Fans are furious with the Eagles’ defense following the team’s 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, another performance where the opposing quarterback completed over 80% of his passes, and another loss in what has been a frustrating last few seasons for the team.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon has received the majority of the blame for the loss, but speaking Monday with Jon Marks and Ike Reese on 94WIP, former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb pointed the blame at general manager Howie Roseman for the team’s struggles.
“Has anything changed in the last five years? We can talk all day about Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts because it’s the easiest ones to try to jump on,” McNabb said, "but we got to start in the (front) offices and work our way down.”
As to why he believed Roseman deserved criticism for the defensive struggles, McNabb pointed to the effort to trade Fletcher Cox despite the pass rush already struggling, and the bad personnel in the back seven.
“Our linebackers are pretty bad, our secondary probably in the division might be third-out-of-four, and our defensive scheme right now is probably trying to protect everybody,” McNabb said when discussing the lack of a pass rush. “So it becomes 7-on-7 for opposing quarterbacks.”
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It certainly looked like Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was playing 7-on-7 this past Sunday as he picked apart the Eagles defense, which didn’t register a single sack or quarterback hit. Herbert finished the game 32/38 for 356 yards and two touchdowns.
There is no question that to fix the defense the Eagles are going to need an influx of young talent, and they will have the chance to do so next year in the 2022 NFL Draft, where they could have three first-round picks inside the top 10.
What remains to be seen, and needs to be discussed according to McNabb, is whether it should be Roseman making those picks.
“Overall right now, this is going to be a decision that is strictly based on Jeffrey (Lurie), not Howie,” McNabb said, “because Jeffrey has to make a decision about what is going to go on with Howie going forward.”
You can check out the full interview with McNabb below: