The Philadelphia Eagles are currently 2-2 after a shocking loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While the sky isn’t falling yet, many people are naturally concerned about the team’s health. This is a story we’ve seen before, and we all know how it ends… unless Nick Sirianni uses “Goodbye” as an opportunity to make amends. To do that, he and the rest of the team need to take a long look in the mirror and ask some important questions.

Eagles fans have been here before

When you look at the state of the Eagles team on paper, there are no excuses. From top to bottom, this should be one of the dominant offenses in the entire league. Each position has elite talent at the helm, and the front office made a coordinator change in the offseason to free the group from any excuses regarding play calls. Nick Sirianni is no longer responsible for this. This position goes to Kellen Moore, who has demonstrated excellence in previous positions.

On defense, you have a ton of first-round picks, and each of them has elite potential. You have an EDGE striker whose house you mortgaged knowing he won’t be able to play full time right away, and a defense you spent 3 years trying to emulate. What’s real is finally here. This has always been the vision and there are no excuses.

The Eagles are following an identical pattern to the one in 2023, only this time the red flags are waving more violently. Philly may have started the year with a 10-2 record, but they have earned wins to dig themselves out of the holes they dug themselves into. Penalties, lack of execution, misfires and carelessness on both sides of the ball all painted a picture of a team with all the potential in the world that couldn’t put it all together.

It works until it doesn’t work. Talent will only get you so far, and when you realize this Eagles team isn’t what we thought it was, your confidence evaporates and you’re left with basic fundamentals… well, I don’t know. This is a problem.

Fast forward to 2024. The starters haven’t played any preseason snaps, and the only prior experience they have to deal with is an inexplicable fall. So when the challenge comes and players see the writing on the wall, how confident can they be that this time will be different?

They managed to beat the Packers. They should have lost by several possessions after the first few minutes. The Falcons game drew a lot of criticism, and a Saints victory would have raised the forks had Reed Blankenship not won the game.

A week later, the Eagles had their worst performance ever…without much of a fight. John Ross slowed down the route, the blocking was poor, the defensive scheme was repeatedly used to make endless passes up the middle, with no sign of improvement. It’s easy to single out a team that doesn’t get out of its own way.

The Eagles are not a good football team. This is a group of great players on different sides who are saved by individual excellence. Without Saquon Barkley, there’s a good chance this team would be 0-4. Without a game in Dallas Goedert’s career and amazing plays from players like DeVonta Smith and Jalen Carter, this team is 0-4. Without constantly confusing coaching decisions, this team will likely go 3-1.

Where do the Eagles go?

What is the identity of this band? They don’t attack right away… because they don’t want to run away right away. These are not throwing offenses as players run out of sticks every time a play is called after a key try. They are not a hard-hitting defense because they cannot counter-attack consistently. No rhythm, no rhyme, just senseless stomping out of time.

How much of that goes to Nick Sirianni? How much of that goes to Howie Roseman? It’s subjective. On the one hand, you have a coach who was given great Super Bowl lineups and didn’t get the most out of them. On the other hand, the man who led this team to “3 CONSEQUENTIAL PLAYING BORTS”.

When it comes to GM, history keeps repeating itself. The band falls apart, Roseman resurrects it and helps usher in a new era. The team flies out of the gate before the quarterback’s play deteriorates, the coach loses his luster and the implosion begins. Kelly, Pederson, Sirianni. At this point, this is not the case.

You have a veteran leader, a team captain, who goes to X after the game to improve his game and talk about how great his career has been, while the team around him burns to the ground. You have received countless calls from above for “responsibility” even though it has never been shown.

The Eagles don’t know who they are… and until that changes, the process will continue to repeat itself.

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images