The Philadelphia Eagles may still fire head coach Doug Pederson.
To call the 2020 season an outright debacle for the Philadelphia Eagles would not be unfair. Part of their issues was undoubtedly due to an array of injuries on both sides of the ball. However, the demise of quarterback Carson Wentz and the botching of the situation by head coach Doug Pederson was undeniable. Yet, as Black Monday passed, it appeared Pederson was safe for now.
That, however, may not actually be the case. While many people were speculating that Pederson could be on the hot seat at the start of the 2021 season, he may already be there.
According to a report from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen and Tim McManus, the future of Doug Pederson as the Eagles head coach may hinge on a forthcoming meeting between him and team owner Jeffrey Lurie. If Lurie is “not confident” in what Pederson has in store for the team moving forward, the indication is that he could ultimately be fired.
Doug Pederson’s status as @Eagles coach is not firm, sources tell @Tim_McManus and me.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 10, 2021
Pederson could be out if owner Jeffrey Lurie is not confident about Pederson’s vision going forward after the two meet again soon.
Lurie’s concerns extend well beyond Carson Wentz, per sources.
The fact that Pederson could be let loose before the heart of the 2020 offseason is obviously ground-breaking. However, the juiciest part of the report is that the issues with Pederson “extend well beyond Carson Wentz”. With how poorly that situation has been managed, that there are concerns outside of that is not good for Pederson’s chances of sticking around long.
Doug Pederson barely has a leg to stand on with the Eagles at this point.
Perhaps the best argument that could be made for the Eagles retaining Doug Pederson is that the head coach brought a Super Bowl to Philadelphia. However, when you dig deeper into that, the case against him starts to look stronger.
It has been surmised that former offensive coordinator Frank Reich, now the head coach in Indianapolis, had a larger hand in hoisting the Lombardi Trophy than Pederson. And the numbers back that up.
According to Football Outsiders (subscription required), the Eagles ranked 28th in Offensive DVOA in 2020, 14th in 2019 and 16th in 2018, the three years since Reich left for the Colts. In 207 with Reich en route the Super Bowl, they were seventh after finishing 20th in the year prior, Wentz’s rookie season.
Simply put, there has been a precipitous decline in offensive efficiency since the departure of Reich, which is subsequently an indictment of Pederson. When you then factor how badly he developed Wentz and then handled the eventual move to Jalen Hurts, that starts to look even worse.
Again, there is still a meeting to be had between Doug Pederson and the Eagles front office. Having said that, it’s increasingly clear that he’s on a hotter seat than previously thought and, at this point, if he was not on the sidelines in 2021, it’d be hard to call it a surprise.