Philadelphia Eagles players have ‘issues’ confusion with offense and more

The NFL playoffs have begun, but there are still questions about whether the reigning NFC champs will even win Monday’s Wild Card game. There appear to be issues even within the Eagles’ locker room.

Philadelphia appeared to be on the right track moving into December. The Eagles dominated the NFL with a 10-1 record, securing the NFC’s top seed and a first-round bye. Instead, Philadelphia will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football with their season on the line.

In December, the first signs of disaster emerged. Even when things were going well, there was a lot of finger-pointing in the Eagles’ locker room, according to reports. With the defense failing, head coach Nick Sirianni relieved defensive coordinator Sean Desai of play-calling duties on third down, then replaced him entirely with Matt Patricia.

The defense of the Eagles did not improve. Instead, in the final month of the season, Philadelphia had one of the worst NFL defenses. While the offensive has been a cause of irritation for everyone in the organization, it looks that players are scratching their minds even more when it comes to it.

There is a big “disconnect between the visions” of Sirianni, quarterback Jalen Hurts, and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, according to ESPN’s Tim McManus. Following the departure of Shane Steichen, Philadelphia promoted Johnson to offensive coordinator this season.

After a promising start in which it appeared that Philadelphia would have a top-five offense, things quickly spun out of control. During the team’s problems, the Eagles’ locker room has gotten disoriented as to who is doing what on the offensive coaching staff.

Unsurprisingly, McManus believes that proposals from within the organization on how to improve the offense are faulty. Position groups’ remedies to Philadelphia’s difficulties would all benefit that individual position group, regardless of whether it is helpful for the offense as a whole.

Sirianni’s future in Philadelphia remains questionable amid finger-pointing and a lack of faith in the team’s goal. There is already some speculation that he has lost control of the locker room, and a first-round playoff elimination just adds to the probability that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie will make a change.