As Philly lost five of its final six games, the offense averaged just 18 points in those defeats — a number skewed by a 35-31 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Despite talents such as Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, the Eagles were largely grounded during their fall from grace.
A longtime rival, Kellen Moore, has been tasked with remedying those ills as Philadelphia’s new offensive coordinator.
For Moore, the keys to success will be the balancing act in getting all those aforementioned stars involved, building on their previous accomplishments and simultaneously making the necessary alterations after last season’s struggles.
“I think everyone’s got their different flavor from a systematic approach,” Moore said Thursday, via team transcript. “Our real focus here, as we’ve gone through this process, is we’ve got a lot of good going on. We can’t lose the good in the reps that Jalen and A.J. have developed and Dallas (Goedert) has developed and this offensive line has developed. How can we build off of those things and really connect the whole thing.”
Unfortunately, Moore didn’t provide any answers with how to get that all done, but it’s May — a time in which optimism reigns and the work has only just begun.
At season’s completion, Philadelphia was seventh in points scored and eighth in total yards. Each of those numbers were drops from the 2022 season in which then-offensive coordinator Shane Steichen’s collective led a Super Bowl run.
Still, the top-10 statistical finishes don’t seem to call for a drastic change, but as the Eagles stumbled and bumbled from a 10-1 start to an 11-6 regular-season finish prior to a 32-9 playoff exit at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, change was mandated.
Head coach Nick Sirianni stayed put, but defensive coordinator Sean Desai and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson were wished well in their future endeavors.
Often showcasing a middling passing attack and a top-10 rushing game that wasn’t used enough, Philly’s offense lacked an identity.
Moore wants to establish that, though with the dual-threat Hurts, the double WR threat of Brown and Smith, Goedert and the free-agent addition of Saquon Barkley, it’s certainly a work in progress and another good idea Moore didn’t offer up a solution to.
“Certainly, we’re really excited about the guys that we have in place here,” he said. “A lot of guys who can do a lot of different roles and a lot of variety. That excites us as far as just the way we can present things for the defense, challenge people pre-snap with all the different alignments and personnel groups that we can play with.
“That will be a continuing building process. I think the biggest thing is having clear identity of who we want to be, and ultimately week in and week out understanding their role certainly through a game.
“There’s going to be certain games where guys are going to get more attention than others, understand that you’re a big part of it. You may have the big-time assist on a play that gives us an opportunity for someone else to score a touchdown. Maybe the next week now it goes vice versa and someone else has to help the other guy out.
“So, I think there’s that continuous trust as we build this thing.”
The building’s starting now — along with the rebuilding, for the Eagles and Moore.
Moore, who spent a playing career that ranged from 2012-18 with the Detroit Lions and Cowboys, was a Dallas assistant from 2018-2022 with the last four of those seasons as OC. His Cowboys offenses were largely prolific and in 2019 and 2021 tops in the league in total yards. However, the statistical bliss wore off in 2023 with the Los Angeles Chargers, as his Bolts O was unplugged to the tune of being 21st in scoring.
There was talent in L.A. just as there is in Philly, and he was dealing with troubles of his own just as the Eagles were.
“It’s hard for me to judge it totally, being from afar, because I don’t know the day-to-day aspect of it,” Moore said when asked what he saw that grew stale with the Eagles’ offense last year. “Obviously, every team’s going to go through different challenges. Those things come up, whether it’s wins-losses, offensive success, defensive success.
“I think we’re really focused on 2024. You learn some lessons from 2023, just as far as some different things that come up, but you really just try and move forward.”
Once a mainstay on the Cowboys’ coaching staff, Moore has flown north to Philly to join the rival Eagles.
Just how he’ll mesh his ideas and schemes with an all-star cast that was undone last year will be a prevailing storyline from May through the upcoming season. He’s not looking to reinvent the Hurts-led cavalcade, but there will certainly be some changes.
“There will be tweaks,” he said. “There will be changes. Everything is constantly evolving. That’s part of this whole offseason program. We got to the first week of actually being on the field with these guys. Once you get on the field, things just just start evolving.”
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