That was bad.
Sunday’s 31-15 Eagles loss to the Buccaneers wasn’t just lopsided. It was sobering. For a team that generated as many questions as excitement within the fanbase, it was polarizing. But regardless where you stood going in, we’re all on the same side as the offseason begins: Re-asking the same questions that dominated the conversation all year.
In fact, every doubt and fear you likely had at some point about the 2021 Eagles came back within the same game.
And they aren’t going away until Week 1 of the 2022 season.
Let’s start with the quarterback.
Jalen Hurts played poorly. But can happen to young quarterbacks in the first postseason games. Peyton Manning completed 45 percent of his passes and scored six points in his first NFL playoff game. His brother, Eli, posted a 35.0 passer rating in his first trip to January football. Randall Cunningham threw three interceptions, zero touchdowns and posted a 52 percent completion percentage in his first taste of the playoffs. Lamar Jackson, a current player compared in style to Hurts, completed less than 50 percent of his passes in a home playoff loss in his first chance.
A poor road playoff game vs. the defending champions isn’t the end of the world. But how it happened and what it represents is the worry: When things got off task and the Eagles couldn’t play their game (keep it close, run the ball, limit throws) with Hurts, the game was basically over.
At this point of his career, the Eagles have to win a specific way with Hurts. His flaws (inaccuracy, not seeing the field well enough, late releasing the ball when a man is open) are exposed the more he has to throw. He’s 23, and thinking this can’t change is foolish. But we can’t pretend it’s not there, and the Bucs exposed it. Add in a lingering bad ankle (which likely impacted his accuracy and ability to step into the throws down field) and durability for a mobile quarterback becomes another concern moving forward.
Hurts did more than enough to prove he’s this team’s best option in 2022, and to be given his 24-year-old season to show more growth. But he also showed enough to reignite debate about his ceiling and the Eagles’ long-term plan at the position.
Then there’s the coaching staff.
Jonathan Gannon let Tom Brady nickel and dime his way down the field. Nick Sirianni didn’t get DeVonta Smith involved until after half time, forced Miles Sanders in as the lead back instead of a truer rotation in the first half, and seemed to have no answers for Todd Bowles’ ability to stack the box and cut off his run game.
Are these coaches as good and smart as they seemed during the Eagles successful weeks? Maybe not. Are they as bad as they looked during the bad weeks? Likely not. But loses stick more than wins, especially when a team is down 31-0 in a playoff game. This coaching staff took a roster projected to win 6.5 games, and turned it into a playoff team. There’s something to be said for that. But they also looked over matched against the NFL’s best. There’s something to be said for that, too.
Let’s end with Howie Roseman, and this roster.
Roseman did a ton of good in 2021. The foundation for success was reset. Hurts, regardless of where you fall on the scale of worry, proved to be a capable NFL quarterback. Smith is an impressive young wide receiver. The 2018 draft class earned big roles and contract extensions. Three No. 1 picks await.
But Roseman’s past mistakes were on full display, giving even his supporters reason to pause.
Jalen Reagor was a negative player on Sunday, as he’s been for most of his NFL career. The muffed punt early in the third quarterback squashed any hope of an Eagles comeback. Derek Barnett was invisible, save for an early roughing the passer penalty and a late shove on Tom Brady. Barnett’s Eagles career is likely over, with more bad than good to show for it. Andre Dillard sat and watched.
As the most critical first round in Eagles history awaits, three of Roseman’s last four first-round picks provided nothing all while adding worry for what’s possibly ahead.
If you thought this team and run to the playoffs was nothing more than the product of a weak schedule, you have the right to feel vindicated. If you thought this quarterback was smoke and mirrors and a one-trick pony, you’ll probably bang that drum until next season (or until Roseman packages three No. 1 picks to trade for a brand name). If you thought the coaches weren’t really that good, Sunday couldn’t have changed your mind.
The Eagles had a pretty good season. There’s reason to believe that Hurts did improve, the coaching staff set the foundation for long-term success and can be even better with an improved roster, and Roseman has the team on the right track.
I’d rather buy into months of an upward trajectory rather than one bad day in Tampa. But what I chalk up as a bad day, you can view as an inevitability. Instead of an offseason of talk on how to build upon an unexpected trip to the playoffs, we’re about to have one based on big-name rumors and worry surrounding the most important parts of the franchise.
Be excited. Or be worried.
Either is totally normal after that ending to the 2021 season.