One big change Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni must make

Once upon a time, the Philadelphia Eagles ran their record to an NFL-best 10-1 with wins over such playoff-bound teams as Miami, Dallas, Kansas City and Buffalo.

To start December, however, the Eagles lost to San Francisco and Dallas by a combined score of 75-32. While these two losses were ugly, Philadelphia still stood at 10-3. There was no reason to panic.

Unless you were head coach Nick Sirianni.

In a desperate move, Sirianni demoted first-year defensive coordinator Sean Desai and handed play-calling duties to senior assistant Matt Patricia.

In four games since then, Patricia has only made things worse. With a 27-10 loss at the New York Giants Sunday, the Eagles finished the regular season 11-6 and losers of five of their final six regular-season games. Their collapse allowed the Dallas Cowboys to win the NFC East and the home playoff game that comes with it. Philadelphia now must travel to Tampa as a wild card.

For Sirianni to make things right ahead of Monday night's playoff game at the Buccaneers, he must give the defensive play sheet back to Desai.

What exactly was Desai's crime? Getting gashed by the 49ers and Cowboys, two of the top three scoring offenses in the NFL? What about all the defense had accomplished before that?

Miami is sandwiched in between San Francisco and Dallas as the league's second-best scoring offense. The Eagles held the Dolphins to 17 points in Week 7. The Los Angeles Rams rank eighth in offense and were held to 14 points by Philadelphia in Week 5. And in Week 11 in Kansas City, the Eagles got revenge for their Super Bowl LVII loss by gutting out a 21-17 over the Chiefs.

In Patricia's four games calling the plays on defense, Philadelphia allowed a 92-yard winning drive to Seattle backup quarterback Drew Lock in Week 15, coughed up 29 second-half points to Arizona's 24th-ranked offense in Week 17 and surrendered 52 points over two games to a Giants offense that finished 30th in points.

When the Eagles first visited Tampa this season, Desai's defense held the Buccaneers to one garbage-time touchdown and 41 rushing yards in a 25-11 win. Sirianni's memory can't be that short. He ought to remember the defensive performance that got Philadelphia to the playoffs in the first place. 

Ahead of Monday night's return to the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium, Desai should retake the defensive helm and Patricia should walk the plank.