Did Nick Sirianni rearrange the wrong set of deck chairs after Eagles offense fluttered in loss to Seahawks?

SEATTLE — The Eagles switched up more on defense than just their coordinator. Instead of getting cooked in the first half, they collapsed in the fourth quarter.

The change at the top with Matt Patricia taking over for the demoted Sean Desai might have initially energized the defense on Monday night, but a new play caller ultimately couldn’t compensate for the personnel deficiencies in the back seven.

The Seahawks drove 92 yards in the final two minutes and rallied to beat the Eagles, 20-17, when Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a 29-yard touchdown pass over beleaguered cornerback James Bradberry at Lumen Field.

The Eagles aren’t quite a sinking ship. They clinched a playoff spot over the weekend without even playing. But a third straight loss, after Nick Sirianni made the drastic move to bench Desai for Patricia, suggested that rearranging the deck chairs did little more than paint the coach as an overreacting captain.

And there’s an argument to be made, after the Eagles offense failed to score more than 19 points for the third straight week, that he repositioned the wrong set of chairs.

“I did what I thought I needed to do in the best interest of the football team,” Sirianni said when asked about the defensive coordinator change that wasn’t announced until Sunday. “We made some adjustments there. Didn’t feel like we were playing and coaching well enough on defense, so I made an adjustment.”

As rare as it was for the coach of a 10-3 team to change the play caller on the opposite side of the ball that he helms, awkwardly keeping Desai on staff in a lesser role was seemingly unheard of in recent memory.

Patricia will have final say as Desai — despite maintaining his title as coordinator — takes the lesser role that his successor inhabited as adviser.

“As disappointed as Sean was, I think he handled himself like a true pro,” Sirianni said. “We know Sean is still helpful to this football team. He has a bright mind and he can help. As I listened in on defense today, they were communicating back and forth similar to the way Matt and Sean communicated with the roles reversed.”

Desai’s demotion was not without cause. The Eagles’ last-in-the-NFL third-down defense was atrocious. They ranked 30th in the red zone. And Desai’s passive play-calling and a lack of conviction that some players felt had the unit reeling after the Eagles allowed 75 points to the 49ers and Cowboys in back-to-back losses.

But just a month ago, he was being hailed for shutting out Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on the road while offensive coordinator Brian Johnson was seen more as the problem for the Eagles’ regression.

“With Desai, things weren’t going right, especially the last two games,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham told The Inquirer. “It’s media-driven out here, man. It had to be a change [with] everybody calling for his head.”

Was Graham, the Eagles’ captain and most-tenured player, suggesting that voices outside the building played a role in Sirianni ousting Desai?

“It’s all media-driven when we losing. They just tried to do something to shake it up,” Graham said. “But I ain’t worried at all. I don’t think anybody panicking, but I just know it’s always a change when people talking bad about the team.”

» READ MORE: What to know about Matt Patricia, the Eagles’ new defensive play caller

While there was criticism of the Eagles even as they jumped out to a 10-1 start, the last three games have made it clear that much of it was warranted. And whether the Eagles allowed the pressure to affect them or not, leaders like cornerback Darius Slay have said that some players haven’t been playing as if they enjoy themselves.

“Not winning is not fun. It’s not,” Sirianni said. “So partly when you’re having a lot of fun is when you’re winning, to be quite honest with you. We can’t always let that affect our mood all the way through. Do I feel like the guys have fun Monday through Saturday and then when it’s time to work, work? Yeah, I do.

“But it’s going to be hard for anyone to admit they’re having fun right now on a three-game slide.”

Patricia knows a lot about winning — at least when he was with the Patriots. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick deserve the bulk of credit for the success while he was the defensive coordinator in New England. But Patricia brings with him experience in high-pressure situations.

Cornerback Bradley Roby, safety Sydney Brown, and other players said that the now-de facto coordinator brings more aggressiveness to the defense.

“Just in our coverages and our blitzes,” Roby said. “Just in his tone and energy, you kind of adopt that type of vibe from a coach. That’s the one thing that makes a good coach a good coach. They’re able to create an energy and an environment on the guys and I think he did a good job of that, too.

“I think we played well, we just didn’t finish.”

Patricia appeared to blitz more than Desai — with varying results. One his early simulated pressures on third down that had outside linebacker Haason Reddick drop deep into coverage while Roby rushed resulted in a completion and conversion in front of Reddick.

» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Jalen Hurts’ picks costly, James Bradberry gets beat, and defense’s late woes persist

But there were otherwise positive signs in the first half even if the Seahawks were without starting quarterback Geno Smith. The Eagles still managed to keep dangerous receivers DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Smith-Njigba from going off.

With Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offense unable to expand their lead to two scores in the second half, Seattle chipped away, though. And with 1 minute, 52 seconds left, backup quarterback Drew Lock began fitting throws into tight windows.

Two third-and-10 conversions, though, would ultimately be the Eagles’ undoing. And Patricia’s calls — particularly the second — should be second-guessed. On the first, Metcalf got behind Bradberry and caught a 34-yard pass before Brown arrived late from the post.

And on the second, Patricia left Bradberry one-on-one in man coverage vs. Smith-Njigba.

“He just ran past me because I was sitting at the sticks,” Bradberry said.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ James Bradberry fails Seahawks’ testing of him on final drive

The 30-year-old cornerback took full responsibility for letting Smith-Njigba get behind him. But it has been clear for most of the season that Bradberry has lost a step. And in that situation, in which the Seahawks needed a touchdown, a more conservative coverage that helped him made more sense.

But it’s no surprise the Eagles tensed up in a tight spot. Sirianni set the tone for the week when he told them on Tuesday that Patricia was taking over for Desai. Graham and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and other captains were told before the entire team found out, but Sirianni otherwise kept his decision under wraps for what he said were competitive reasons.

“This is the NFL, so things happen,” Cox said. “Obviously, something got shaken up. At the same time, you’ve got to understand it was not a player decision. As I always say, I’m Employee 91.”

Sirianni compared the move to his handing over of play calling to then-offensive coordinator Shane Steichen in 2021. But that team was 2-5 at the time and the switch turned the season around and helped advance the Eagles into the playoffs.

Patricia may need a few weeks to implement his scheme, but the Eagles are running out of time if they want to secure home field at least in their first postseason game. There’s only so much he can do, of course, considering the roster.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense left frustrated in Seattle after sputtering in another loss

And the Eagles’ issues extend to the offense, especially when the team’s effectiveness is dependent more on that side of the ball. Sirianni could demote Johnson as well, although he said that wouldn’t happen when asked after the game.

Why should he when Hurts, who threw two fourth-quarter interceptions, has been the bigger problem? But the buck when it comes to the Eagles’ numerous mistakes doesn’t stop with the quarterback.

“We’ve all got to be critical on ourselves, starting with myself,” Sirianni said. “Like I said, any time it’s the fundamentals or the situations, you’ve got to look right at me for that.”

The focus is sharpening.