Eagles fans are one of the most loyal fan bases in all of professional sports. They are also the most passionate, for the good or the bad. When a team is buzzing, "Go Birds!" is being shouted across the airport. When a team is bad, it's calling for the coach's and quarterback's head. This season is no different. And unfortunately for everyone, the Eagles are bad. Sitting at 2-5 heading into a road trip to Detroit, being 1-0 seems like years ago. Play calling has been horrific, offense is entirely one-dimensional, and the team has zero discipline. Since we are giving out flowers, Jalen Hurts' play has not been any better. This team has no identity and have a very long season ahead of them. The only plus is draft capital and knowing Coach Sirianni and Hurts are NOT the future of Eagles football.

This Hurts

When Hurts was drafted in the second round of the 2020 draft, I was VERY skeptical and did not like the pick at all. Eagles fans know what happened after that, as the Carson Wentz saga unfolded and the organization crumbled in one season. I had zero confidence in Hurts taking the reigns from Wentz, but owed him the benefit of the doubt given his winning track record. What was most impressive and very persuasive was how quickly and strongly the locker room rallied around him.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts talks with reporters after a training-camp workout at the NovaCare Complex on Monday.

Monica Herndon - The Philadelphia Inquirer

With quotes like "...Rent is due everyday... I don't plan on missing no payments," and "I think I hate losing more than I love to win," I was suckered into believing Hurts had a chance to be the future of Eagles football.. Well... I'm not just going to sit here and look at it, I'm ready to flush it and move on. Hurts is king of scrambling outside the pocket and throwing out of bounds, wasting 10% of offensive snaps a game. Sure, a better running game would take pressure off of Hurts, but his play is simply not cutting it. Being an inspirational leader is great and all, but it also needs to be productive leadership on the field.

Ramblin' Man or Ramble On?

As the 2020 season played out, I knew Wentz, Howie Roseman, or Coach Doug Pederson had to be removed to move the organization forward. Pederson was the first domino to fall, followed by Wentz's trade to Indianapolis. The Sirianni hire was criticized, but so was the Pederson hire in 2016 (Mike Lombardi, where you at?), so I took it with a grain of salt. Similar to Hurts, had to give the newbie his time to settle in before writing him off. Well seven games into this experience, and I have seen enough to know Sirianni is not a coach for Philadelphia.

Remember when you had to give a speech in seventh grade that was to last a specific amount of time, but when you got through your material too quick, you start crafting the same sentences in a different structure? Every Sirianni press conference is that speech. "The first part of being smart is knowing what to do." Welcome to the NFL Coach, and Eagles fans, meet your new coach. Then wearing player shirts consistently at practice started to occur and something smelled a little funny.

The climax occurred when Sirianni accepted a holding penalty after the defense got the Raiders to fourth down. Of course the Raiders then converted the third and long during the 33-22 route of the Eagles. The final straw was this flowers BS. Grown men do not care about a flowers metaphor, especially a 2-5 team. The tougher critics are the fans, as they also do not want to hear about flowers growing. Quit accepting responsibility and actually do something to change the course of this season. Even though the team was not expected to be good outside of the Philly fan base, the fans certainly expected much better than this.

Eviction Notice

I was all for giving these two guys their time to settle in and build something special for Eagles fans to be excited about. Week 8, and the jury is out. Yes, probably a bit of an overreaction, but I do not see this situation improving. Hurts is a good quarterback, but he is not a great quarterback. In the NFL, the leash is very short for quarterbacks who do not perform. Although the 2022 Quarterback draft class is less than desirable at first glance, the draft capital Eagles have is enough to make a quarterback move. With that said, Hurts should be the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season unless his play takes a drastic step down. Give him these remaining games to put up or shut up. Rent is due right now.

Coach Sirianni... what are we going to do with you? Jay Glazer reported that Sirianni was not on the hot seat as a first year coach, but I would not be so sure about that. To even be questioning if Sirianni is on the hot seat 40% of the way through his first the season is very telling. Similar to Hurts, there is no reason to ruffle the feathers mid season, but I'm not positive coach is the answer. Offense is one-dimensional, play calling is not getting the ball in the play makers' hands in space, and enough with the highlighters already. At this point, those markers should be dried out. And so is my belief in Coach Sirianni.

 

 

Featured image: David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer