He answered all the questions, he just didn’t have any answers.
Nick Sirianni had just watched his team get bludgeoned by the Buccaneers and he really had no explanation why the Eagles played so poorly on both sides of the ball in their 33-16 loss in Tampa.
But he did know he was a big reason for it.
“I felt like we didn’t coach well enough and we didn’t play well enough, and that’s always going to start with me,” Sirianni said. “If we go out there, lay an egg and we’re down 24-0 (in the second quarter), that’s going to start on me. I didn’t have the guys ready to start.”
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Didn’t have the guys ready. That’s an understatement.
Midway through the second quarter, the Bucs led 24-0 and had outgained the Eagles 255-0.
0.
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As in, none.
What’s worse: Giving up 255 points, three touchdowns and a field goal on your first four defensive drives, or gaining literally zero yards on your first three offensive drives?
Both are horrifying and both reflect poorly on the coach, who in his own words didn’t have his team ready.
“We obviously didn’t start well, down 24-0 to start things off,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, no excuse for that. We didn’t come out [well]. We didn’t coach well enough and we didn’t play well enough.”
“Our fundamentals weren’t what we needed it to be. We’ll make sure we’re working hard on that. Bye week is coming at a good time. We’ve got to get our bodies right and we’ve got to make some changes as far as what’s going on fundamentally.
“Early on in the game, I thought we had some missed tackles, thought we had a couple drops. Those are going to stop drives and those are going to extend drives, and that’s where it’s going to have to start with fundamentals. Then it’s going to be looking at what kind of positions we are putting the guys in.
“We didn’t play well enough and coach well enough fundamentally, penalty-wise – everything.”
The Bucs had eight plays of at least 10 yards … in the first quarter alone. They had 22 in the game. The Eagles had four.
What was the plan going in? Was there a plan?
“Tackle well, try to get after the quarterback – listen, we didn’t do a good enough job on that,” he said. “But it is always going to start with fundamentals, how we get off blocks, how we defeat blocks, how we tackle.”
How bad was it?
The Eagles were out-gained by 218 yards, the biggest yardage margin against them in six years – the Cowboys had a 320-yard edge (576-256) in a 29-23 win at AT&T Stadium in 2018.
The Bucs held a 12 ½- minute time of possession advantage. They sacked Jalen Hurts six times, matching the most of his career. They held the Eagles to 3.2 yards per pass attempt – their 2nd-worst in the last 15 years. They kept the Eagles scoreless in the first quarter for the sixth straight game. They didn’t turn the ball over and forced two turnovers.
Worst of all, they handed the Eagles their fifth loss of 17 or more yards in their last 11 games. That’s 42-19 to the 49ers, 33-13 to the Cowboys, 27-10 to the Giants, 32-98 to the Bucs in the playoffs and 33-16 Sunday.
Last time the Eagles lost five games by 17 or more points in an 11-game span was the first 11 games of 1998, a season they went 3-13, got Ray Rhodes fired and led to the hiring of Andy Reid.
The Eagles are 3-8 in their last 11 games, getting outscored by an average of 28.2 to 19.8.
“We didn’t play good enough offensively or defensively and we didn’t coach well enough on either side,” Sirianni said. “When the shift of time of possession is what it was in that first half (20:14 to 9:46), we didn’t do a good enough job on offense of giving our defense a rest. … Again, that all starts with me.”
As ugly as this loss was, the Eagles are 2-2, and their first four opponents after the bye are currently 3-13. They only face one team in their next nine games that currently has a winning record – Washington. of all people.
It’s hard to figure exactly who the Eagles are right now.
Are they the team that survived the Packers in Brazil and came from behind in the final minute to beat the Saints on the road? Or are they the team that blew a late lead against the Falcons at home and got blown out in Tampa?
“All that matters is that these guys continue to get better and us as coaches get better, and I mean, that’s all that matters,” Sirianni said. “We’re sitting at 2-2 going into the bye week and all we can do is improve. And that’s all we’re going to try to do for this upcoming week.”
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