What if I told you a Super Bowl winning coach would be fired, the franchise quarterback would be traded away, and management would be exposed for trying to run a strict day care all in one offseason? No, this is not an ESPN 30 for 30 film, but would certainly make for good television for those that are not Eagles fans. Since the week 13 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Eagles fans have been beaten down with headlines that seems to get worse and worse each week. This week’s The Athletic article seems to take the cake and bring to light what a lot of Eagles fans were afraid of; Howie Roseman AND Jeffrey Lurie are tandem villains. There is no secret Eagles nation is fed up with Roseman, but I think many wanted to believe Lurie was not as involved as rumored.
When a team is losing and severely underperforming, it is easy to think the sky is falling. And I am part of this collective. Following the week 13 loss, I wrote an article discussing the need to “break up the Beatles” and that two of the three between Carson Wentz, Coach Pederson, and Roseman needed to go. Although my first wish was Roseman, two of the three are now gone. I never wanted Wentz gone, as he is a major part of bringing a Lombardi to Philadelphia. I was on the fence on Pederson, as “Philly, Philly” is a play I will remember the rest of my life, but some of his coaching decisions left me scratching my head. Such as going for two instead of kicking the extra point a lot of the time, punting in your own territory TWICE when the game is on the line, and the inconsistency of the run vs pass game. All these decisions come down to analytics and might be what puts the team in the best position to win, but analytics did not seem to be on our side this year.
Yong Kim – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Come to find out from The Athletic article mentioned above, Lurie lives and (Pederson) dies by the analytics. Pederson was stuck between a rock and a hard place of being a football mind but being nagged for his decisions from an analytics standpoint. It is impossible to put 100% into your work if you are constantly looking over your shoulder and being second guessed on everything. Although I still believe a breakup needed to happen for the future of the franchise, I was quick to put these questionable coaching decisions on Pederson and even gave him the “don’t let the door hit you on the behind” treatment when he was fired.
Three months later and I’m ready to eat crow. Come to find Doug was the one of three that should have remained, but was never going to work out as long as Lurie is around. I’m not sure Lurie even liked Pederson to begin with considering a Super Bowl win, two NFC East titles, and three playoff appearances weren’t enough to keep Pederson around. Not to mention making Pederson look like the bad guy when saying then-offensive coordinator Mike Groh and then-wide receivers coach Carson Walch would be back for the 2020 season when they were then fired the very next day. Pederson never had a fighting chance.
Doug Pederson was asked during his end-of-season press conference if OC Mike Groh and WRs coach Carson Walch will be back in 2020.
"Yes, both those guys will be back"
Both were fired today. pic.twitter.com/SBhF2SZ7Ep
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 9, 2020
Coach, since I know you follow Philadelphia Sports Nation and Eagles Nation, I just wanted to offer a public apology for the way I treated you. I allowed the people around me (the media) to dictate my feelings before finding out the facts (or potentially just more rumors). Regardless, there are no hard feelings and I am sad you are no longer around. Thank you for bringing a title to the Eagles and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Don’t forget about us.
Featured image: FOX NFL Broadcast
