Is Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni Really in Danger of Being Fired?

Regarding head coach Nick Sirianni’s future and the Philadelphia Eagles, who are in free fall heading into the playoffs, rumors from a few well-known insiders have caused the national scene to get even more agitated.

But it defies the perception that the owner of the Eagles, Jeffrey Lurie, would choose Sirianni’s destiny after one game in Tampa without A.J. Brown and with a hurt Jalen Hurts.

Those who have already turned the 180 degrees on Sirianni argue that any loss against the Sunshine State on Monday is simply the last step in a historic collapse that would have changed a 10-1 game into an 11-7 game at breakneck speed, leaving the head coach looking as though he had no answers.

When you consider that Sirianni started brewing the idea during the Eagles’ bye week at 8-1 and first took away Desai’s autonomy on third downs prior to the game in Dallas on December 10, when the Eagles defense allowed the potent Cowboys to convert 9-of-16 opportunities (56.3 percent) in a 33-13 loss, the unprecedented move of moving defensive play-calling from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia at 10-3 looks even worse.

Overall, the third-down defense has improved over the course of four complete games under Patricia and one additional game in which he increased his involvement. However, this improvement was tempered by lower competition during the final month, and it is arguable that the defense deteriorated even more overall, particularly when evaluating on the level of the opposition.