My fellow Americans, we are gathered here to honor reflect on a once promising season: The 2015 Philadelphia Eagles. The offseason brought us excitement with many new roster moves. Some were perceived as good, others not so much. In the preseason, the offense dazzled with unbelievable performances including a game when newly acquired quarterback Sam Bradford completed 15 of 15 passes. The rest of the offense seemed to be upgraded with all of the new pieces as well as the defense. They finished the preseason 4-0, and the regular season looked bright. But the Philadelphia faithful would fall into the age-old trap of putting too much faith into the play of the preseason.
The regular season arrived with the highest of expectations, only to deliver the lowest of results. Three games of allowing opponents to grill a big fat juicy 40-burger is not something champions do. While the shocking upset in New England was fun, it simply wasn’t enough to heal the pain and suffering that came with watching this team week in and week out. Inconsistency would be the best word to describe this team. I have never seen a team in all my years of watching football, come out so flat or strong one half, only to come out after halftime and do a complete 180. It is absolutely infuriating, and equally puzzling at the same time. It’s honestly scientifically fascinating. It’ll do my heart, blood pressure, and overall self esteem well taking a few months off from watching this team play football on a weekly basis.
But with every death, there is a feeling of rebirth. For 2016, the Eagles will have a new set of cheeks occupying the coach’s chair, with the recent firing of Chip Kelly. Offensively, this team needs to upgrade just about everything. Sam Bradford was the best player they had on offense this season. Now he didn’t warrant a long-term extension, but he doesn’t deserve to be run out of town either. Slapping the franchise tag on him could be a viable option, as it gives him another year with this group of players, despite the high price tag for doing so. Although some new head coaches prefer to draft a quarterback right out of the gate so they can grow together. Memphis’ Paxton Lynch may be someone to look at. At 6’8’’, he could fit right in with the recent trend of big quarterbacks having their way with defenses. One could look at Cam Newton, or Ben Roethlisberger as examples. Hell, even Brock Osweiler has looked half decent.
Any fan with a football IQ above the Forrest Gump line could tell you that DeMarco Murray didn’t fit Chip Kelly’s system, but he is still a talented player. A coach coming in with a more conventional system will benefit Murray, as it gives him a chance to rekindle some of the magic he had with Dallas, but will need the line help to do so. The offensive line needs inside help, badly. The team could look at drafting a franchise left tackle for the future, as Jason Peters in running on fumes at this point. However there is still some gas left in that gargantuan tank of his. This being the case, they could bump this new tackle to guard, or have this hypothetical rookie play right tackle, and move Lane Johnson to guard. He’s athletic enough to do so.
As far as the receivers go there isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said. As long as they can get a receiver who is capable of catching a freaking football, and getting open on a consistent basis, it’ll be an upgrade. That may come off as blatantly obvious, but if this season was any indication, that’s apparently a pretty tall task.
The defense was shockingly a bright spot of this team, along with the usually spectacular special teams, at least in the first half of the season. The defensive line, Jordan Hicks, and the secondary outside of Nnamdi, pardon, Byron Maxwell have bright futures ahead of them as they are all relatively young. The issue is what system the new coach chooses to run. If he chooses to revert back to a 4-3, huge changes would need to be made to fit that system, particularly the linebackers.
But who’s going to lead the charge in 2016? Well that’s an excellent question and I thank you for asking. There are plenty of coordinators out there who haven't been head coaches yet who would be worthy choices. New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, and Carolina defensive coordinator Sean McDermott are two glamorous choices for vacancies. Both are in very good positions currently, but if the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase has taught me anything it's that everybody's got a price. But the experience route wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Cincinnati offensive coordinator Hue Jackson would be a nice fit, as he has the Bengals playing good football, and also guided the Raiders of all teams to an 8-8 record in 2011, before a new regime let him go. Sean Payton and Chuck Pagano are two coaches expected to get the old pink slip from their respective teams at the end of the season, and they should also draw attention thoroughout the league, particularly Payton, who has a Super Bowl win on his resume.
Will the fans be left disappointed at the end of 2016? It’s very likely. They’ve been left that way for the past 55 years now. (Dear lord it’s depressing seeing that number in print.) But in Philadelphia when you get knocked down you always get back up. Time to rub some dirt on it and start looking ahead. The fans will always be behind this team no matter what, so it’s time they get rewarded for it.
