ESPN’s Troy Aikman torches Eagles during sleepwalking first half vs. Bucs

Troy Aikman is about as popular with Eagles fans as Terrell Owens in a Santa suit.

But on Monday night, many of them couldn’t help but agree with the (formerly hated) ex-Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback and current ESPN football analyst as he ripped the Eagles and head coach Nick Sirianni during a sleepwalking first half in an NFC wild card playoff game.

Was Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie listening?

Aikman torched the Eagles for nearly every minute of the first half as they fell behind, 16-9, at the break.

He ripped the offense for its lousy play-calling and execution. He lit up the defense for missed tackles (the Bucs had 63 yards after initial contact) and a lack of emotion. He flat-out accused the Eagles of not being ready to play — the final wild-card game of the first round.

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“Troy Aikman is just brutalizing the Eagles,” one Twitter commenter wrote. “Good for Troy Aikman, who is not sugarcoating anything so far,” tweeted another. “Aikman just picking apart our offense is fantastic. Like he’s saying, without saying it, that the Eagles offensive scheme makes zero sense,” posted yet another.

Here’s a sampling:

— On a third-and-two incompletion in the first quarter, the Eagles had two receivers running routes in the same neighborhood. “I don’t like that combination, I don’t know what that is! Two receivers within five yards of each other,” Aikman said.

— Aikman called the switch to make Matt Patricia the new defensive play-caller a “panic move.” He added: “I thought it was an overreaction after a couple of losses, and it has not improved at all.”

That brought this comment from Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated: “Joe Buck and Troy Aikman just taking a flamethrower to Matt Patricia.”

— He questioned the Eagles’ effort and desire early: “Nobody is showing me by their body language that they are into this ballgame.”

— He believes — as the rest of the Eagles’ fan base — that quarterback Jalen Hurts is hiding an injury that has limited his mobility. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out after the season that there’s more going on there than he has let on.”

— Aikman questioned why Hurts has become so impotent against blitzes. “Their answer to the blitz has always been to hit the vertical routes on the outside to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. They hit them last year. They hit them early in the season. They’ve had opportunities, but have not hit them in the last six weeks. And if they don’t hit those, they really don’t have anything else.”

(Smith was the Eagles’ brightest first-half highlight with four catches for 111 yards.)

— Aikman on wide receiver Julio Jones’ lack of impact, especially in light of A.J. Brown missing the game with a knee injury: “They’ve talked about how good he’s looked in practice and the great things he’s done. He’s been with the team 11 weeks, but they’ve had a hard time incorporating him.”

There were hundreds of comments like this from Eagles fans: “I legitimately really appreciate Buck and Aikman for cooking this fraud team on the broadcast multiple times. They are just as baffled as we are with how bad these guys are.”

Of course, there were a few like this, too: “Aikman and Buck have never been this insufferable.”