-score sport towards the Buccaneers, Hurts failed to eliminate the ball on a sack-fumble in the crimson zone.

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Hurts should transcend such conditions. He and Moore have in any other case proven promise collectively. The Eagles offense revealed in Sao Paulo it may be a drive at full power. Efficiency has waned in three video games with out main receiver A.J. Brown (hamstring). But Moore hasn’t been with out solutions. Hurts and Barkley mixed for 180 yards dashing towards the Falcons. Hurts threw for 311 yards towards the Saints inside a passing assault dedicated to the quick sport. The Eagles failed to achieve a yard of their first three drives towards the Bucs — an indictment for any group that options Barkley in its backfield — however, with out wideout DeVonta Smith (concussion), they almost doubled their utilization of two-tight finish packages, broke open a 59-yard run by Barkley and almost made it a one-score sport earlier than Hurts’ deadly fumble.

The Eagles are normally amongst the finest at scoring touchdowns on their red-zone alternatives. They owned a top-eight rating in the class throughout every of their first three seasons beneath Sirianni. But the premature turnovers, paired with the failures of questionable fourth-down calls by Sirianni and Moore, have saddled the Eagles with a 47.1 red-zone share that ranks twenty first in the NFL. A fuller analysis can be afforded as soon as Brown and Smith return after the bye.

Most foreboding of all: the state of the Eagles protection. The franchise lastly obtained the founding father of their favored system, however a protection that ranks twenty sixth in EPA per play (-0.07) has been outmatched inside three of Vic Fangio’s first 4 sport plans. The seven-time defensive coordinator hasn’t discovered options in a secondary that’s surrendering the fifth-most passing yards (948) nor masked the deficiencies alongside the perimeter. Fangio fielded a 6-1 defensive entrance towards the Saints to cease exterior zone runs, however the Buccaneers additional stretched the subject with a sequence of swing passes (195 of Baker Mayfield’s 347 yards got here after the catch).

General supervisor Howie Roseman holds his share of the blame. Two of his most outstanding offseason free agent signings have turn out to be liabilities. No NFL security has surrendered extra touchdowns than C.J. Gardner-Johnson (3), and edge rusher Bryce Huff, signed to change Haason Reddick, has but to document a quarterback hit, sack or deal with for loss by way of 4 video games. The instruments the Eagles entrance workplace favored about Huff — a pass-rush specialist in a four-man entrance with the New York Jets — haven’t but flourished inside Fangio’s base 3-4 scheme.

Roseman’s reinforcements in the secondary have but to be absolutely utilized. DeJean’s offseason hamstring damage sophisticated the unit’s accessible configurations. Fangio’s reluctance to deploy No. 22 decide Quinyon Mitchell at each exterior cornerback and nickel — which might’ve certainly been sophisticated — has meant the Eagles are leaning on veteran Avonte Maddox (who was initially lower earlier than re-signing on a team-friendly deal) to fulfill their nickel security slot till DeJean absolutely develops. Maddox was focused a game-high eight occasions towards the Buccaneers and surrendered a 28-yard achieve on a missed deal with.

Sirianni stated he and Fangio spent Monday collectively reviewing Sunday’s sport movie. Sirianni, who final yr demoted a member of Fangio’s teaching tree, Sean Desai, midseason, has typically spoken confidently of Fangio’s monitor document. But if even Fangio and a tenured workers that features defensive position coach Clint Hurtt — the defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks in 2022 and 2023 — is unable to maximize a rotation that options eight top-83 picks as soon as made by the group, Lurie should query whether or not the protection’s downside most lies inside the scheme or the scouting.

Sirianni’s tradition of self-accountability has helped establish the possession of each difficulty. How a lot can the Eagles repair in simply over every week?

(Top photograph: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)