Howie Long’s perspective on the Philadelphia Eagles is particularly noteworthy. That’s not only because he is an NFL on Fox analyst, but also because his son, Chris, spent the final years of his career in Philadelphia and won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2017.
On Thursday, Long joined Fox Sports’ First Things First to discuss the Philadelphia Eagles’ “appalling” 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday. Co-host Chris Broussard criticized the lack of effort displayed by Nick Sirianni’s team and asked Long if Monday’s performance looked like a team that had lost faith in its head coach.
“I think it’s a team that went to a Super Bowl and lost — that’s always a factor,” said Long as he tried to make sense of the team’s late-season collapse. “I think it’s a team that lost two very coordinators (Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen) and made two poor hires (Brian Johnson and Sean Desai). And I think, offensively, for 10-11 weeks of the season, they could overcome that. I think you got a certain amount of gas in your tank as a team, and they spent a lot of gas winning those 10 games out of the first 11.
“And I think on offense, it was more about the system and less about the players. But on defense, it was a combined kind of shortcoming, both from a scheme standpoint and a personnel standpoint. And now they’re left with the question if it’s going to be Nick Sirianni, and they’re gonna run Nick Sirianni back, and that’s fine. Players seem to respond to Nick, but I think the team lost confidence in the plan, as much as anything, and came to the realization that ‘We’re not gonna make the run here. That’s not real.'”
Did the Eagles give up this season? Howie Long weighs in:
"The Eagles lost confidence in the plan and came to the realization that we're not going to make the run here." pic.twitter.com/ZLW5YMKf0u
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) January 18, 2024
Long said the previous year (2022), in which they made the long run and had a great year, the Eagles now have to pack it all back up and hire two coordinators.
“You’re not gonna get the top-tier coordinator,” he said. “You’re gonna get a guy that’s working for the guy. I think back to this summer; ironically enough, it was Lane Johnson and Chris in my Whaler on the boat in Montana. And they pulled up, and they’ve got a six-pack of beer or something in the boat. The plug in the back of the Whaler had come out, and the backend was almost submerged. After you bail it out, and you put the plug back in, you kind of feel a little more confident, but who’s going to go there?
“Is there too much water in the boat? Because the head coach, if they have a bad year next year, the head coach is gone. And as coordinators coming in there, you’re working on a one-year lease.”
Long raises valid concerns about the Eagles’ direction with a coaching and leadership overhaul looming. Can they overcome the loss of key personnel and regain their momentum, or will the sinking feeling of last season’s collapse continue to drag them down? Long says we shouldn’t expect premium candidates to take coordinator jobs in Philadelphia. And if they do, make sure you rent instead of buying.
