This is what happens when you have tremendous success, even if you come up short in the Super Bowl. The Philadelphia Eagles were the best team in the NFC this past season, and now they are suffering for their greatness with both of their coordinators getting hired for HC positions.
I’m a little surprised that I’m not writing this article about the Kansas City Chiefs as they actually won the Super Bowl, but you can’t argue the Eagles’ coordinators are undeserving of their new jobs.
In a span of literally three days, Eagles OC Shane Steichen and their DC Jonathan Gannon have both been plucked from under Nick Sirianni’s nose as the Colts hired Steichen for their vacant role, while the Cardinals signed Gannon to a 5-year contract for their head coaching position. Now, these hires really aren’t too surprising as the NFL is the ultimate ‘copy-cat’ league, but it does shed light as to why Super Bowl teams seldom make it back.
Steichen revolutionized the Eagles run game with previously unheralded backs, such as Myles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, and Boston Scott, and turned it into one of the league’s best attack as they finished 3rd in rushing attempts (544), 5th in total rushing yards (2,509), 1st in total rushing TDs (32), 12th in total yards/carry (4.6), 2nd in rushing 1st downs (161), and was the 8th best team in getting explosive 20+ yard rushes (17).
So, in other words, the Eagles finished in the Top-12 in 6 major rushing categories, which was only accomplished by a handful of teams this season (ex: Bears, Falcons, Browns). Yet, none of them were as successful in translating those rushing stats into team wins as Steichen’s Eagles were. Obviously.
Moreover, Steichen was able to turn Jalen Hurts into an MVP runner-up quarterback as he finished with career high stats in his passing yards (3,701), completions (306), completion percentage (66.5%) passing TDs (22), rushing yards (760), rushing attempts (165), rushing TDs (13), playoff wins (2 in the 2023 playoffs), and helped him play one of the best losing quarterback performances of the 21st century.
Plus, the Eagles had two 1,000-yard receivers, A.J. Brown (88 REC, 1,496 yards, 11 TDs) and DeVonta Smith (95 REC, 1,196 yards, 7 TDs), in the same season for the first time in franchise history, despite boasting of players like Deshaun Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Harold Carmichael, Pete Retzlaff, Zach Ertz, Mike Quick, Alshon Jeffrey, and Terrell Owens in the franchise’s past.
Losing a guy like Steichen to the Colts will severely damage the effectiveness and efficiency of the Eagles near-flawless running and passing attacks.
As for Jonathan Gannon, his loss will be equally painful as he coached the Eagles defense to have a near-historic season.
The Eagles finish 3rd (really 2nd as Buffalo played a game less due to the Hamlin incident) in total yards allowed (5,125), 2nd in total yards allowed/game (301.5), 1st in passing yards allowed (3,057), 1st in passing yards allowed/game (179.8), 8th (really 7th for same reason as before) in total points allowed (344), 8th (really 7th for same reason as before) in total points allowed/game (20.2), 3rd in turnover ratio (+8), T-4th in INTs (17), T-4th in fumbles (10), and T-3rd in total turnovers generated (27).
Moreover, the defensive front of finished the season with 78 sacks in the regular and post season, which ranks second all-time behind the brilliant 1985 Chicago Bears defense. That’s an outrageous stat to boast of as a defensive coordinator.
Obviously, Gannon knew how to get the best out of these players and has been able to revive most of their careers after multiple years of missing out on the playoffs, which was a major doubt in the years after the Eagles 2017 Super Bowl win. His loss to NFC rivals Arizona Cardinals might be even worse than Steichen’s as Siriani is an offensive-minded coach by nature and can absorb the play calling duties if necessary.
He can’t do that on the defensive side of the ball…as we saw in New England this season in the reverse scenario.
There’s always a price to pay for success in the NFL, and that often comes in the form of losing coaches and players to your Super Bowl rivals.
And that’s exactly what is happening to the Eagles as we speak.
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