The breaking point for 7-time Super Bowl champion quarterback and Fox Sports color commentator Tom Brady came in the second half.
Watching the Philadelphia Eagles drive deep into San Francisco 49ers territory midway through the fourth quarter and set up for a knockout blow with a touchdown, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts faced a 2nd-and-10 from the 49ers’ 21-yard line.
To the right were 2 of the best wide receivers in the NFL in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. To the left was Jahan Dotson, who has been arguably one of the NFL’s worst wide receivers throughout his career.
Hurts didn’t hesitate. He went right to Dotson, throwing an incomplete pass that had no chance of being caught. The defending Super Bowl champions settled for a field goal and a 19-17 lead on the way to a 23-19 loss.
“I don’t know what (Hurts) is possibly seeing here,” Brady said during the broadcast. “If I have 2 Pro Bowl caliber wide receivers to one side … I’m going to give them a shot at getting the ball. That’s what you’re paying them for.”
Brady Doesn’t Usually Criticize NFL QBs
Brady’s scathing critique was unusual in that the 5-time Super Bowl MVP and 3-time NFL MVP usually holds back when it comes to his criticism of quarterbacks.
With Hurts, in this case, he just said what needed to be said.
“Brady announcing that Jalen Hurts game was riveting,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said following the game. ” … Brady always tries to be diplomatic, especially with other quarterbacks. It’s almost like the mafia. You don’t want to go against the other made men. The quarterbacks are the other made men, so you can only go so far, but I thought Brady was disgusted by Hurts.”
He wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
“The Eagles lined up under center 7 times in the second half,” ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky said on Monday, January 12. “That’s unacceptable for an NFL offense. It’s hard to watch. It’s predictable. It’s a high school offense.”
Major Changes Coming for Philadelphia
Before anything happens in terms of personnel, the next move for the Eagles will almost certainly be to fire offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
Patullo was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator after Kellen Moore was hired as head coach of the New Orleans Saints and took an offense that seemed almost unstoppable last season and ran it straight into the ground.
“This just simply doesn’t happen … It can’t happen … Almost impossible to make it happen … Kevin Patullo should be charged for the crimes he committed against this years Philadelphia Eagles team,” That’s Ball Folks podcast host Josh Reynolds wrote on X.
“It’s over. That has to be the final game for Kevin Patullo,” Broad Street Source wrote on its official X account. “You win the turnover battle +3, you’re at home in the playoffs, and you still can’t crack 20 pts? One of the worst defenses in the league just out-adjusted us for 60 minutes. Only question, is AJ gone too?”
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