Just about every year the Eagles have to hire a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator, or both — which is the price a team plays for year-after-year success in the NFL.
And sometimes, the new hires disappoint. Case in point: Kevin Patullo, who replaced Kellen Moore (now head coach of the Saints) as the team's offensive coordinator.
Entering Week 14, the Eagles are 24th in the NFL in yards per game (20th in rushing and 23rd in passing) and 19th in points per game — hardly the kind of numbers that are conducive to an offensive coordinator's job security.
And the worst could be yet to come: over a period of literally decades, the Eagles have a history of meltdowns of Three Mile Island proportions.
Just two years ago, following a 10-1 start, Philadelphia went 1-5 the rest of the way to finish 11-6 and blew the NFC East title, then got plastered 32-9 at Tampa Bay in a wild card playoff game.
In 2014, the Eagles got off to a 9-3 start, only to then lose three in a row, which eliminated them from the playoffs, before they went up the Jersey Turnpike to beat the Giants in a meaningless game.
And in 1994, the Eagles lost 7 in a row to close out the season and finish 7-9, costing head coach Rich Kotite his job.
In 1969, the Eagles, who had finished 2-12 in 1968, were 4-5-1 after 10 games (that was Coach of the Year territory in those days; Gene Mauch was Manager of the Year in the National League for finishing seventh at 81-80 after the Phillies went 47-107 in 1961) — but then lost their last four to finish last in something called the Capitol Division (apparently so named because it included Washington), a losing streak that continued when they lost their first seven games of 1970 (finishing 3-10-1 that year).
Could this happen again?
This coming Monday night the Eagles travel to SoFi Stadium to take on the Chargers, one of the four NFL teams that Jalen Hurts has never beaten (the other three are the Jets, Seahawks, and Raiders, who the Eagles will host six days after the Chargers game). And the Chargers may be without Justin Herbert, who broke a bone in his non-throwing hand while defeating the Raiders last week. Trey Lance, who is 2-3 as a starter with the 49ers and Cowboys, will go if Herbert can't. The Eagles opened as a 1 1/2-point favorite, but now the line is either 2 1/2 or 3 everywhere — so the "sharps" like Philly, probably due to the Herbert injury.
Near the site of the former Veterans Stadium, a "Fire Kevin Patullo" sign has been erected, and also a "Fire Kevin Patullo" web site.
And since Jeffrey Lurie is a real "woke" type, why doesn't he fire Patullo and hire Sherman Lewis 2.0, aka Harold Goodwin, who was offensive coordinator under Bruce Arians in Arizona?
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