Season Overview
The Philadelphia Eagles are playing off a commanding Super Bowl victory against the Kansas City Chiefs. They came into the season having the hardest SOS (strength of schedule) to start, and they currently sit atop the NFC East with a record of 4-2. Started the season with a close win at home against division rivals Dallas without star DT Jalen Carter. Week 2 and Week 3 were games that showed the true power of our defensive presence as we first held the Kansas City Chiefs to 17 at Arrowhead, followed by a commanding comeback victory against the Los Angeles Rams, where the defense held them to 0 pts in the first half, along with two blocked field goal attempts, which gave us the win. Week 4 was a strong victory led by the offense in Tampa, where they scored 31 points and debuted the “fake” tush push as well as the quick shovel pass to Dallas Goedert for a touchdown. From an outsider looking based on the record, this seems like a solid start, but these past few weeks have been devastating in terms of their play. They lost in Week 5 to the Denver Broncos at home, followed by a crushing loss by Jaxon Dart and the Giants on Thursday Night Football in East Rutherford. Are the defending champions having a blip in their season, or is this truly the end of their commanding run?
This Season vs Last Season
Going back to the 2024/25 season, the Eagles had only lost 3 games total, with 2 of those losses happening in the first 4 weeks of play. After Philadelphia’s week 4 loss to Tampa Bay, Coach Nick Sirriani was really in the hot seat. From then on, Philadelphia finished off the season, finishing 10-1, led by a record-breaking year by running back Saquon Barkley. Saquon finished the regular season with over 2,000 rushing yards, as well as having 8tds being 60+ yards. This season, he is on pace to have just shy of 1,000 rushing yards with 13 total touchdowns (TOT) compared to last season, where he had more than twice the amount of rushing yards with 15 total touchdowns. This lack of rushing has caused the Eagles to not have chances to take advantage in the red zone and close out games, and Saquon is not the only Eagles superstar to have a slow start to the season compared to last year. DeVonta Smith, who only played 13 games last season, ended with 833 receiving yards, 68 receptions, and 8 touchdowns. If he were to play the full season this year, he would be on pace for 925 yards, 85 receptions, and only 3-4 touchdowns. Considering this is taking into account that he plays four more games, these numbers seem relatively close to last year’s season, where he played fewer. This trend of lower stats has also translated to AJ Brown’s game, who has publicly said that he is upset that the ball hasn’t been looked his way as much.
Preparation for Following Weeks
To prepare for the following weeks, it is integral that Kevin Patullo (Philadelphia’s Offensive Coordinator) calls plays that are a variety of rushing and passing. Our games have been strong offensively, but they are too focused on one strategy. For example, against Denver, DeVonta Smith had 8 receptions and over 100 receiving yards compared to the week prior against Tampa Bay, where he only had 2 receptions for 29 yards. Make some variation in the offensive playbook using Saquon to penetrate below-average run defenses and to have multiple receiving plays that exploit the defensive backs. Utilize DeVonta Smith on go routes or fades, and use AJ brown for quick slants to get quick yards and for an automatic first down. The team has the players; however, they need to be utilized in the right way to dominate their opponent.