Football
Related: About this forumThe NFL has never seen anything quite like the Eagles' warp-speed collapse
Its long been said the NFL stands for Not For Long. Change comes quickly in a copycat league where winning strategies are examined, analyzed and imitated and constant innovation is central to continued success. But even by that standard, its difficult to recall a more rapid fall from grace than whats gone down with the Philadelphia Eagles over the past two months.
The Eagles were the envy of the league as recently as seven weeks ago, a winning machine fronted by an energetic young coach, ascendant franchise quarterback and one of footballs most talented rosters from top to bottom. After romping to last years NFC championship and coming up three points short of winning the Super Bowl, theyd raced out to the NFLs best record at Thanksgiving and appeared on course for a return trip to the sports biggest stage.
But from that 10-1 start, the Eagles came undone and limped into Monday nights NFC wildcard playoff having dropped five of six games a death spiral punctuated by blowout losses to the 3-12 Cardinals and 5-11 Giants. All of it came to a merciful, predictable end on a muggy Monday night at Raymond James Stadium, where they were dog-walked 32-9 by a mediocre Tampa Bay team theyd dominated in October a horror-show scoreline that could have been far worse had the mistake-prone Buccaneers not dropped about a half-dozen passes. The Eagles couldnt block. They couldnt catch. They certainly couldnt tackle. They were unprepared, unmotivated and uninterested. In a key sequence freighted with unmistakable metaphor, the Tush Push their trademark short-yardage play once hailed as unstoppable was stuffed at the goalline.
The Eagles have experienced their share of home-stretch faceplants in a nine-decade history filled with far more heartbreak than glory 2014 under Chip Kelly, 1994 under Rich Kotite, 1981 under Dick Vermeil and 1961 under Nick Skorich but none of those collapses can compare to the warp-speed regression of the past seven weeks. This years side became only the second team in NFL history to fail to win 12 games after a 10-1 start, joining the 1986 New York Jets. But even those Jets conjured enough pride while in freefall to squeeze out a playoff win. Not these Eagles, who suffered their second-biggest postseason loss ever, against a bottom-10 offense helmed by a journeyman quarterback.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2024/jan/17/philadelphia-eagles-downfall-super-bowl-nick-sirianni
It's also long been said that shit happens.
Duncanpup
(13,740 posts)Were used to this when they choke be careful dont get hopeful I think
Probatim
(3,038 posts)Bills 21 - Stillers
iscooterliberally
(3,028 posts)It was a sad sad ending to our season as well. Better luck next year.
Jilly_in_VA
(10,996 posts)The Iggles were dealing with a lot of injuries, including their QB, and the Dolphins were playing in an unfamiliar deep freeze.
underpants
(187,009 posts)rsdsharp
(10,244 posts)The article is wrong when it says Jurgensen led the Eagles to the 1960 NFL Championship over the Packers. Jurgensen played in all 12 games, but only had 44 completions that year. Norm Van Brocklin was their leader and starting QB. The next year he started coaching the Vikings.
brush
(57,948 posts)with another QB on the roster...same when he was with the Redskins. Coaches back then were mostly traditional and still liked to run the ball more than pass, which got Jurgensen in trouble when changing plays at the line.
rsdsharp
(10,244 posts)Unfortunately, he didnt have the coaching, until Lombardi showed up for that last season in 1969.
lapfog_1
(30,225 posts)some sports analyst said the loss was a "shell shock" to the team.
42 - 19
The game really exposed weakness of the eagles on both offense and defense.
Auggie
(31,850 posts)they believed the hype -- media and their own -- and turned soft.
I've posted elsewhere about Jim and John Harbaugh's "Freddy P. Soft" character -- the guy who sits on your shoulder and tells you you're too good and don't need to practice -- and how they coach their teams never to let up. Jim warned of this in San Francisco, and he coaches it now in Michigan.
It happened to the 49ers in their final few games this season -- they started to tackle sloppy (same as they did during their three game losing streak). It was reported that during their playoff bye week they'd be refocusing on fundamentals, including tackling, just as they did during their bye week mid-season.
Probably one of the most difficult jobs of a head coach: keep the team focused on fundamentals and playing all out.
AZLD4Candidate
(6,346 posts)Dallas
Philadelphia
New England
yankee87
(2,363 posts)Im old enough to remember when the Jets had a defensive line called the New York Sack Exchange.
Tearing up the games, if I remember, 10 - 1, then fell apart. Either lost first round or missed playoffs.
I believe the mid 80s.