From Jalen Hurts' finger to Nick Sirianni's grip on the team, questions follow plummeting Eagles entering playoffs

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jalen Hurts’ injured middle finger remained upright, and it seemed as if he was mimicking the fan base at that moment. Because how else to react to the way the Eagles played on Sunday? Or the past two weeks? Or the past month? 

Hurts’ finger looked that way because it “popped out” — one of a few notable injuries in the latest embarrassment in the Eagles’ season. Those who might have expressed their disgust did so voluntarily. 

The Eagles’ 27-10 loss to the New York Giants in the season finale confirmed this much: It can always get worse. If last week’s loss to Arizona was the worst of the past decade given the stakes, this weekend’s loss rivaled it based on performance. The Eagles collapsed from a 10-1 heavyweight to a team that now enters the postseason 11-6 having lost five of six games and becoming only the first time since 1986 to start 10-1 and fail to reach 12 victories.

“We lost five of our last six. That doesn’t discredit the rest of the season,” Sirianni said.

Good luck making “Remember November!” the rallying cry this week — or the reason to believe in this coach and team. Instead, the Eagles are clinging to the idea that everything resets, when they prepare to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, January 15 in the opening round of the playoffs.

“Regardless if you fell down five times before, it’s how you get up for the sixth one,” said Hurts, who considered himself “day-to-day” with the and injury. “We’ve got to respond as a team.”

Throughout the week, the Eagles spoke about the need to enter the postseason with momentum and some semblance of good feelings. They would have been better off resting players. At least then there would have been an excuse. Because by the time coach Nick Sirianni sat Hurts and some other veterans late in the first half, the Eagles faced a 24-0 deficit. At that point, Washington remained competitive with Dallas. It didn’t matter. The Eagles weren’t going to beat the Giants.

Think about that for a moment. That’s where the season has reached: The Eagles were clearly going to lose to the Giants by halftime, one week after they lost to the Cardinals. They seem to get worse by the week. The defense continues to offer little resistance. The offense joined the futility, particularly struggling against the Giants’ blitz. Bad news for them: The Bucs are among the top three in blitz rate.

“Maybe we’ve been on cruise control a little bit, which is never something you want to say or want a team to do,” Dallas Goedert said. “But I know this team is going to be rolling and ready to go next week.”

It’s hard to think they can just flip the switch. Yes, they’re favored against the Bucs. And they outmatched Tampa Bay in Week 3. But the Eagles aren’t playing like the Week 3 team. Their best hope is that Goedert is correct, and that they’ve been waiting for the postseason. But they had two winnable games to clinch the No. 2 seed, and they were dominated in both. If the threat of elimination is needed for the team to play with some semblance of vitality, then that doesn’t say much about the team itself.

“Because you believe in the guys in that locker room, you believe in the coaches, you believe in the players,” Sirianni said about what makes him think that team can flip a switch now. “We’ve got a lot of good players that I know will give everything they’ve got, we’ve got a lot of players that know what it takes to get to the top, we’ve got a lot of guys in that locker room who know how to win playoff games, we’ve got a lot of coaches who know how to win playoff games. That’s what makes you confident, is that.”

It remains to be seen what players will be on the field. A.J. Brown exited the game in the first half. It appeared serious enough that teammates took a knee around him. Brown was able to walk to the locker room on his own and he greeted teammates after the game without crutches. That could be a positive sign for his long-term health, but there’s no word yet on whether he’ll be back next Monday.  Hurts’ injury required the attention of the training staff, although he returned to the game. He said he’s never had an injury like this before, but it’s safe to assume that if he returned to the game, he’ll play against Tampa Bay. The question becomes how the injured finger will affect him.

The most serious injury to occur was to Sydney Brown, who was carted off the field and immediately declared out. NFL Network reported that the fear is it’s a torn ACL. 

The Eagles also lost Reed Blankenship to a groin injury and Cam Jurgens to an eye injury. So when Sirianni says he believes in the players in the locker room, it’s still unknown which players will play next week.

Of course, the question has been turned around to the players. Do they believe in Sirianni? 

“I think everybody in the locker has faith in Nick Sirianni,” Jason Kelce said. “I think it’s it hasn’t been pretty, obviously the last month, to say would be an understatement. But we’ve had a lot of really, really successful football with Nick. …Every game that we play is ultimately a reflection of the team the head coach, right? …I don’t have any lack of faith or trust in Nick Sirianni.”

The problem is that with scrutiny growing, the performance waned. Sirianni’s change from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia backfired. There was a stretch of football during the past two weeks when the Eagles allowed touchdowns on seven of 10 drives to two of the worst offenses in the NFL. They’re failing to apply pressure, they’re leaky in coverage, and they’re susceptible against the run. Other than that…

The offense could have boasted about back-to-back 30-point efforts the past two games, but they regressed in the first half on Sunday before Sirianni pulled the top players. Clearly, the Eagles aren’t the same without A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who was sidelined for the season finale. But they still need answers against the blitz. And fast.

“We have a lot to fix; we have a lot to do better,” Kelce said. “This is our worst stretch of football since Nick has been here and it is very, very frustrating, but we are in the playoffs and it’s one-and-done and you’re out. We have the Buccaneers next week and we are going to focus and prepare to try and go win the game.”

One talking point in the locker room was that they’ve won 11 games this season. That’s hard to do. Eighteen teams are cleaning out lockers this week. Only four teams won more than the Eagles. Except looking deeper, there’s reason for concern. The Eagles’ point differential is plus-five, which is the fifth worst in franchise history since 2000. Three of the four that were worse were the final seasons of the previous head coaches. That could be ominous — except none of those teams reached the playoffs.

And the playoffs make this week a chance for the Eagles to change their narrative. Sirianni referenced the playoff games the team has won. He mentioned his messaging before the NFC Championship Game last year. These were subtle reminders that they’d been there before.

Their history raised the stakes of the season. It wasn’t enough to reach double-digit victories. It always seemed to be, what would happen in the playoffs? It was as if there was a desire to fast forward to January. Sirianni tried to fight against it. Now he can embrace it. 

Even Hurts can change his tune. He always talks about needing to play to a standard. Forget about the standard. There’s no trophy for reaching the standard. 

“Who cares how you win in the playoffs?” Hurts said. “It’s win or go home.”

Those are the stakes. And if they don’t win? Those fans mimicking Hurts’ injured middle finger will be the least of the organization’s problems.