Nick Sirianni’s anemic Eagles offense is a bigger problem than his game management
Last season was a step back and this one is starting to look like further regression. A lot of it points back to Sirianni’s inability to maintain continuity on offense.
LONDON — Game management is supposed to be the one thing Nick Sirianni has sole authority over for three hours, every week of the season. When the Eagles coach gave up offensive play-calling midway through his first season, he said it was partly because he wanted to focus on that responsibility.
On Sunday, he failed miserably at that one job.
But Sirianni’s decision-making in the fateful last moments of the Eagles’ nauseating 19-17 last-second loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars — while suggesting a worrisome trend — wasn’t the primary reason his team will fly back to the U.S. on a three-game losing streak.
His offense once again failed to capitalize on a strong defensive performance with continued second-half inadequacy that is borderline negligence. The Eagles were depleted on that side of the ball and lost another running back, and for a brief period, another offensive lineman.
But Sean Mannion’s play-calling defied logic when it was apparent the Jaguars simply wouldn’t allow the Eagles to run the ball. He called some passes on first down. A few were even successful. His offense kept facing long third downs, however.
In the first half, the first-time offensive coordinator’s tweaks to the game plan offset some of the struggles on the ground. Jalen Hurts actually completed a few downfield passes off play-action, something that had been egregiously missing from Mannion’s supposed Kyle Shanahan-influenced scheme.
Despite having so many reserves starting up front and in the backfield, the quarterback and his blockers actually burned Jacksonville on some of its blitzes after struggling in that regard for weeks.
» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni: ‘I cost us that game’ after coaching blunders waste a defensive gem in London
But the Eagles offense came out of the half like a deflated balloon. The unit went punt, turnover on downs, punt, punt, punt — and one more time for good measure — punt on the first six possessions of the second half. It went three-and-out on four of those possessions.
“It’s never just one thing, but we got to figure out our second-half offense,” Sirianni said, “because we are putting together some nice first-half offense and have a lot of opportunities to put the game away, and we haven’t been able to do that.”
The Eagles have scored just 23 second-half points in their five games, and just three in the last three second halves combined. They’ve gone three-and-out, amazingly, on 15 of 29 possessions after the break.
Mannion did finally script a drive that put the Eagles ahead. But even that success was marred by questionable play calls that left time on the clock after Jake Elliott booted a go-ahead 48-yard field goal with eight seconds left.
“You want to end the game with a kick there and not have to go back out to try to cover a kick,” Elliott said, “but it’s not how it played out, unfortunately.”
Sirianni is going to get criticized for not having Elliott drive the ensuing kickoff out of the back of the end zone. And probably with justification.
“Our guys fought their butts off today,” Sirianni said. “Defense had an outstanding game keeping us in that game. Offense did enough at the end to go win us that game. Special teams did a nice job kicking there. I didn’t make the right decision, and I lost us that game.”
But more egregious choices were made before Ameer Abdullah’s 53-yard return set up Cam Little’s game-winning 57-yard field goal.
» READ MORE: Depleted Eagles stunned in London, fall in 19-17 thriller to Jaguars on 57-yard Cam Little field goal
Why did Makai Lemon run out of bounds at the Jacksonville 27-yard line with 17 seconds remaining? And why didn’t Hurts just burn the clock down to three seconds and then take a knee on third down?
“You don’t want to lose too many yards there,” Sirianni said when asked about the second scenario. “It’s still a long field goal. Yeah, that could be something that you could do, but when you do that … there’s going to be push on the inside, you’re probably going to lose 2, 3, 4 yards.”
The Eagles, instead, ran Dameon Pierce inside. He was dropped for a 3-yard loss and Jacksonville coach Liam Coen used his final timeout. The longer kick didn’t matter. The clock did.
Sirianni wasn’t asked about the Lemon play. The Eagles had advanced to the Jaguars’ 34 after Hurts hit tight end Dallas Goedert over the middle for 17 yards. Coen burned his second timeout to stop the clock with 25 seconds left.
Hurts threw incomplete on first down, but the Eagles went for a closer kick and had Hurts drop again. It’s unclear if Lemon was his first read or if it was an open Goedert over the middle, but the quarterback threw the out route and the rookie receiver stopped the clock with 17 seconds left.
This is where Sirianni’s role in play-calling becomes ambiguous because he has to manage the game. He also has a neophyte at the controls.
There is no right answer when it comes to the question of CEO coach vs. one who also calls plays. Coen showed why it isn’t always ideal to have someone who juggles both. He made various dubious decisions over the course of the game.
» READ MORE: Eagles coach Nick Sirianni takes the blame for final kickoff decision: ‘That’ll stick with me’
And Sirianni has, in the bigger picture, been a more-than-credible game manager. The Eagles were 35-15 in one-score games under him before snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
They have now had two gut-wrenching losses in a row, after allowing the Rams to score 14 points in the final four minutes last week. Sirianni’s fourth-down gambles in last week’s game backfired on him, but his reasoning was sound.
But the week before, in Chicago, he punted when he should have gone for it, and admitted afterward that he had made a mistake. That’s two times in the last three games that the coach has said he got individual game-management decisions wrong.
Hurts said he was just following orders on the final drive.
“It’s not my place,” he said. “I’m prepared as a quarterback to not worry about those things. I’m honoring the play call, honoring the things that are coming in the game. When I’m up at night, yeah, I think, ’Man, should have I said something or should I have taken a step back and said, ‘Wait’?
“But ultimately, there’s a commitment to that and going out there and executing.”
Hurts took culpability for the offensive woes. He spoke about “jelling” and “flow,” but it’s difficult to make complete player evaluations when there’s almost nothing about the scheme that is in rhythm.
Injuries definitely have played a role in the dysfunction. The Eagles were without their No. 1 receiver (DeVonta Smith), top two running backs (Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby) and two starters on the offensive line (left guard Landon Dickerson and center Drew Kendall). They also lost third-string tailback Will Shipley in the second quarter.
» READ MORE: Patchwork Eagles O-line performs admirably despite ‘week from hell’
And oh yeah, their all-world right tackle (Lane Johnson) retired on Tuesday and their center/emergency left guard (Cam Jurgens) was traded the next day. When right guard Tyler Steen briefly left the game, left tackle Jordan Mailata was the only Week 1 starter remaining on the O-line.
“My brain hurts. This week has been a week from hell for me,” Mailata said. “I don’t even know the concept of a moral victory right now. I’m just again trying to look internally to see how I contributed to this loss so I can correct it because we weren’t good enough. We know that certain downs and certain plays during the second half we got to be better at executing.
“But I will say I was very proud of my line up front.”
There was a lot to be proud about. The defense, led by a rejuvenated, smaller-cast-wearing Jalen Carter, kept a dynamic, multifaceted opponent in check for most of the day. The group delivered two huge goal-line stops. The offense, despite being shorthanded, displayed great effort.
They “locked arms” as Sirianni asked them to do after an emotional week and a daunting challenge. The players showed once again that they want to play for their coach and have done so through his various travails since 2021. The Eagles won a title and went to the playoffs each season partly as a result.
But last season was a step back and this one is starting to look like further regression. And a lot of it points back to Sirianni’s inability to maintain continuity on offense. Hurts is part of that equation. General manager Howie Roseman is, as well.
» READ MORE: Eagles grades vs. Jaguars: Jalen Hurts, defensive line give Birds a chance before a late collapse
And when the Jimmys and Joes aren’t quite what they used to be, the X’s and O’s matter more, and the Eagles just don’t have the schematic answers right now. Sirianni, ultimately, is responsible, and that will decide his team’s fate more than a few game-management blunders.
“That’s going to hurt for a while,” Sirianni said, “but I’m going put my chest out, and I’m going to stick my head up, and I’m going to get better from it.”
And, doggone it, the Eagles like him. How long will that carry him through?
