Eagles learn lessons from playoff loss that need to benefit them going forward

Plenty of folks – myself included – believed the Eagles would finish with a losing record in Nick Sirianni's first season as head coach.

So while the 31-15 wild-card thrashing by the Buccaneers was disappointing, what happened Sunday in Tampa should be viewed with the big picture in mind. Getting playoff experience should only help the team's numerous first-time postseason participants, including second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts, rookie receiver DeVonta Smith and 27 other players, plus Sirianni and first-year defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

Having said that, the young players and new coaches must learn from what happened against the Bucs and adapt if they plan on eventually becoming a Super Bowl contender.

Sirianni has to devise ways to get the ball in the hands of his playmakers, especially the dynamic DeVonta Smith, in games like Sunday's. For example, instead of throwing a wide receiver screen to Quez Watkins for no gain on first-and-10 trailing 17-0 early in the second quarter, why not use Smith there? Smith wasn't targeted until two minutes before halftime. He can't make a difference if he doesn't touch the ball.

Gannon cannot sit back and be passive in a base defense vs. an elite, veteran quarterback like Tom Brady and expect to win. If not for the four sacks generated by the Eagles' front four, the deficit would've been worse than 31-0 heading into the fourth quarter. It was too easy for Brady. And why didn't Gannon have top cornerback Darius Slay cover top Bucs receiver Mike Evans all over the field, which would have prevented some of the mismatches with the smaller Avonte Maddox on Evans?

Hurts needs to be better across the board than he was Sunday. Hurts, who has been bothered by a sprained right ankle, has to improve on going through his passing progressions quicker and throw the ball downfield more to prevent defenses like the Bucs' from crowding the line of scrimmage and limiting the productive running game.

While Hurts struggled against Tampa, he played well enough while leading the Birds on a 7-2 run after a 2-5 start that he deserves another year as the starting quarterback.

"There's so many different lessons that will only parachute us up in the right direction next year," Hurts said Monday. "I'm hungry for what's to come."

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Asked if he's earned the right to be the starter next season, Hurts replied, "I think I've done a lot of great things and (there are) a lot of things to learn from."

Good answer.

"I think he's going to be that guy," Smith said.

Owning three first-round draft picks (Nos. 15, 16 and 19) in what is not projected to be a strong quarterback class, general manager Howie Roseman could trade one of them for a second 2023 first-rounder with the possibility of drafting a QB in '23 in case Hurts doesn't play well enough next year. Either way, Roseman must improve the talent level on the roster, with an emphasis on addressing the lack of offensive playmakers (especially at wide receiver, where Penn State's Jahan Dotson would be a welcome first-round addition) and upgrade just about everywhere on defense.

Drafting well is an important part of developing a winner because of the four-year contracts at what are generally reasonable salaries, by NFL standards, and the welcome influx of young players.

And, make no mistake, Philadelphia needs more quality players. Because while they finished 9-8 and reached the playoffs, the Eagles didn't beat a single team that qualified for the postseason – and their only victory over a .500 club came against the 9-8 Saints.

That's not exactly a proven recipe for getting to the playoffs and it's certainly going to have to change if they want to make a deep postseason run.

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Eagles learn lessons in playoff loss that should help going forward