THE QUOTE THAT TOOK DOWN THE EAGLES

2022:

Leading up to the 2022 season, the media built a ton of hype around the Philadelphia Eagles. Personally, I didn’t buy it, I simply didn’t see all their pieces coming together at once. Not only did the Eagles prove me wrong, but they exceeded all expectations by winning the NFC. Philadelphia did narrowly lose to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. However, that was okay because their head coach, Nick Sirianni, and superstar quarterback, Jalen Hurts, aren’t going anywhere soon. They’ll have plenty of opportunities to run it back.

2023 - BLUEPRINT:

The Eagles lost a couple of key pieces during the offseason, including both offensive and defensive coordinators who were hired to be head coaches elsewhere. However, the core of Sirianni, Hurts, and their dynamic offense stayed together. After acquiring running back D’Andre Swift, the team was geared up to return to the big game and seal the deal this time. 

Some concern was raised early in the season due to the Eagles barely successfully sneaking past bottom feeders such as the New England Patriots and Washington Commanders. Even though it wasn’t pretty, Philly did find ways to win all of their first 5 games. Just when the concerns started to fade, the Eagles fell in a trap game to Zach Wilson and the New York Jets. The Eagles’ offense turned the ball over 4 times, while their defense failed to force a single takeaway. For context, the Jets’ offense turned the ball over 32 times this season. It’s safe to say that the Eagles were shaken.

It appeared as if the loss to New York was the perfect wake-up call. The Eagles bounced back by winning all three of their remaining games before their week 10 bye. Throughout said three games, the Eagles put up over 28 points in each. On the other end, their defense held the top 2 scoring offenses in the league to 23 or fewer points, including their division rival Dallas Cowboys. Following the bye week, the Eagles faced the defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs. Sirianni and Hurts went into Kansas City and got their revenge by taking down Mahomes and the Chiefs 21-17. The very next week, against the Buffalo Bills, the Eagles saw the toughest fight since their single loss. Josh Allen’s offense went blow for blow with Philly until Jalen Hurts ran in the game-winning touchdown in overtime. The now 10W-1L Eagles were on top of the world, and nothing could bring them down. 

2023 - THE BLUEPRINT:

In week 13, the Eagles hosted the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of the 2022 NFC championship game. The 49ers came in at 8W-3L, claiming that when they’re healthy, they’re the one team better than the Eagles. The Eagles looked to debunk the said claim, however, that didn’t work out. Brock Purdy had a field day, throwing for 314 yards and 4 touchdowns on the Eagles’ defense, as the 49ers took down Philly 42-19. After the game, the 49ers’ star edge rusher Nick Bosa went on record and said: "We put the blueprint out there ... Hopefully, the Cowboys watch the tape”. Bosa was effectively claiming that there’s a specific way to shut down the Eagles and that with a specific game plan, any team can beat them.

2023 - POST BLUEPRINT:

Indeed, the very next week the Eagles went to Dallas to face the Cowboys and got smacked 33-13. The Eagles beat the Cowboys 28-23 in week 9, the only difference in week 14 was Nick Bosa’s blueprint. The following week, the Eagles had a nice opportunity to regain their footing in a “gimme” game against the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle entered the game in the midst of a 4-game losing streak, and to make matters worse, their quarterback Geno Smith was ruled out due to a groin injury. Nevertheless, Drew Lock went out there and played his heart out. The Seahawks’ defense kept them in the game until the very end. In the final minutes of the game, Drew Lock made two huge throws to upset the Eagles, 20-17.

Now at 10W-4L, the Eagles didn’t panic, because their remaining opponents were the 5W-9L New York Giants, twice, and the 3W-12L Arizona Cardinals. Even though the defense didn’t look great, the Eagles took care of the Giants 33-25 in week 16 to snap the losing streak. Entering the Cardinals game, the Eagles were aware that since Kyler Murray returned from the IR, Arizona was a better team than their record suggests. Philadelphia showed that they were indeed back, by taking a commanding 21-6 lead in the first half. Yet it wasn’t over. Kyler Murray must’ve taken a sneak peek at Bosa’s blueprint at halftime because the second half was a different story. After not scoring a single touchdown in the first half, Murray’s offense found the endzone 4 times in the second half. The Cardinals took down the Eagles 35-31, and Philadelphia officially had an issue. The next week, the Eagles faced the Giants again, with still a slim chance to win the division. The team was visibly defeated, and after a tough start, Sirianni elected to throw in the white flag. He took Hurts out of the game to save him for the upcoming wildcard matchup. 

THE DAGGER:

The Eagles got lucky and were matched up against the 9W-8L Tampa Bay Buccaneers, arguably the weakest team to qualify for the playoffs. Led by a quarterback who had been cut twice in the past two years and a head coach with a career record 15 games below 500, the Bucs were the perfect team for the Eagles to get a playoff win against. Getting a playoff win, even against the Bucs, would electrify the crowd and the locker room, resulting in the momentum flipping back on the right side. The Bucs started the game with a solid couple of drives, but the Eagles’ defense stood tall in the red zone to keep the team in it. Jalen Hurts eventually put together a nice drive and capped it off by finding Dallas Goedert in the endzone. The touchdown cut Tampa’s lead and made it a one-score game. After the Bucs jumped offsides on the extra point, Sirianni elected to go for 2 from half the distance. The Eagles ran their signature unstoppable quarterback sneak, known as the “Tush-Push”. Nonetheless, the Bucs stopped the unstoppable and reclaimed momentum. Tampa took complete control of the momentum a few drives later by chasing Hurts back into his own endzone for a shocking safety. With Philly trying to hang on for dear life, Baker Mayfield supplied the dagger by hitting Trey Palmer for a 56-yard score. 

With the game now out of reach, the Philadelphia Eagles’ season was effectively over. Less than a year ago they were inches away from a Lombardi. Less than two months ago they had the best record in the NFL. How did they end up here? To a first-round exit. While their offense did seem a bit lethargic and banged up late in the year, it’s hard to ignore Nick Bosa’s blueprint quote. Even though I originally thought it was nothing but physiological warfare, I now believe that the San Francisco 49ers did expose the blueprint to taking down the Eagles. 

RELEVANT FOOTBALL REFERENCE PAGES:

2022 Philadelphia Eagles

2023 Philadelphia Eagles

Jalen Hurts