There were lots of reasons to be concerned about the 2021 Eagles.
Maybe an inexperienced Nick Sirianni would be a disaster. Maybe Jalen Hurts wasn’t that good. Maybe the roster just didn’t have that much talent.
Through four games none of that has been true.
Instead, the biggest issue? Penalties.
Yes, Sirianni and Hurts have each had bad stretches in games — and the injuries are already mounting — but it is the penalties that are keeping the Eagles out of the win column the last three weeks.
It happened again on Sunday when the Eagles played closely with the Kansas City Chiefs, but ultimately lost 42-30, in large part due to penalties.
The Eagles were flagged nine times for 49 yards, with each seeming to come in a big moment. The team had three touchdowns called back due to flags, and while you can’t just add 21 points to their score and say they would have won, the game at the very least would have been much closer had one-or-two not been called back.
The penalty numbers by the Eagles this season are simply staggering.
The Eagles had been flagged 47 times (44 have been accepted) through four games, the most in the NFL. So far this season 25 different players have been flagged for at least one penalty. Nine have been flagged more than once. Two of the top five most flagged players in the NFL are on the Eagles.
Related
Making matters worse is so many of the flags have been avoidable. Of the 47 flags thrown on the Eagles, 16 have been before the snap, the most in the NFL. Those flags are drive killers, as they either set the offense back behind the chains, or give the opposing offense free yards.
Some of it definitely falls on Siranni and the coaching. In fact, the top three teams in the league in penalties — Eagles, Texans and Falcons — all have first-year head coaches.
But while the coaches certainly hold blame, the reality is that the most flagged players on the teams are almost all veterans. They aren’t rookies making rookie mistakes. Last season the Eagles were fifth in the NFL in penalties, and that was under a completely different coaching staff. That points to this issue being a player problem.
So who are the most penalized players on the Eagles?
Here is a breakdown of each player that has been flagged more than once, via NFLPenalties.com:
1. Lane Johnson (5):
Penalties: Offensive Holding (4), Ineligible Downfield (1)
2. Isaac Seumalo (4):
Penalties: False Start (3), Offensive Holding (1)
3. Andre Dillard (4):
Penalties: Offensive Holding (2), Ineligible Downfield (1), Illegal Formation (1)
4. Derek Barnett (3):
Penalties: Unnecessary Roughness (1), Defensive Offside (1), Roughing the Passer (1)
5. Zach Ertz (2):
Penalties: False Start (2)
6. Josh Sweat (2):
Penalties: Encroachment (1), Neutral Zone Infraction (1)
7. Fletcher Cox (2):
Penalties: Encroachment (1), Illegal Use of Hands (1)
8. Hasaan Ridgeway (2):
Penalties: Defensive Holding (2)
9. Javon Hargrave (2):
Penalties: Encroachment (1), Unsportsmanlike Conduct (1)
10. Anthony Harris (2):
Penalties: Defensive Pass Interference (2)
Perhaps the most troubling part when reviewing that list is that it isn’t just one player or one unit. It is everyone. It is veterans like Johnson, Seumalo and Ertz. Those are players you would hope at this point in their career wouldn’t be making these mistakes. It is experienced players they need to have big seasons like Sweat and Barnett, who so far, have had more stand-out negative moments than positive ones. Surprisingly, there isn’t a single rookie who has been flagged twice.
How the Eagles fix this remains to be seen.
Sirianni can try to bench guys who are repeat offenders, but at 1-3, they can’t exactly afford to take any talent off the field. Taking snaps away from players like Barnett or Sweat, especially when Brandon Graham is out and Ryan Kerrigan has been invisible, is just going to hurt a team that is in desperate need of a win.
Fixing this problem won’t be easy, but if Sirianni and his coaching staff can’t figure out a way to stop the flags, it is hard to see how the Eagles will put together anything close to a successful season.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
