PHILADELPHIA (AP) — AJ Brown threw a third-down pass and slowly left the field as head coach Nick Sirianni chased the moody wide receiver down the sideline.
Brown and Sirianni got into an altercation off the field that quickly forced Chief Safety Officer Dom Disandro to intervene. After the Eagles ended the drive with a punt, Brown ripped off his helmet in frustration and yelled in Sirianni’s direction — maybe he could have read a good book.
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Brown had nothing to say after the game — stay tuned for another potentially cryptic social media post — and his locker room quickly emptied, much like the offseason awaiting last season’s Super Bowl winner.
The Eagles ultimately fell short in their title defense due to another uninspiring offensive output — the ball piled up while the yardage totals failed to reach explosive heights — as they lost 23-19 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild-card round on Sunday.
After the game, the field was strewn with trash — the relentless wind put a damper on both teams’ game plans — instead of the confetti that fell on the Eagles during the Super Bowl in New Orleans 11 months ago.
With the same talent returning, the Eagles never had consistent offensive success in a game that many players thought they could turn around in the playoffs.
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Much of the blame falls on embattled first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo — whose team has been egged on all season — and the Eagles never got anything substantial offensively going in the second half against the 49ers.
Jalen Hurts threw for just 168 yards and one touchdown, and the Eagles totaled just 36 yards in 16 plays in the third quarter and failed to take a 13-10 halftime lead.
They gained just 75 yards in the second half. Saquon Barkley rushed for just 35 yards in the second half. The Eagles made just 2 of 9 shots on third downs in the second half. The biggest blow: The Hawks only scored 6 points in the second half.
“When we weren’t making these plays, we weren’t making them,” Hertz said.
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indeed.
Jake Elliott missed an extra point in the first half, forcing the Eagles to score a touchdown on their final drive instead of a game-tying field goal. Hurts was sacked and posted three straight incompletions to end a season in which — despite mostly ugly wins — the Eagles never played like true Super Bowl contenders.
The Eagles also had four downs on third down.
“That’s been a common theme for us this year,” Buckley said. “We didn’t do a good enough job of playing complete football. Putting the two halves together. Sometimes you expect you’ll get to this moment and then you get it.”
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Brown has 1,003 yards receiving this season and has two fumbles on seven targets. He ended up with just three catches for 25 yards.
With losses, stalled drives and heavy expectations weighing on the defending champions, it’s no wonder the frustration finally reached a boiling point.
Sirianni, who has led the Eagles to the Super Bowl in two of the past three seasons, said he got behind Brown and kicked him off the field so they could play football.
Sirianni said everything between the two was cool. Honest.
“I love AJ and I think he knows how I feel about him. I have a special relationship with him,” Sirianni said. “We probably went through every possible emotion together. We laughed together, we cried together, we yelled at each other. We were all emotional. I tried to get him off the field, and that happened in this game.
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“It happened in this game, but I love him.”
Do the Eagles love him enough to keep him around for another season?
The NFC East champions aren’t expected to see much turnover — both Pattullo and Brown are likely to leave.
The Eagles won the NFC East on the strength of a defense — well, and playing in a particularly weak division — that masked many flaws in the game-calling. After the regular season, the Eagles’ offense ranked only 24th in the NFL; 23rd in passing and 19th in scoring.
“This is nothing personal,” Hurts said. “That’s our responsibility as a group.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl