The Eagles' Super Bowl 57 loss has now been sandwiched between two tough road wild-card defeats vs. the Buccaneers.
Philadelphia lost its third consecutive game, getting blown out 32-9 in Tampa Bay on Monday night, putting a quick end to its chance to repeat as NFC champion.
When the Eagles beat the Bills in overtime in Week 12, they were 10-1. But they ended up losing five of their final six regular-season games to finish 11-6 and settle for a No. 5 seed behind the division-winning Cowboys. Unfortunately, they suffered a similarly shocking playoff exit.
With the loss to the Buccaneers extending their slump, there will be a lot of questions swirling around the Eagles in what could be a tumultuous offseason. Here's looking at the five most pressing concerns:
Eagles' key offseason questions after playoff loss
1. Will the Eagles think about firing head coach Nick Sirianni?
This seems ludicrous one year removed from being a Philly favorite in leading the team all the way to the Super Bowl, falling just short to the Chefs. But keep in mind, the Eagles weren't all that patient with predecessor Doug Pederson after he did win the Super Bowl. The issue then and now is maintaining a consistent fit with GM Howie Roseman.
Sirianni did suffer from some key brain drain on his staff with his offensive coordinator (Shane Steichen, Colts) and defensive coordinator (Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals) leaving for head-coaching jobs last year. Between Brian Johnson offensively and Sean Desai and Matt Patricia defensively, there was a big dropoff in overall scheming success, albeit with lesser, shallower personnel and a rash of injuries.
Conventional wisdom says the Eagles won't be so short to get rid of Sirianni, instead, focusing on making some assistant upgrades. But if it's more of a personality thing, anything can happen.
2. Is this the end of an Eagles era for Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham?
There's no doubt Kelce, 36, is mulling over retirement as a pending free agent. He's done everything possible in the game as the long-time leader of their consistently strong offensive line. He, Cox and Graham did experience Super Bowl defeat last season, but they also got their rings in Super Bowl 52.
MORE: Will Jason Kelce retire after loss to Buccaneers?
Cox, their once-dominant defensive tackle, is 33. Graham, their venerable edge rusher, is 35. All three have been top producers as they've gotten older and their presence in the locker room is invaluable. It would be strange but also no longer unreasonable that Philadelphia needs to flip the page from a trio of lineup fixtures.
3. How hurt is Jalen Hurts and can he keep taking this pounding?
The one concern when Hurts signed his five-year, $255 million mega contract was durability and availability given his physical playing style. The Eagles like to call designed runs for him, especially the short-yardage pushes in which the poundings add up.
Hurts battled through his shoulder injury last season. This season, he dealt with a sprained knee early and a finger injury on his right throwing hand late. Hurts still played all 17 games and into the playoffs after missing a couple each in the previous two seasons. But he didn't seem right and at full strength often.
As a passer, Hurts wasn't efficient, throwing 15 interceptions and rating only 89.1. That's more in line with 2021 when he rated 87.2 vs. the stellar 101.5 he posted as an MVP runner-up to Patrick Mahomes in 2022.
As a runner, Hurts did score a career-high 16 times, but he was down to 9 attempts per game and hit career lows of 3.9 yards per attempt and an average of only 35.6 yards per game. There was some reining in his rushing usage as he racked up the hits and sacks dropping back, too. Hurts needs some good healing in the offseason for him to bounce back into top form.
MORE: 5 key questions for Cowboys after another early playoff loss
4. What will they do with their nine draft picks, including No. 22 overall?
The Eagles got ahead of their defensive rebuild in the front seven by stockpiling Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean out of Georgia. They also added former Bulldog Kelee Ringo for secondary depth. But now, they really need to go to work on improving at corner and safety. Injuries aside, they were equally ineffective covering outside and inside, the former because starting corners James Bradberry and Darius Slay faded more with age.
Look for their secondary to be primarily addressed, starting with some ballhawks who improve their interception potential by playing off of their pressure. More work on the offensive line is important, not for just Kelce, but right tackle Lane Johnson will turn 34 in May. They also could bolster the wide receiver depth behind DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, especially with a versatile field-stretcher.
