Disastrous Eagles season could spell the end for Doug Pederson

The Eagles’ struggles this season have Doug Pederson on the hot seat.

Suffice it to say that things have gone south quickly for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2020 NFL season. Even before we understood just how bad the NFC East as a whole would be this year, it figured that Philly had a great chance to win the division and make another run into the playoffs. But things have turned out much differently for Doug Pederson‘s club.

Entering Week 13 at 3-7-1 on the year and staring down a tough matchup with the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia has lost their lead in the division and things are starting to look dire. Injuries have ravaged the defensive line, the pass-catchers remain woefully troublesome and the defense has been anything but consistent. Throw in the immensely poor play of Carson Wentz and things look quite dire.

But at some point, a team with so much money invested on both sides of the roster playing as poorly as the Eagles have is going to start to come down on the head coach. And that may well be the case here. According to a report from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Doug Pederson is firmly on the hot seat entering the final five games of the 2020 season:

It’s worth noting the part of the report that states that team leaders are behind Pederson. However, the fact that the team’s issues in 2020 are coming down on the head coach raise serious questions of if he will return to Philadelphia next season.

Could Doug Pederson actually be fired by the Eagles after the 2020 season?

When you think back to the praise that Pederson garnered amid leading the Eagles to the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory, it’s hard to imagine that just a few years later that his job might be in jeopardy. But the simple truth is that Philadelphia has very much under-performed since hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

It’s hard to escape the simple truth that, after Wentz was in MVP consideration prior to his injury and Nick Foles’ subsequent playoff run, the quarterback’s play has dropped off consistently before almost bottoming out in 2020. And it shouldn’t go overlooked that his demise has coincided with the departure of former offensive coordinator Frank Reich.

At this point, you do have to wonder how much of a hand Reich had in the success of the Eagles in relation to Pederson given what we’ve seen from the team since his departure. That’s also an indictment on the current head coach as he’s clearly been lacking something since he lost his offensive coordinator.

Perhaps the Eagles can rebound and still win the NFC East to save his job considering that a 6-10 record might be enough to win the division. But while that may keep him around for 2021, it’s clear that the pressure is mounting on the head coach to get back to Super Bowl form and, perhaps in the same vein, to get Wentz back on track.