In 2021, Nick Sirianni made a significant in-season change by handing play-calling reins to then-OC Shane Steichen. Shifting to a run-heavy approach, the Eagles began an ascent that produced a Super Bowl LVII berth a year later. Sirianni is attempting to make a similar save this season.
Hired as a senior defensive assistant this offseason, Matt Patricia is now calling the shots on defense. Sirianni did not strip Sean Desai of his defensive coordinator title, but Jonathan Gannon‘s successor has been effectively demoted. The third-year HC confirmed Patricia now has the final say on defense.
“I made the decision, what I thought I needed to do in the best interest of the football team,” Sirianni said, via AllPhly.com’s Zach Berman. “We made some adjustments there. I didn’t feel like we were playing and coaching well enough on defense, so I made an adjustment. It was my decision and that’s what I did.
“All the final decisions are made by Matt right now. As disappointed as Sean was, I think he handled himself like a true pro. Sean is still helpful to this football team because he has a bright mind and he can help and as I listened in on defense today they were communicating back and forth very similar to the way they communicated with the roles reversed.”
Patricia, 49, will not implement a new defensive system, Sirianni said, with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane indicating the team views this as too late of a juncture for major schematic changes. But Patricia will be calling plays in the system Desai installed this offseason. The Eagles proceeded similarly in 2012, per McLane, when they elevated Todd Bowles in place of DC Juan Castillo. The team converted Castillo from an offensive line coach to DC after firing Sean McDermott, but Andy Reid made that change in October 2012. With this Desai-for-Patricia switch coming much later in the season, it is understandable the Eagles are not eyeing wholesale changes.
Excessive finger-pointing, particularly among certain defensive players, took place following the Eagles’ one-sided losses to the 49ers and Cowboys, ESPN.com’s Tim McManus adds. Considering where the Eagles were last year at this time, frustration was inevitable. Following Patricia’s first game in charge — a 20-17 last-second loss to the Seahawks — the Eagles rank 26th in scoring defense, 22nd overall and 23rd in DVOA. Gannon’s final season, as ignominiously as it ended, produced the league’s second-best total…