By Jordan Long
The Philadelphia Eagles ended the season at 4-11-1, their worst record since 2012. That year they went 4-12. The Eagles were initially planning on bringing back Head Coach Doug Pederson for 2021 but they had a change of heart. Philadelphia decided to fire him and will start a search for their next Head Coach.
The Eagles started the season at 0-2-1. Their first win came in week 4 against the 49ers. After that, they endured a two game losing streak before winning in weeks 7 and 8 with wins over the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
The Eagles at the time were 3-4-1. They were in the race for the NFC East Division title. Unfortunately, that was the high point of the year. The Eagles went on to lose 7 of their last 8 games. Week 17 cost Pederson his job. The Eagles faced the Washington Football Team. A win by Philadelphia would knock Washington out of the playoffs. The Eagles lost 20-14, handing Washington the Division Title.
There were some puzzling coaching decisions by Pederson and his staff. With 2:01 left in the third quarter, Philadelphia trailed by 3. On fourth and goal from the Washington 4 yard-line instead of kicking the field goal to tie the game, they went for it. They failed to score a touchdown. At the start of the 4th quarter the Eagles, for whatever reason, Jalen Hurts was benched. Hurts was supposed to give the Eagles the best chance to win but Pederson wanted to see what backup Nate Sudfeld could do in the game. The Eagles never scored again and lost the game 20-14.
Once the game was over, the Eagles thought about keeping Pederson. It took them a week after the game to fire him. According to ESPN.com, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said, “My first allegiance is, what will be best for the Philadelphia Eagles and our fans for the next three, four, five years. It’s not based on does someone deserve to hold their job or deserve to get fired; that’s a different bar.”
The Eagles needed to make this move. Pederson is an offensive minded coach. The offense was awful this year. They were 24th in total offense averaging 334.6 yards per game. When it came to passing the football, the Eagles couldn’t gain yards through the air, averaging 207.9 yards per game, the 5th worst in the NFL. The Eagles cost themselves games since they couldn’t move the football. They scored 20.9 points per game ranking 26th in the NFL.
Pederson leaves the Eagles with a 42-37 record in his 5 years. The Eagles managed to earn a playoff spot 3 times including winning Super Bowl 52. Pederson could be considered for the New York Jets opening but if he isn’t hired, he could always be an offensive coordinator for a franchise.
The Eagles will now look for their next Head Coach. One that makes a lot of sense is Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator for Kansas City. He coached a young quarterback Patrick Mahomes into a star in this league. It is possible he could do the same thing with Carson Wentz. If it isn’t Bieniemy, it might be somebody with head coaching experience. The Eagles will give the next Head Coach plenty of time to turn them back into a winner. If it doesn’t happen in 3 or 4 years, they will be back at the drawing board.
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