Hot Take: The Eagles' Firing of Brian Johnson Looks Worse With Every Passing Day

Sixteen days into an offensive coordinator search that has produced zero offers and a growing list of candidates who have gone elsewhere, one question keeps coming back to haunt the Philadelphia Eagles: Why did they fire Brian Johnson in the first place?

The Numbers Don't Lie

Brian Johnson was a first-year offensive coordinator who led the eighth-ranked offense in the NFL. The advanced metrics backed it up — PFF had the Eagles' passing offense graded as their eighth-best as well, the highest mark of the Jalen Hurts era. Johnson was 35 years old and getting head coaching interviews. And the Eagles blew him out after one season.

The reason? The team went 11-6 and lost in the Wild Card round. But as the Birds 365 crew pointed out repeatedly on Wednesday, the Eagles had the 31st-ranked defense in the league that year. John McMullen went further, calling it the worst defense in football by season's end.

'What a travesty what they did to Brian Johnson,' Zander Krause said on Wednesday's show. 'They have a top-eight offense and they blow him out like he's a pile of dog. You're the 31st-ranked defense. Why are you blowing out the OC who was a top-10 offensive coordinator in his first year?'

The Domino Effect

The firing of Johnson set off a chain reaction that the Eagles are still dealing with years later. Kevin Patullo was promoted from within but never gained full trust from Nick Sirianni, as evidenced by the head coach's in-game interactions on Hard Knocks and press conference comments. The offense regressed, and Patullo was fired after an 11-win playoff season — creating the current void.

McMullen argued that the pattern is now the single biggest obstacle in the OC search: 'The eye of the storm of people that don't want to come here is related to the impatience of this organization. Eleven wins and a playoff berth is not a bad season in 90 percent of NFL markets. Here it's considered a failure and guys get blown out.'

The comparison is damning. In most NFL cities, an 11-win season with a playoff appearance earns a contract extension. In Philadelphia, it gets you fired. Brian Johnson led a top-eight offense with the league's worst defense working against him. Kevin Patullo won 11 games and made the playoffs with a first-time play caller's expected growing pains. Both were dismissed.

The Career Impact

Mike Gill pointed out that the consequences for fired Eagles coordinators extend beyond Philadelphia. Brian Johnson, who was getting head coaching interviews the year he was let go, has barely been mentioned for coordinator jobs since. He landed as an assistant head coach in Washington — widely considered a downgrade from offensive coordinator. Kevin Patullo, Gill noted, likely won't see another OC job for at least five years, if ever.

'If you fail in a big organization, a big-time successful organization, it almost seems like you've got a longer wait period than if you fail for a shitty organization,' Gill observed, noting that Brian Daboll compiled a 20-40-1 record with the Giants and still landed the Tennessee OC job immediately.

The Warning to Future Candidates

The Brian Johnson firing sends a clear message to potential OC candidates: even excellence may not be enough. If variables outside your control — like having the worst defense in football — drag down the team's overall record, you could be the scapegoat. McMullen captured the dilemma facing candidates: 'How do you not look at that and say, man, if any of the other variables that exist in the game of football don't go our way, they're going to hold that on me.'