On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles suffered an embarrassing 42-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of the 2023 NFC Championship Game.
In the game, the Eagles had 333 yards on offense (4.8 yards per play), 19 first downs in passing, 2 first downs in rushing, 8 for 15 in third down conversions, 1 for 2 on fourth down, and 2 for 4 in red zone scoring.
Philadelphia got off to a good start in the first two series of the game but came away with two Jake Elliott field goals for 26 yards and 39 yards. The Eagles continue to have problems scoring touchdowns in the red zone. The Eagles are 29 of 47 in red zone scoring (61.7%).
Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 26 of 45 passes (58%) for 298 yards, 1 touchdown, 7 carries for 20 yards and 1 touchdown.
Takeaway Hurts and Mariota’s rushing yards, the Eagles running backs combined with 9 carries for 20 yards. Philadelphia wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined with 17 catches for 210 yards, and 1 touchdown.
Through 12 weeks of the regular season, the Eagles’ offense ranks ninth in the NFL in total yards per game (361.7), 13th in passing yards per game (235.7), eighth in rushing yards per game (126.0), and fourth in points per game (27.4) behind Dallas, Miami, and San Francisco.
The current Eagles’ offensive coordinator is Brian Johnson, who is in his first full-time year and has been with the Eagles since 2021 as the team’s quarterback coach. Johnson is being credited for the development of Jalen Hurts.
Brian Johnson was a household name in college. He played four seasons at Utah (2004-08) completing 672 of 1,016 passes (66.1%) for 7,838 yards, 57 touchdowns, 27 interceptions, 366 carries for 848 yards, and 12 touchdowns in 41 games for the Utes. Johnson was named Second Team All-MWC in 2005, Offensive MVP of the Poinsettia Bowl in 2007, First Team All-MWC in 2008, MWC Offensive Player of the Year in 2008, and the Sugar Bowl MVP in 2009. In addition, he was on the cover of the NCAA Football 09.
After his collegiate career ended, Johnson played for the New York Sentinels (UFL) in 2009. He went on to coach in college at Utah, Mississippi State, Houston, and Florida as a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator.
While stats is one thing, watching the game is another and this Eagles team does not look like a 10-win team. Jalen Hurts holds the ball too long which gets him into trouble. He has either thrown it away or tries to make a play in which he is successful sometimes. The receivers run their routes but don’t come back for the ball when Hurts is in trouble. He is always instructing them to come back for the ball.
This is still a young coaching staff and the Eagles need to bring in veteran coordinators to mentor them. Recently, the Carolina Panthers fired head coach Frank Reich running backs coach Duce Staley, and former Eagles quarterback Josh McCown. Both of those coaches helped the Eagles win their first Super Bowl in 2017.
Reich was the Eagles offensive coordinator during the Super Bowl. Under him, the offense ranked seventh in total yards per game (365.8), 13th in passing yards per game (233.6), third in rushing yards per game (132.2), and third in points per game (28.6).
Bringing Reich back is something the Eagles need to do. He is not a good head coach but is a terrific offensive coordinator. While we are at it, bring back Duce Staley too, and find him a role for this team. These two veteran coaches could be the key to helping the Eagles get back on track.
