Philadelphia Eagles Coach Brian Johnson Getting Votes of Confidence vs. Buffalo Bills
PHILADELPHIA - The wringer doesn’t stop for the 9-1 Philadelphia Eagles. Next up is the talented Buffalo Bills on a short week further interrupted by the Thanksgiving holiday.
Although the 6-5 Bills have underachieved when matched against expectations, Sean McDermott’s team remains a dangerous one that can play with anybody when it brings its A-game.
Consider that the NFL-best Eagles will enter Sunday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field with the ninth-ranked offense in the league and the 14th-best defense. Buffalo has the No. 6 offense and the 10th-rated defense but has too often beaten itself with key mistakes in big spots, including the often too-reckless play from star quarterback Josh Allen.
In the shortsighted weekly ecosystem of the NFL, the top current concern with the Eagles is the offense which performed poorly in a 21-17 win on Monday at the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles’ 238 yards against the Chiefs were the second-fewest of the Nick Sirianni era and the offense’s 2023 third-down dominance took a week off with Philadelphia unable to convert until late in the third quarter and finishing 3 of 11 overall, the third-worst percentage of the Sirianni era.
MVP candidate Jalen Hurts completed only 14 of 22 passes for 150 yards with an interception and was sacked five times, but his two rushing touchdowns were the difference.
Jalen Hurts was under siege in Kansas City.
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It’s rare that any coordinator for a 9-1 team takes much heat and Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson certainly isn’t taking any inside the NovaCare Complex or even the league where he is expected to be one of the hot names in the 2024 head-coaching hiring cycle.
Outside the building, the scapegoat for the rare Eagles' offensive issues seems to be first-year play-caller Brian Johnson, something both Sirianni and Hurts pushed back on by Wednesday.
“I think he has a good feel. Brian is not going to just do something to do it,” Sirianni said. “He has a good feel and good flow for what's going on in the game and being able to adjust in the game. He's really smart situationally.”
Johnson, of course, is replacing the well-regarded Shane Steichen, now the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Despite similar success rates to Steichen last season and a .900 winning percentage, Johnson is often blamed for a lack of style points.
“He’s controlling the things he can,” Hurts said when asked about the criticism Johnson gets. “I don’t really know what you’re getting at with but I know my take on it is never getting too high, never getting too low. Keep the main things the main thing, focus on your preparation and things that are important to you.
“Knowing him for a long time I know the type of person he is.”
That’s not to say there is no room to grow.
“As far as Brian and I, it’s just a developing and continuing process. We’re just continuing to grow,” said Hurts. “That’s not only Brian, that’s coach Sirianni, it KP [passing game coordinator/associate head coach Kevin Patullo], it’s all of those guys, just constant communication trying to take the next step.”
It also remains Sirianni’s offense in Philadelphia and the head coach is the ultimate judge on what goes on.
“I think there was an expectation coming in, ‘oh, we lost our coordinator, we're going to take a step back,’ and that's really not been the case,” said Sirianni. “Same record we had last year. To me, Brian deserves a lot of credit for that and should be being talked about more in that light of, ‘man, this guy is doing a really good job.’ “
