The Jeffrey Lurie era of the Eagles entered its 29th year last month, and from the broadest of perspectives, a neat pattern had established itself before Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts joined forces last season.
Sirianni is the fifth head coach Lurie has hired. The first and the third, Ray Rhodes and Chip Kelly, had strikingly similar experiences here. Rhodes went 10-6 and won a playoff game in his first year, went 10-6 and didn’t win a playoff game in his second, and presided over a steady decline over his next two seasons before Lurie fired him. Kelly went 10-6 and made the playoffs in his first year, went 10-6 and didn’t make the playoffs in his second, and went 6-9 in his third before Lurie fired him.
The second and fourth coaches Lurie hired were Andy Reid and Doug Pederson, and those two had more in common than their friendship. Reid went 5-11 in his first season, then went 11-5 and won a playoff game in his second on his way to a mostly excellent 14-year run here. Pederson went 7-9 in his first season, then went 13-3 and won a Super Bowl in his second, then made the playoffs each of the next two years.
