“You should use it as motivation.” Nick Sirianni started the last season by showing the team, a photo of thier Super Bowl loss, as a source of motivation. And it seemed the motivation worked, as till the middle of the 2023 season, the Philadelphia Eagles were looking like the new upcoming champions of the league. However, something happened after it. The continuous fumble in offense due to injuries and poor plays, and then the 2024 season starting with two devastating losses before Bye Week, left everyone to re-consider the position of Philly in the NFL. So, are the injuries, poor offense, and poor coaching the only reason behind the Eagles’ failure? Well, according to an NFL Insider, it might be the lost connection with wide receiver A.J. Brown!

In a recent episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd on October 3, NFL insider Jordan Schultz joined the podcast to talk about A.J. Brown, Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts, and the Eagles. He mentioned that there is only one thing that could save the Eagles in the season, and i.e. the currently injured – A.J. Brown.

Explaining his point about the Eagles’ situation, Schultz continued, “There’s a lot that has to be changed first of all when you don’t have Devon Smith and you don’t have AJ Brown, you’re going to have issues.” Why? Well, the insider further mentioned why he thinks so!

According to him, “Jalen Hurts needs to be more decisive. But I think what really makes the Eagles great is the connection that he has with A.J. Brown and Devonte Smith, specifically Brown. His numbers are catastrophically different when he has A.J. Brown in the line.” During his NFL career, Hurts “has a passer rating of 94.4 with 7837 yards, 47 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in 33 games with A.J. Brown.”

While, on the other hand, the quarterback, via StatMuse, “has a passer rating of 85.2 with 4,699 yards, 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 32 games without A.J. Brown.” So, yes, the difference is clear! This is why Schultz highlighted that Brown’s impact on Nick Sirianni’s Eagles looks similar to how Christian McCaffrey impacts the 49ers in a different role. Interestingly, not only in the gridiron, the connection between the two runs much deeper than that.

Hurts and Brown are best friends that date back to when Hurts tried to bring Brown into Alabama. In April 2022, they finally became teammates when the Eagles recruited Brown from the Tennessee Titans for the 18th and 101st overall picks, a move Hurts championed. Some teammates jokingly even call Hurts and Brown “an old married couple,” according to quarterback Gardner Minshew! But that does not mean it is all sugar-coated between them.

It is like an iron sharpens iron situation. Several teammates said that the way brown challenges Hurts, no other player can or will. Hurts also complements that perfectly. “In the end, the honesty that we can have towards one another, that only allows us to excel. You want people around you that’s going to be honest with you and tell you the truth. I think we have a bond that’s strong enough to do that. That’s what we try to do — even when it hurts.,” Hurts had said about their relationship. However, their demeanors are remarkably different.

Hurts is reserved while Brown is fiercely extrovert. But they balance each other out. Willie Gillespie, Brown’s wide receivers coach at Starkville (Mississippi) High School, who has seen their relationship up close, has only good words about it.

“For me it’s a natural bond, how they came about to where they are. They don’t take their position for granted, they both work hard, and everything they’ve got they’ve earned it. Certainly I think dreams came true when they got a chance to play together. Like I told A.J., ‘That’s called divine intervention there, buddy,” Gillespie said. Despite all these, their relationship has also been put under the scanner, especially during the tough times for the team. Take, for example, the last season.

In the 2022 NFL season, Philadelphia went to the Super Bowl as the NFC champions. After that, they won 10 of their first 11 games in the 2023 campaign. But then they triumphed in only one more game, finished the regular season at 11-6, and bowed out in the first round of the playoffs with a 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The scrutiny started and Jalen Hurts was one among the issues picked.

Critics believed that Hurts needed to be more vocal and demonstrative as Philadelphia’s quarterback. But Hurts differed significantly. “Listen, Jalen is himself. I don’t agree or disagree. He’s going to be himself, and I’m not the person to try to change him to be something that he’s not or whatever the case may be,” Brown had said. Someone also mentioned about incidents when he seemed agitated with the former Alabama quarterback on the sideline. And Hurts was quick to hit out.

“I’m not going to get into me and him’s relationship on the air, but it’s total BS. You know what I’m saying? It wasn’t a problem when I was on my six-game (100-yard receiving) streak. They wasn’t talking about that then. They only started talking about that when we started losing,” Brown had said. All that being said, the chemistry between the two can not be denied, and Schultz once again pointed that out. Besides that, he also talked about the offense of the Eagles.

The analyst highlighted that the Eagles have become a bit predictable in their offense, especially in pre-snap motion, where they rank 18th. However, currently according to him, the biggest question is about head coach Nick Sirianni, who “when things are going really well, you love Nick Sirianni. I want to get behind that guy, he’s fun to play. For when they’re not going well, you’re saying well is this guy playing Madden?”

Hence, he believes that Nick Sirianni’s aggressive decision-making, like going for it on fourth downs instead of taking field goals, is sometimes criticized. Therefore, Schultz emphasized that he wants Nick Sirianni to step back and not put too much pressure on Jalen Hurts and the young offensive line, especially with new center Cam Jurgens filling in for veteran Jason Kelce. But Sirianni has defended his decisions after the Eagles’ September 22 win over the New Orleans Saints.

There was a fourth-down decision where Sirianni faced questioning in the game. He went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Saints’ 15-yard line in the final minute of the first half when the Eagles were trailing 3-0. The Eagles ran a fake “tush push” that made Saquon Barkley getting stuffed for no gain instead of taking three points and tying the game up before the half.

When Sirianni was questioned about it, he said, “Every time we go for it on fourth down or set ourselves up to go for it on fourth down, I’m doing what I think is best for the football team at that particular time.” However, It is not only Schultz who has questioned Nick Sirianni’s potential, another analyst too, pointed out his arguably poor coaching.

Nick Sirianni is the worst game head coach?

Currently, on 2-2, the Eagles are looking for the ways in which they can excel in the remainder of the season after their Bye Week. However, the last game against the Buccaneers, wherein they lost 33-16, has ignited the fire in the locker room and the eyes of Philly fans. Many now want coach Nick Sirianni out, as according to some analysts, like Dan Orlovsky, “This is a poorly coached football team.”

Backing his claim, he pointed out some key moments from the Week 4 game, wherein he wasn’t impressed with the Eagles’ performance. For instance, he too mentioned that “without top receivers like AJ Brown and Devonta Smith, the Eagles still opted to throw the ball on seven of their first nine plays, which quickly put them in a 21-0 deficit.”

In addition to Orlovsky’s comment, American radio personality Craig Carton also took a jibe at coach Nick Sirianni. On his official X account, he stated, “Nick Siriani might very well be the worst in-game head coach in the league by a mile. I wanna feel bad for Eagles’ fans but I don’t.” Meanwhile, after the Eagles’ 33-16 loss in Tampa, took it all on himself.

“I felt like we didn’t coach well enough and we didn’t play well enough, and that’s always going to start with me. If we go out there, lay an egg and we’re down 24-0 (in the second quarter), that’s going to start on me. I didn’t have the guys ready to start,” Sirianni had said. Indeed, he had to accept that.

Midway through the second quarter, via NBC Philadelphia, the Bucs led 24-0 and had outgained the Eagles 255-0. Worse is that they gave up three touchdowns, and a field goal on the first four defensive drives, or gained literally zero yards on the first three offensive drives. Both put the coach in a bad light. So, does that mean it’s the last coaching job in the Eagles for Sirianni? Well, according to the coach himself, he isn’t worried about his fate. Instead, he is worried about “getting the team better.” Will be interesting to watch how better they get from here.