From the Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/mw9b7pps
PHILADELPHIA — It’s a team effort inside the NovaCare Complex as the Eagles, entering the final week of the regular season, continue groping in the dark for solutions to their persistent problems on offense.
In the second half against Buffalo, the Birds’ offense produced just 16 yards, and Jalen Hurts didn’t complete a pass. It was the second time this year the quarterback went an entire half without a completion (the first was in Tampa in Week 4).
The lack of offensive production remains jarring, given the talent and NFL-leading payroll on that side of the ball.
Except for a handful of games, the second half has been a nightmare offensively, with frequent three-and-outs spurred by inefficiency on first down. But with the playoffs around the corner, no one in the building seems to have an answer, including offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
“We’re working through that right now still,” Patullo said Tuesday. “We watched (the film) right after the game as a staff. We watched through it on the plane, then we went through it yesterday, and we’re still going through some stuff now as we speak.
“Really, when you look at it, the amount of drives we had and plays and some of the starting positions, it was the first down thing again. We had four drives where we had inefficient first downs, put us in four second-and-longs, and then from that, we were in three third-and-longs.”
Right, but why is first down such a bugaboo, particularly in the second halves of games? Is it really that hard to pick up a few yards on first down?
What are the keys to this troubling trend?
“I don’t think it’s one schematic thing or something the defense has been doing necessarily, and that’s why we’ve got to keep working through it,” Patullo said. “It’s not just about one player, one coach, one call. It’s all of us together.
“We’ve got to all make sure we’re on the same page as far as coaches, players. Execute it, call it right. We’ve got to do the right thing. I think we’ve just got to continue to press on getting these things done when we’re having a moment of, ‘OK, we didn’t have what we wanted on first down, we’ve got to get it going on second down,’ so we don’t have these moments.”
Coach Nick Sirianni offered up similar words a day earlier: “That’s something we’re going to study and we have been studying.”
In other words, they don’t know.
This is January, and the Eagles’ offense is at the same impasse as it was in September.
Perhaps, for whatever variety of reasons — lack of health on the O-line, play calling, Hurts not executing — this is what the Eagles’ offense is. That notion is difficult to reconcile because it certainly seems like they’re massively underachieving.
In fact, it’s hard to imagine that some other NFL coaching staffs — such as the Bears, Rams, 49ers, Packers, Vikings, Broncos, Jaguars or Chiefs, or even some lesser-noted staffs who are desperate for talent — would struggle with these weapons.
Patullo intimated that the Eagles may have found something to get the offense going, but he didn’t elaborate. He said it’s not as easy a flipping a switch, but he still thinks it’s possible to find some consistent rhythm, to play four complete quarters.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a switch,” Patullo said. “I think we’ve been a little inconsistent, and we know we have it in us to do what we need to do because we’ve done it in spots. That’s what we’ve got to really lean into and press into and be detailed and do what we have to do.”
Time will tell.
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco at @the_defranc for the latest updates.