Matt Patricia becoming Eagles defensive play-caller could be disastrous

The Philadelphia Eagles defense hasn't been good of late. In fact, it has been downright awful.

The Eagles have allowed 33-plus points in three straight games for the first time since 1967. Heading into this weekend, Philadelphia ranked No. 28 in pass defense, No. 28 in scoring defense, No. 28 in first downs allowed and No. 31 in interceptions. It was just last season that the Eagles had the No. 2 defense and No. 1 pass defense in the league with Jonathan Gannon as defensive coordinator. Sean Desai took over as DC this season, but he's now being stripped of play-calling duties and Matt Patricia will be calling the plays starting on Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks.  

It's reasonable to surmise a change of some kind was necessary for an Eagles team that's 10-3 and are vying for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The issue is choosing Patricia to call plays. Patricia was a Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots three times, including two as defensive coordinator. Yes, Patricia's done impressive things in the past. But he hasn't done much winning in a while. He's actually been part of some embarrassing teams in recent years. 

Patricia flamed out as the head coach of the Detroit Lions, going 13-29-1 from 2018-20. Patricia was booted out the door after a 41–25 loss to the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving Day. 

Patricia resurfaced last season with the Patriots as the offensive line coach and offensive play caller. New England averaged just 18.1 points per game and quarterback Mac Jones shouted at Patricia during a game because they weren't throwing the ball enough.