Who should bear the brunt of the blame for the Philadelphia Eagles failure this season?
Regardless of how Jalen Hurts plays this Sunday against the Saints, this year’s Philadelphia Eagles team has been a complete and utter disaster. They have just three wins, they’ve lost games to Washington and New York, and their $128 million franchise quarterback is now on the bench. Three straight years of postseason action withstanding, the Eagles have spiraled to an incredibly dark place here in 2020.
So who deserves the most blame?
To people on the outside looking in, quarterback Carson Wentz is the obvious answer. He leads the league in interceptions with 15, his completion percentage is down below 58%, and his fumbling issues have remained a consistent talking point. While there’s obviously context to Wentz’ struggles this season – you definitely can’t ignore them. He’s been bad, and it’s one of the major reasons he’s now sat on the bench.
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To people who are willing to overlook Wentz’ struggles this year (primarily due to the fact that he’s been a top ten QB the last three seasons), the finger then points towards Doug Pederson. The former Super Bowl winning head coach has come under a ton of fire for his offensive play calling, and he’s routinely stunted the growth of young, emerging starters (Travis Fulgham for example). In a league that’s increasingly getting more innovative, Pederson is seemingly being left behind.
However, if you look past Wentz’ and Pederson’s struggles (which can be hard to do), a pretty clear picture starts to be painted.
The Philadelphia Eagles roster is bad. Like, really really bad.
At pretty much every position group, there’s an example of a bad Howie Roseman decision:
At wide receiver, Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson are making a combined $23+ million – and both have barely played this season. Last year’s second-round pick JJ Arcega-Whiteside is a regular on the “healthy scratch” list, and this year’s first-round pick Jalen Reagor is being left in the dust by Justin Jefferson – who was taken just one pick after him.
The offensive line has been in complete shambles all season long, primarily due to an over-reliance on aging veterans. Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, and Jason Peters are all done for the season due to injury, and recent draft picks like Issac Seumalo and Matt Pryor have failed to step up appropriately.
While the defense has statistically performed well this year (fifth in yards per play), they still have their own respective bad contracts. DTs Javon Hargrave and Malik Jackson were handed monster deals in back-to-back offseasons, which has in turn led to a void of talent at other positions. This is why guys like Jalen Mills, Nate Gerry, Avonte Maddox, etc. all continue to play crucial roles on the defense, despite their lack of production over the last few seasons.
On top of that, recently released draft picks Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas (who were viewed as busts) have both gone on to land starting gigs with new teams. Hard not to be frustrated at that considering how bad a guy like Nickell Robey-Coleman has played this year.
I could go on for ages, but the conclusion I’m getting to at here is that the biggest villain in all of this is Howie Roseman. Once hailed as one of the best executives in all of football, the capologist-turned-GM has made bad decision after bad decision since his iconic Super Bowl winning season. Throw in the fact that the team is set to be anywhere from $70-90 million over the salary cap next year, and it’s hard not to feel like Roseman has completely mismanaged his roster.
Even Wentz’ recent regression could be linked back to Roseman – as the decision to draft Jalen Hurts in the summer reportedly unsettled the team’s (former?) franchise quarterback.
Both Doug Pederson and Carson Wentz will likely be on the hot seat this offseason, which is reasonable. Both have been really bad this year. With that said, the flaws of the Philadelphia Eagles run deep, and it’s not something that can be fixed by a new QB or a new head coach. The guy calling the shots (Roseman), has been quietly running the team into the ground for years now, and it’s all coming to light here in 2020.
My guess is that Roseman will retain his job this offseason – primarily due to his close relationship with owner Jeffrey Lurie. Obviously I think this is a poor decision, and one that will ultimately set the team back even further in 2021, 2022, and beyond. Until the Eagles commit to better drafting and better cap usage, the team will continue to struggle, regardless of Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts, or Doug Pederson.