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After going 10-1 to start the year, the Eagles went an atrocious 1-6 to finish out the 2023 season, including their Wild Card playoff game against the Buccaneers.
The Eagles’ implosion was actually historic. They had the worst point differential to end the year of any team to ever start 10-1 in the history of the sport.
This has caused fans and analysts alike to point fingers at everyone from GM Howie Roseman to head coach Nick Sirianni to the players. This week, though, some Eagles greats chimed in on the topic and came to Sirianni’s defense.
LeSean McCoy Doesn’t Believe the Blame Lies With Nick Sirianni
McCoy played some of his best years for the Philadelphia Eagles, and this week on ESPN’s First Things First, he sounded off about the team’s struggles. Of course, he first had to be razzed by his colleagues for his celebration of the Cowboys’ Wild Card loss the day prior, the Eagles’ biggest rivals.
Then, McCoy was forced to choose either coach Sirianni or QB Jalen Hurts as to who should bear the blame, and the old Eagles rushing leader chose Hurts.
The retired running back said, “He (Sirianni) may coach, lead his team, get guys ready to play. But he’s not out there throwing footballs, he doesn’t catch passes, he doesn’t make tackles. He doesn’t make blocks. I think Jalen is a phenomenal player, excellent leader. But when you’re a $200M+ QB getting blitzed, you need to make checks, make adjustments, figure it out.”
Later McCoy added, “Look at the Bills and Chiefs, if they ain’t playing well, we ain’t gonna be like ‘Oh what about the coordinators and coach?’.. He has to put the team on his back.”
Donovan McNabb Came to Nick Sirianni’s Defense as Well
McNabb also chimed in on the Eagles’ late-season implosion this week on Philadelphia local sports radio 94WIP.
He told the hosts, “I don’t think they should move on from Nick Sirianni. I’m going to tell you who should be on the hot seat, and that should be your GM, Howie Roseman…We may have held onto some people too long and then we paid some people that we shouldn’t have paid.”
Now, as a fan, you should be scratching your head a little bit at this one. Roseman put together a team that made it to the Super Bowl just a year ago and went 14-1 and then 10-1 to start the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
According to ProFootball Network, the Eagles had the highest-rated offensive line to start the year this season as well. If a GM’s job is to build a great team then Roseman seems to have built a heck of a team.
McNabb & McCoy Might Have Something More to Get Off Their Chest
On the surface, it makes sense that two great players would put the onus on the players who took the field in these losses, some of which were humiliating. It’s entirely possible that they really believe this was about effort and the need for a stronger mentality down the stretch of a grueling season, but there was also a common thread between these two commentaries. Did you miss it?
McNabb said, “We paid some people that we shouldn’t have paid” and McCoy said, “When you’re a $200M+ QB getting blitzed, you need to make checks, make adjustments, figure it out.”
Now, consider the fact that in their era, the most “Shady” McCoy made in one season for the Eagles was $9.2 million according to Spotrac. He made $16 million after leaving the Eagles for the Bills in 2015 when he was on the backend of his career. McNabb took home just $15.3 million in one year for the Eagles. Most of the years he played as a star QB he took home less than $6 million.
Most average Joes would love to have that kind of money, but consider a player’s mentality who fought to get where they were just as hard as the next guy. Then, they see Hurts bringing in $32.1 million this year and it just goes up from there to $43.2 million by 2028. It dwarfs their earnings in comparison.
One can’t help but wonder if this pulls their focus, creating bias.
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