Why Philadelphia Eagles surprising coaching change could actually work

The Philadelphia Eagles saw themselves holding the No. 1 seed two weeks ago, to now dropping to No. 5. That's due in part to two blowout losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys in back-to-back weeks. The 49ers clinched their playoff spot last week, while the Cowboys hold the edge over the Eagles in the NFC East title race.

As evidenced in these past two weeks, the Eagles haven't looked as sharp as they did last year. The defense has played a role in that. So, head coach Nick Sirianni made what can be considered a massive change ahead of their Week 15 game against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.

According to NFL Network national insider Ian Rapoport, the Eagles have taken play-calling duties away from defensive coordinator Sean Desai and instead gave it to senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia. Desai will move to the coaches' booth, while Patricia will head down to the field.

Eagles give defensive play-calling duties to Matt Patricia

When looking at their previous two losses, the defense gave up a ton of yardage and a lot of points under Desai's watch.

In Week 13 against the 49ers, the Eagles defense surrendered 42 points and 456 yards on 57 plays (8.0 yards per play). Last weekend against the Cowboys, the Eagles defense allowed 394 yards on 74 plays (5.3 yards per play) and 33 points. With the team falling down the playoff standings, Sirianni must have felt a change was necessary. The offense struggled and quarterback Mac Jones regressed in his second season with Patricia calling plays.

Patricia joined Sirianni's coaching staff this past offseason. Prior to that, he was with the New England Patriots for his second stint with the team. He notably had different roles with the team, including as pseudo-offensive coordinator last year which worked out poorly for the team.

While the end of his second Patriots stint resulted in his exit, he does have expertise on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage. Patricia had served as defensive coordinator in New England from 2012 until 2017, and three of those years resulted in Super Bowl titles. While Patricia isn't a name that inspires much confidence, maybe a change does benefit the Eagles.

After the Eagles take on the Seahawks on Monday, the team will play the New York Giants (twice) and Arizona Cardinals. This time should allow defensive players to get a better feel with Patricia calling the plays over Desai before the playoffs.