The Philadelphia Eagles have a lot to evaluate in the aftermath of Monday’s 32-9 NFC Wild Card Round defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While it appears head coach Nick Sirianni is safe, some turnover is expected on the coaching staff. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, both Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman “have been reaching out to available NFL coaches and coordinators, as well as coaching agents across the league to evaluate potential coordinator candidates to join their coaching staff as they plan for the 2024 season.”
This has always been the expectation, though Monday’s debacle essentially guaranteed that changes would be made. After starting the season 10-1, the Eagles lost six of their final seven games, including the loss to the Buccaneers. One year removed from a Super Bowl appearance and owning the league’s second ranked defense, Philadelphia’s defensive unit slipped to 26th in 2023. The Eagles continued to slide even after Sirianni replaced defensive coordinator Sean Desai with Matt Patricia as the team’s defensive play-caller late in the season.
Philadelphia surrendered 426 total yards to Tampa Bay Monday as its season came to a disappointing end. Offensively, the team failed to convert a single third or fourth down.
Eagles head into offseason with lots of uncertainty
In addition to their coaching staff, the Eagles have many big decisions to make when it comes to personnel. Center Jason Kelce could be headed for retirement. Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, defensive end Brandon Graham and running back D’Andre Swift among others are slated to be unrestricted free agents.
“We couldn’t get out of the rut we were in and that’s all of us,” Sirianni said after the game. “We’ll have to look ourselves in the mirror and accept that and find answers and find solutions. Obviously when you start 10-1, and then you get into what happened for us, obviously the expectations were high. Expectations were higher when we started off 10-1 and we fell into a skid.
“I’ll look at everything. I’ll look at obviously the playcalling, I’ll look at the scheme, I’ll look at the practices. Look at everything that we’re doing.”
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