For the fifth consecutive year, the Philadelphia Eagles are in the NFL postseason tournament. Despite a myriad of ups and downs this season, the Eagles managed to avoid the Super Bowl hangover by putting up an 11-6 record and becoming the only team in the league to repeat as division champions.
They did it behind a dominant defense that, like last year, has grown more dominant as the season went along. They enter the playoffs, along the Seahawks and Texans, as one of the hottest units in the league,
capable of shutting down elite offenses at home and on the road. There are few, if any, unanswered questions about Vic Fangio’s outstanding unit, and they will be counted on to do much of the heavy lifting to secure a second straight Lombardi Trophy.
Somehow, behind struggling first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, the offense managed to drag itself across the finish line putting up just enough points to win 11 games. It hasn’t been easy. The Eagles finished with the most three-and-outs in the NFL, were 22nd in success rate, 19th in points scored (22.3 PPG) and 16th in EPA per drive.
All season the Eagles offense performed like a highly paid executive who forces his lesser paid co-worker (the defense) to do all the work for him.
So as the Birds attempt to do something no Philadelphia franchise has done since the 1974-75 Flyers (repeat as champions), all eyes are on the offense. Here are five big questions I have about the offense as the playoffs are set to begin this Sunday afternoon against the 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field.
1) Will Jalen Hurts run?
Hurts and Nick Sirianni denied reports by multiple outlets that the veteran QB came into the season determined to run the ball less. Even so, it’s clear there was a significant decrease in the number of designed runs called for Hurts this season than ever before.
Hurts was injured running the football at the end of both the 2022 and ‘24 seasons, leaving his health in question entering the postseason. This year, Hurts appears completely healthy, with no lingering issues whatsoever. If the main goal was to keep him out of the trainer’s room, it worked.
It also had a negative effect on the running game, and the offense overall. Hurts’ 105 rushing attempts were, by far, a career low (his previous lowest was in his rookie season of 2021 when he ran the ball 139 times in 15 games). His yards per attempt (4.0) was consistent with the last three seasons, but his 421 yards on the ground was 209 fewer than last season (630), and well beneath his previous low in ‘23 (605). He scored just 8 rushing touchdowns, the first time in his career he didn’t reach double digits.
Much of that is due to the Tush Push becoming less effective in 2025, but still, the lack of designed QB draws and keepers allowed defenders to key in on Saquon Barkley throughout the season. Defenses were not at all worried Hurts would keep the ball on RPOs, something unlikely to change unless Hurts decided he was saving all his powder for the postseason and takes off with the football like we saw in their Super Bowl run a season ago.
2) Will we see more Tank Bigsby?
The Eagles traded 5th and 6th round draft picks after Week 1 for Bigsby and then didn’t play him for the next five weeks on offense. He finally saw significant snaps in the Eagles’ Week 8 38-20 blowout win over the Giants in which he rushed for 104 yards on 9 carries, but then didn’t see double-digit snaps on offense again until he got 27 in their 31-0 win over the Raiders and last week’s 38 snaps against the Commanders. Of course, Bigsby didn’t see a single touch during the 4th quarter, but that’s a conversation for further down the page.
As long as Bigsby is healthy and effective, there is no world in which Will Shipley should see the field over him. Bigsby is better in pass protection and out of the backfield than Shipley, who has provided nothing to the Eagles in 2025. Bigsby’s 54.0% success rate on rushing attempts and 5.7 yards per carry average matches the eye test of an angry runner who seems to blow through initial contact and pick up positive yards on every carry.
That’s important, because behind a struggling offensive line, Eagles running backs are getting hit a lot. Now, this is not to say Bigsby is the key to fixing the offense, because he isn’t. But it’s clear he provides an interesting change of pace to Saquon, who remains an electric runner but has struggled behind an offensive line that has not given him much to work with.
Can Patullo and Sirianni figure out a way to use both backs a little more in the playoffs? Will it make much of a difference?
3) Did the manufactured “bye” week help the battered offensive line?
Lane Johnson is expected to make his long-awaited return to the starting lineup against the Niners on Sunday. The future Hall of Fame right tackle has been out since injuring his foot on November 16 against the Lions. The Eagles went 3-4 in his absence. It’s not a guarantee, but the odds are good he will return.
The decision to rest the starters in Week 18 was understandably controversial, and it didn’t work out for the Eagles. Still, I agreed with the decision, most specifically because it allowed Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson and Jordan Mailata to get as much rest as possible heading into the playoffs. Jurgens and Dickerson have not looked right all season, and the hope is the manufactured “bye” week Sirianni created will most benefit the offensive line.
It could be the difference between another Super Bowl run and going home early. Last year, the passing game encountered similar struggles to the ones they’ve encountered this year, but Barkley was a monster behind an O-line that was utterly dominant. This year’s unit likely won’t reach those heights, but they clearly should be better than 16th in EPA/rush and 18th in rushing yards.
We know Sirianni wants to play it safe, but it’s impossible to sit on a two-score lead for an entire half of football if you can’t run the ball on 1st and 2nd down. It was their “easy” button a season ago, but not so this year. One has to hope the rest will benefit them and the run game.
4) Can Patullo get out of his own way?
Some of the things Patullo does on gameday are so overwhelmingly stupid and/or short-sighted, it’s hard to believe a professional coach would do them.
- Why use Dallas Goedert as a blocking fullback in Week 17?
- Why continue to use Grant Calcaterra as a blocking tight end in three tight end sets when the metrics overwhelmingly show a lack of production running the ball in those sets?
- Why does he completely forget about certain players (Tank Bigsby last week?) who are performing well in key situations?
- Why does he call so many draw plays on 2nd-and-long, only to try throwing go-balls on third and short?
All season Patullo has gone away from formations/schemes that work one week and completely abandon them the following week. He’s continually asked a battered and bruised offensive line to do things they’re not physically capable of doing this year. The route trees, specifically the staggering number of hitch routes he asks his receivers to run, are antiquated and predictable.
That said, there have been moments, entire halves of football, where the offense looks like a productive and efficient unit. They’ve been very good inside the red zone, and one can’t help but wonder why they can’t show that kind of creativity in between the 20s as well. All the pieces are there for this offense to be productive. A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley all somehow went over 1,000 yards this season. Dallas Goedert caught 11 touchdowns. All are capable of making huge plays and have postseason pedigrees.
We all know the offensive coordinator isn’t good, but if he can just get out of the way, recognize what works and, you know, keep doing it, that would be great.
5) Is Sirianni’s overly conservative nature good in the playoffs?
Last week, the Eagles’ backups won the turnover battle but lost to the Commanders, 24-17. They are now 41-3 under Sirianni when they win the turnover battle. In the playoffs, turnovers can end a season, and it’s one of the reasons why the Birds have been so successful during Sirianni’s tenure and reached two Super Bowls.
We know the Eagles are going to be conservative and, given their defense, it’s sensible. To a point. Too often though, Sirianni and Patullo ice the offense too soon in order to avoid turning the ball over, a chronic passivity that infects Hurts and the rest of the offense. Again, it works when you can run the ball, but the Eagles haven’t shown they can win with an 8-minute, 4th quarter scoring drive at any point this season, and they’ve shown even less of an ability to get a key third down conversion when they really need one.
Those 7-yard hitch routes on 3rd-and-8 ain’t getting it done, fellas.
There’s a balance between playing reckless and playing cowardly. Can Sirianni and the offense locate that equilibrium? Can they be appropriately aggressive in their play calling, personnel usage and overall philosophy? Can they dictate terms to the defense rather than being solely reactive? Will Sirianni actually try and score points at the end of the first half and call plays that throw the ball beyond the sticks on 3rd and long?
There is a feeling out there that the Eagles have been snowing the rest of the league during the regular season, biding their time until the playoffs. I don’t believe it. They are what they are. That said, there are buttons they can push.
The only question is whether they’re smart enough, and willing enough, to push them.
