It's time.
Doug Pederson's Eagles are broken, and it's time for the head coach to do his job: Take a step back, lead the team differently and do what's best for the franchise.
It's time for Doug Pederson to give up play calling.
This thought has been on my mind all season as we've watched a broken Eagles offense (22.6 points per game, 24th in the NFL) look lifeless, and Sunday's dismal 17-point, zero third-down conversion effort vs. the Giants was my tipping point. Something drastic needs to be done to help jumpstart a team that suddenly looks bad enough to actually blow the joke that is the 2020 NFC East.
Pederson was once one of the NFL's best play callers. When he got in a rhythm, defenses were on their heels. Those days are long gone, and it feels like everything is weighing on Pederson both during and after games. The mojo is gone. Pederson once said play calling his favorite part of his job and said he'd never want to give it up. But times have changed, and the Eagles need Pederson in a different role now: overseer of the team, offense and quarterback position.
Would Carson Wentz's drastic and alarming decline be different if Pederson was able to spend more time on his mechanics, development and reads during games instead of having to think of the next play? Maybe, and it's sure worth finding out as the Eagles contemplate (and you know it's being contemplated) this guy's future in Philadelphia. If sitting Wentz down isn't on the table yet, then finding a different way to generate more efficient quarterback play is imperative.
Would in-game decisions like, say, two-point conversion tries be more thought out if Pederson was communicating with his analytics coaches the entire drive instead of focusing on play calling? I think so. Pederson often seems to not know why he's going for two, but rather just listening to advice and going with it. If someone else was calling plays, Pederson could work through the pros and cons all drive.
Those pros and cons apply for when and where to use Jalen Hurts, when it's appropriate to go for it on fourth down, if a challenge is necessary or not, and if the game needs tempo or to be slowed down based on how the Eagles defense is playing. The game is moving fast for Pederson right now, and it feels like his mind is bogged down trying to find the right mix of plays rather than seeing the big picture of his struggling team.
My biggest criticism of Pederson's decisions has little to do with the actual play calls or formations, run-pass ratio, motion, or any other criticism you'll hear this week on WIP. Here's what frustrates me: Too often Pederson seems to think like an offensive coordinator, not the head coach. That mentality gets him in trouble, and puts the team in spots it doesn't have to be.
Doing this now doesn't have to be the beginning of the end for Pederson in Philadelphia. In fact, it can stave that reality off. Andy Reid gave up play calling in 2015, which ironically put the Chiefs offense in Pederson's hands. Bears head coach Matt Nagy is doing it right now as he tries to see his team from a different scope. Mike McCarthy did it during successful times in Green Bay. Some of the best offensive coaches have ceded play calling before.
Pederson, now 1-4 off the bye, must take a hard look at what's wrong with his offense, quarterback and team. The less time he's worrying about a play sheet, the more time he'll have to do that.
Of course, there's no seamless replacement ready under Pederson.
Assistant head coach Duce Staley has been around long enough to know the offense backward and forward. Marty Mornhinweg could probably recite old west coast, Reid-Pederson plays in his sleep. Rich Scangarello is a former offensive coordinator.
Then there's Press Taylor, the passing game coordinator, ex-quarterbacks coach and seemingly the closest guy to Wentz in the building. The Eagles need to figure out if Wentz can turn this around, and fast. Calls (and fair ones) to bench Wentz for Hurts are coming. Putting Taylor in as play caller could be a last-ditch effort to make Wentz comfortable and unlock anything left in this player. If the Taylor-Wentz duo works, great. If it doesn't, all excuses would be gone for Wentz and the offensive issues wouldn't be on Pederson, but on the team's expensive player.
When the Eagles hired Pederson, team owner Jeff Lurie cited his emotional intelligence as a main reason why this would work. Lurie was right. Doug has been able to get his players to play hard and buy in for five years. He's created a culture. His teams rally. They win. Lurie didn't hire Pederson because of play calling, and it doesn't have to be his only value to this franchise now or moving forward.
Pederson is the only person that can fix the Eagles between now and the offseason, and his best chance of doing it is by letting someone else call plays on game day.
