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Believe it or not, we’ve come to the end of yet another season of Philadelphia Eagles football. This one felt like it flew by pretty fast. There were peaks and valleys — remember Week 3? — and lots to process.
We’re starting the compartmentalization process this week by conducting a series of year-end approval polls. Before what promises to be a formative offseason, how do Eagles fans feel about the people in charge of the team?
We continue today with team head coach Doug Pederson.
The last three times we polled your approval of Pederson as a coach, he pulled in radically different numbers. After Week 3, when the Eagles were 3-0 and Carson Wentz had yet to throw an interception, he was nearly flawless, scoring a 98 percent approval rate. After October had come and gone, the poll we conducted in early November left Pederson at nearly half that mark. And at the beginning of December, he barely had support of one-third of BGN readers.
But with two divisional wins in tow to end the season, and after coming within one two-point conversion of a three-game win streak and a .500 record to close out his first year in charge, Pederson has garnered respect for the way his team closed the season out.
As Les Bowen wrote in the Daily News yesterday, the Eagles players have their coach’s back, which is crucial to what a football team needs out of its main man.
"He's earned the respect of everybody on this team," middle linebacker Jordan Hicks told Bowen, and it’s believable. To get that kind of action out of your players with the season lost is impressive.
There is plenty for Pederson to work on after his first 16 games. His play calling, while occasionally inspired, needs refinement. His media training must continue in the offseason. And his treatment of crucial game situations, while much improved in the latter half of the season, still needs work.
For a coach to be truly successful at running a team full of grown men with one goal in mind (the Super Bowl), said coach needs to master all aspects of being the singular face of the team. He or she must command respect, connote knowledge, and also possess it.
After 16 games, Pederson has checked two of those three boxes. He still needs the third. There are signs of his skills. Now, he must show them.
Do you approve of the job Doug Pederson is doing as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles? Vote now in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments.