The Philadelphia Eagles are now just a few days away from a clash with the 1-4 Cleveland Browns. If there is ever a ‘get right’ game, this has to be it.
After being decimated by the Buccaneers, the Birds hobbled back to their nest ahead of the Bye. With a week to tend to their wounds and regain health, the pressure has only mounted. All 3 NFC East foes won their games this past weekend, but it’s clear that the group is still a mess. On paper, this roster is head and shoulders above any other in their division, but football games are won on the field…and that’s been the issue.
Eagles limp into the Bye week
The Eagles are 2-2. Many will argue they should be 4-0, others that they should be 0-4. The fact of the matter is that through those opening games, the Eagles have made enough errors and missed enough opportunities to be 0-4. A combination of confusing coaching decisions, missed tackles, dreadful penalties, and terrifying turnovers have presented enough evidence for the case that this team is simply not where it should be. Without Saquon Barkley’s weekly dose of magic, this franchise would likely be in total disarray.
But it’s far from over. The sky isn’t falling, and the Eagles not only find themselves in a weak division, but with a favorable schedule on deck. If they’re going to turn things around, they simply have to beat one of the few teams in the league struggling to string together a coherent drive more than they are – the Cleveland Browns.
Nick Sirianni spoke on Wednesday about how he and the team approached the Bye week, citing that the players have been locked in to studying mistakes:
“I was impressed with the players and their involvement in it, as far as, not only did we study it, there were some guys that really buckled down and studied it themselves. I was just really impressed by that, and their interaction back with that.
I mean, really impressed. It showed their hunger.” – Nick Sirianni (via BGN)
A shot at redemption
Sirianni is currently undefeated in games after a Bye, but he’s yet to face one with this much pressure. The woes from the 2023 collapse have not been erased and complications on both sides of the ball have brought out the worst in this team. We’ve heard countless speeches about accountability, mentions of how ‘it starts at the top’, and players stating ‘they need to get better’. Accountability is more than just a word and without action, it’s simply just that – a word. Something used to reassure the world that the sky isn’t falling while darkness begins to smother the land.
This is the kind of game where Nick Sirianni needs to really take the reigns. If he can’t find a way to beat a Browns team that is on the verge of implosion, then questions over his future will be loud. If he can, it’s unfortunately not a huge achievement as much as it is doing the bare minimum to correct the course. Digging yourself out of a hole you leapt into isn’t deserving of praise…and the team knows that.
Sunday’s game has to be a statement win. Dominant on both sides of the ball with no execution concerns. Big-time plays, big-time sacks, a viable pass-rush, and a scintillating secondary that can capitalize on Cleveland’s woes. A failure to do so plunges the Eagles further into chaos. A win prolongs it for the time being.
This is more than just a ‘must-win’. It’s a ‘must-decimate’, it’s a ‘must find who we really are’. It’s a ‘must be who we’ve proven ourselves to be’. The Eagles can be a championship-winning team and that is still valid even now sitting at 2-2 with a 39% chance of making the playoffs. But they have to play like it first, and that truly does start at the top.
Can Nick Sirianni rally his troops one more time and prove his mettle as a coach, or is this experiment nearing a soul-crushing end? Only time will tell the tale.
REUTERS/Carla Carniel
