Eagles coach Nick Sirianni lost in explaining blowout loss to Bucs originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
He answered all the questions, but he simply had no answers.
Nick Sirianni had just watched his team get pummeled by the Buccaneers and he really had no explanation for why the Eagles played so poorly on both sides of the ball in their 33-16 loss in Tampa.
But he knew he was one of the main reasons.
“I felt like we didn’t coach well enough and we didn’t play well enough, and it’s always going to start with me,” Sirianni said. “If we go out there and lay an egg and we’re up 24-0 (in the second quarter), it’s going to start with me. I didn’t have the guys ready to start.
The guys weren’t ready. That’s an understatement.
Midway through the second quarter, the Bucs led 24-0 and had outscored the Eagles 255-0.
0.
As in, none.
Which is worse: giving up 255 points, three touchdowns and a field goal on your first four defensive drives, or gaining literally zero yards on your first three offensive drives?
Both are horrible and both reflect poorly on the coach, who, in his own words, didn’t have his team ready.
“We obviously didn’t start well, trailing 24-0 to start,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, no excuse for that. We didn’t go out [well]. We didn’t coach well enough and we didn’t play well enough.
“Our fundamentals weren’t what we needed. We will make sure to work hard on this. The bye week is coming at just the right time. We need to get our bodies back in order and we need to make fundamental changes to what’s happening.
“At the start of the game, I thought we missed a few tackles, had a few drops. These will stop the campaigns and those will prolong them, and this is where we will have to start with the fundamentals. Then we’ll have to look at what types of positions we’re putting guys in.
“We didn’t play well enough or coach well enough, basically, in terms of penalties – everything.”
The Bucs had eight plays of at least 10 yards… in the first quarter alone. They had 22 in the game. The Eagles had four.
What was the plan? Was there a plan?
“Tackle well, try to tackle the quarterback — look, we didn’t do a good enough job of that,” he said. “But it will always start with the fundamentals, how we get out of the blocks, how we overcome the blocks, how we approach them.”
How bad was it?
The Eagles were outgained by 218 yards, the largest yardage margin against them in six years – the Cowboys had a 320-yard advantage (576-256) in a 29-23 victory at AT&T Stadium in 2018.
The Bucs held a possession advantage of 12 1/2 minutes. They sacked Jalen Hurts six times, the most of his career. They held the Eagles to 3.2 yards per pass attempt – their 2sd-the worst in the last 15 years. They held the Eagles scoreless in the first quarter for a sixth straight game. They didn’t turn the ball over and forced two turnovers.
Worse still, they handed the Eagles their fifth loss of 17 yards or more in their last 11 games. It’s 42-19 for the 49ers, 33-13 for the Cowboys, 27-10 for the Giants, 32-98 for the Bucs in the playoffs and 33-16 on Sunday.
The last time the Eagles lost five games by 17 points or more in 11 games was the first 11 games of 1998, a season where they went 3-13, got Ray Rhodes fired and led to the hiring of Andy Reid.
The Eagles are 3-8 in their last 11 games, led by an average of 28.2 to 19.8.
“We didn’t play well enough offensively or defensively and we didn’t coach well enough on either side,” Sirianni said. “When the time of possession gap was what it was in that first half (20:14 to 9:46), we didn’t do a good enough job offensively to give our defense a rest. …Again, it all starts with me.
As ugly as this loss was, the Eagles are 2-2, and their first four opponents after the bye are currently 3-13. They will only face one team in their next nine games that currently has a winning record: Washington. of all people.
It’s hard to know exactly who the Eagles are right now.
Is this the team that outlasted the Packers in Brazil and came back in the final minute to beat the Saints on the road? Or is this the team that blew a late lead against the Falcons at home and got blown out in Tampa?
“All that matters is that these guys continue to get better and that we as coaches continue to get better, and I mean, that’s all that matters,” Sirianni said. “We’re 2-2 going into the bye week and all we can do is get better. And that’s all we’re going to try to do for the coming week.
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