This is the time of year when everything new is being installed, and training camp darlings are created. There will be a ton of things to look at this Saturday night when the Eagles face the Baltimore Ravens, and Sean Mannion’s offense, or what small portion of it is shown, will get scrutinized. But the real reality of the Eagles’ 2026 season will not arrive until around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, September 13 at Lincoln Financial Field. It’s about the time when the Eagles will be in the throes of their first
fourth quarter of the season, in the season opener against the Washington Commanders.
Winning the fourth quarter will be a big key to the Eagles’ 2026 success.
In 2025, the Eagles did not win the fourth quarter.
Last season, the Eagles wilted offensively and defensively.
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles gave up an average of 7.6 points in the fourth quarter, which was ranked 24th overall, and gave up an average of 13.0 points a game in the fourth quarter of their last three games, granted, games played with backups. What is more disturbing is the Eagles’ offense averaged 5.1 points in the fourth quarter, which was ranked 30th overall. Only Tampa Bay (4.8) and Cleveland (4.1) averaged less.
The Eagles’ fourth-quarter production was a precipitous drop from their Super Bowl-winning 2024 season, when they averaged 9.1 points in the fourth quarter, which was No. 1 in the NFL, and 13 points in their last three games.
Maybe it was the Kevin Patullo factor, being an offensive coordinator who was learning on the job last season and sometimes falling into over-conservative traps.
Whatever the reason, on both sides of the ball, the Eagles better address it in 2026.
Was it conditioning? Was it scheme? And no one was immune. It goes beyond Patullo. Vic Fangio’s vaunted defense gave up 1,439 yards in the fourth quarter last season, more than any other quarter and were on the field for 296 plays, which may partially explain why the Eagles struggled in the fourth quarter in 2025. In 2024, opposing teams ran off 267 plays in the fourth quarter.
This is where the offense and defense intertwine.
In 2024, the Eagles’ offense kept the defense off the field in the fourth quarter, gouging opposing defenses.
In 2025, the Eagles ran off 249 plays in the fourth quarter, in the Super Bowl 2024 season, the Eagles ran off an even 300 plays, 51 plays more. They scored 16 touchdowns and gained 1,605 yards in the fourth quarter in 2024; they scored 11 TDs in 2025 and gained 1,325 yards. The biggest difference came in running the ball, where in 2024, Saquon Barkley and his bulldozing offensive line smashed defenses for 832 yards rushing, averaging 4.3 yards a carry, whereas the running game collapsed in the fourth in 2025, falling 456 yards to 376 in 2025, averaging more than a yard less (3.2).
That was the result of a creaky, banged up offensive line, Barkley recovering from a career-best 345 carries and 2,005 yards rushing in 2024, and Patullo running basic stuff, which lacked motion and a passing presence down the middle of the field.
If the Eagles, favorites to threepeat as NFC East champions, are going to get beyond the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams or Chicago Bears in the NFC, they will need to win the fourth quarter. Hopefully, Mannion will find a cure to the Eagles’ 2025 fourth quarter woes.
