Can We Pump The Brakes On The Doug Pederson Hate For Just a Second?

"Man, don't you just wanna punch him in his dumb face?"

Doug Pederson has drawn the ire of the Eagles fans since pretty much the day he was hired. He has been called "a last resort hire". He has been compared unfavorably to Andy Reid, who by the way is the best coach the Eagles have ever had. The Eagles front office has been accused of just wanting to get a "new Andy Reid" and not taking qualifications into account. After posting a 7-9 season with a rookie QB (who got the starting job eight days before the season started), and after inheriting a deeply fractured locker room post Chip Kelly, Pederson was labeled "the most unqualified head coaching choice seen in the past 30 years" by the Ringer's Mike Lombardi. Rumors also started to stir the night before the season opener that DC Jim Schwartz was trying to go all Robert Baratheon on Dougie and was attempting to usurp the head coaching position by undermining him and acting like he owned the Novacare Complex. It's safe to say Doug Pederson has gotten shit on harder than any new coaching hire in Philadelphia this early in his tenure that I can remember in my life time.

This begs the question, is Doug Pederson that bad of a head coach? If you let most Eagles fans and media tell it, you'd start to buy into the fact that this guy is a bumbling idiot whose ruining the Eagles every play call he makes. I, for one, am not buying into that just yet.

Now I would like to preface this by saying I don't necessarily think that Doug Pederson is going to be the coach that leads us to our first Super Bowl title. There's still a lot to be determined with him and his ability, and a lot of what I am about to say could very soon turn out to not matter at all. But I think that so far during his tenure, there has been some reason to believe that Doug can start to develop into a solid head coach that may be the best fit for the Eagles moving forward in their quest for a title.

"Oh my god, could he look any dumber?"

First, lets look at the numbers. As was previously stated, Doug Pederson came into a situation that most new head coaches probably would view as less than ideal. They had a brittle Sam Bradford running the helm at QB, a mid round 1st rounder, and were coming off a disappointing 7-9 campaign that saw Chip Kelly get fired with one game remaining after losing one of the worst Eagles games I've ever witnessed. The locker room was damaged, with many players coming out to complain about the way Chip Kelly operated and how he treated his veterans. There were also factions that still supported the former head coach, and blamed his shortcomings on the inability for the veterans to adapt to the new methods that Chip brought to the organization. Doug and Howie got to work quickly, targeting Wentz early on as the guy they wanted, and Howie got it done while simultaneously shipping out unwanted Kelly guys such as Bradford, Murray, Maxwell, and Alonso. Doug's "emotional intelligence" was evident, as the team really played hard during his first year even though their lack of talent was apparent. The 2016 Eagles were very up and down, but they started the year off 3-0 and won big games against the Steelers, Vikings, and Atlanta "28-3" Falcons. For a team mostly devoid of big time talent, Doug got the most out of this crew and kept it afloat, finishing with a more optimistic 7-9. The team's offense finished with the following stats:

Total Offense- 337.0 (22nd)
Yards per play- 5.0 (29th)
1st downs a game- 20.8 (14th)
3rd down conversions- 85 (12th)
3rd down percentage- 38 % (20th)
Penalties 113 (8th)

These stats are very indicative of an offense that was sloppy and uneven in its ability, but for a first year head coach and rookie combo, you have to expect that. Going in the 2017 season, the Eagles had to make it a point to get weapons, cut down on penalties, and improve greatly on 3rd down to continue to move the chains. Well, lets take a look at the same team stats 2 games into this season:

Total Offense- 381.0 (5th)
Yards per play 5.7 (9th)
First Downs per game- 23 (4th)
3rd down conversions- 16 (3rd)
3rd down percentage- 57 (2nd)
Penalties- 12 (19th)

Well would you look at that. Yardage is up overall, third down conversions are among the tops in the league, and penalties are down. And I'm sure you're thinking "Whoa there, Pat, you fucking Eagles homer. It's been two games you can't make any assumptions about this team based off of that. Its too early". Sure, I agree. But to that I respond, "fuck you you're using the same shitty logic to make your points about why Doug Pederson is the worst coach ever, at least I have some stats." The Eagles won a big game on the road against a team they haven't beat at all in the past 2 seasons let alone on the road, and were a dumb Wentz turnover away from beating one of the best teams in the entire league last week. With how all of these Doug haters are acting you'd think we were in the same situation as the New York Giants.

Obviously, those stats don't tell the whole story. The biggest gripes people have thus far about Doug Pederson is his lack of a run game, the shitty offensive line play, and his stupid swing passes that do absolutely nothing and Wentz still can't seem to figure out how to throw them. Those are all valid. But even with all of those shortcomings, this team still is moving the ball downfield with the best of them. Until Doug proves that he's incapable of adjusting to fix these issues throughout the season and it starts to cost us games, a lot of this criticism is being blown out of proportion.

Now, after all of that, I'm sure there's still the Eagles fans out there saying, "it doesn't matter Pat, he's just like Andy Reid and he's going to keep doing the same shit. Nothings going to change". First off, how do you know that? Second off, what is the deal with people hating the Andy Reid comparison? Andy Reid gave most of you the best Eagles football you've seen in your lifetime. "Well he never won a the big one, he's no Bill Belichick". Yeah, that sucks, and I will be forever scarred that we never pulled off a Super Bowl victory during that era. But you know what? The Eagles went out and hired a guy from that Belichick mold and what happened? He fizzled out after three seasons and almost set us back so far that we turned into the Cleveland Browns. Ever consider their may be only one Bill Belichick and no one can ever touch his ability? And now were trying to go back to our old model of success and you're still not happy? Make up your fucking mind about what you want in a coach, otherwise just resolve yourself to the fact that nothing an Eagles coach ever does is going to be good enough for you. But I'm sure you're same people that think Buddy Ryan was our best coach ever. Give me a break.

"He looks like he's a nice guy, but his 'gee willikers' demeanor and refusal to run the ball make me want to kick a small child"

I will fully admit that I have my concerns with this guy. My biggest issue is that while we may be moving the ball well, we are doing it in a way that is exposing Wentz way too much to pressure and QB hits. You can't sustain this success without running the ball more, because at a certain point Wentz is going to get killed if you keep having him throw the ball 58 times a game. You have to at least make an attempt to run the ball more for the sake of keeping Wentz healthy. I can totally get behind that. Hopefully Doug proves he's able to make those adjustments in the next couple of weeks, but if he doesn't I'm 100% certain that a lot of what the Doug haters are worried about will come to fruition.

At the end of the day, Doug Pederson was brought in to help develop Carson Wentz into a star QB. They built their offensive coaching staff with former QBs that can help teach Wentz what it takes. So far, Wentz has shown drastic improvement from last year and is working his way into being a elite QB in the NFL. Doug was also touted as a guy who could bring this locker room back together. So far, it seems as though the team really likes playing for the guy, and the reports of the Schwartz issue have since died out after Doug got a Gatorade bath for the Redskins win. The team also seems like they have no problem telling him when they think shit isn't working, with a few players being vocal about helping Wentz out with more of a running game. Seems like Doug listened, as they made a change and are going to try Chance Warmack out at LG this week against the Giants after the dreadful play of Issac Seumalo. He has shown so far that he is willing to adapt and change his philosophy, something that his predecessor did not do at all.

Doug Pederson is a very average coach as it currently stands. This season is going to tell us a lot about what he truly is going forward. But at this very moment, Eagles fans need to take a deep breath and hone in the criticism they've been dishing out. This is in no way a make or break season for Doug Pederson. Unless we lose out the rest of the season, he most likely will be back for the 2018 season. He is what is he is right now, but at the very least he has done a good job with the development of Wentz and has shown signs of improving his offense. Lets at least give him the chance to see if he actually pans out before we run him out of town. The sky isn't falling just yet.