Firing Brian Johnson Wont Fix The Eagles Offense
There is a push to lay all the blame for the Eagles’ offense at the feet of Brian Johnson. The logic is that this offense ran fine with Shane Steichen, so the new Offensive Coordinator must be the problem. But is he? Or is the scheme he is being asked to call plays in the problem? Can he be held accountable for bad play-calling if the playbook is flawed to begin with?
Nick Sirianni has said it himself. This is his offense. He designs the plays, he makes the gameplan. Brian Johnson just calls the plays. Eagles fans may hope the solution is as simple as changing Coordinators. That is far easier to do than changing the head coach. But Sirianni is at the core of the issues when it comes to the Eagles’ late-season struggles on offense. The problems with the blitz, the lack of throws over the middle of the field, the predictable plays. That is all Nick Sirianni. Even if fans want to pin it on Johnson.
Dont take my word for it though. On Thursday, Tim McManus joined the show for the full 3 PM hour. They talked to him about his recent article about the rift between Jalen Hurts, Brian Johnson, And Nick Sirianni. And while he was on, he talked about how little Brian Johnson had to do with the direction of this offense.
“All Lurie has to do is pick up the phone and call people who know Brian Johnson. The response from those people will be that is not Brian Johnson’s offense. You can see the confliction play out on the field because you can tell it is not what he would be calling in that situation. That is not Brian Johnson’s offense.”
Does that mean Brian Johnson is absolved of blame? No. But knowing that, it is hard to see how firing him would fix the issue. If you bring someone else in, but the playbook stays the same, what would actually change? We don’t know exactly how much power Brian Johnson had, but it seems like it was not very much. And as Tyrone pointed out in the above clip, teams are still interested in his services. The league respects Brian Johnson.
So is the problem him, or is it Nick Sirianni? Based on all available evidence, Nick Sirianni seems like the lead suspect. Brian Johnson is just the fall guy.