Legendary NFL quarterback Peyton Manning is the latest person to pile on the much-maligned Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff.
In the Eagles’ Wild Card Round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, Philadelphia continuously left quarterback Jalen Hurts alone in the backfield, spreading its playmakers out.
As a result, the Buccaneers kept blitzing Hurts, resulting in several sacks and some rushed throws.
During the broadcast, Manning expressed his displeasure with the way Philly handled the offense, calling the coaching staff “stubborn” for allowing Hurts to regularly get blitzed (via Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Network).
The Eagles fell behind 13-0 early and never recovered, losing 32-9 in a blowout defeat. Hurts went 25-for-35 with 250 yards and a touchdown.
It was a rather appropriate ending to what ended up being a disastrous latter part of the 2023-24 campaign for Philadelphia.
Philly got off to a 10-1 start this season and not only seemed like it would cruise to a second straight NFC East division title, but it also appeared primed to make a second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl. One could even go a step further and say the team looked like the Super Bowl favorite.
However, the Eagles proceeded to lose five of their last six regular-season games, capped by a thoroughly embarrassing loss to the New York Giants in Week 18. They also lost wide receiver A.J. Brown to a knee injury that night.
Even with the club’s rough end to the regular season, Philadelphia was still favored heading into its Wild Card Round matchup with the Buccaneers, with some expecting Philly to kick things into another gear for the playoffs.
Obviously, that did not happen, and now, the Eagles will have tons of questions to answer heading into the offseason. That could start with deciding what to do with head coach Nick Siriannni.
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