An identity crisis in Philadelphia: Eagles' offense showing major flaws, can Philly fix them?

The differences in the anime adaptations of Naruto and Boruto are staggering. Despite having the same production company, same animators, same cast and same characters (even additions of new ones), Boruto just feels like it's lacking something. Some oomph, the same character growth or emotional moments–the foundation is lacking.

You can say the same thing about the 2025 Philadelphia Eagles' offense. Yes, they're 4-1, but after a 21-17 loss to the Denver Broncos where they blew a 14-point lead, this time it feels different. When the Eagles had a 17-3 lead, they couldn't put the Broncos away. They went back to the RPO offense that helped them in 2022, but when it came time to run the ball, not only did they choose not to, they were poor at it. While the defense has held up their bargain for most of the season, the offense has left a lot to be desired. The Eagles are 18th in EPA per play, 22nd in success rate and RB Saquon Barkley is on pace for 908 rushing yards this season, his lowest output since his final year with the New York Giants. The most fascinating part of this drop off by the Eagles is that most of the core is still there. Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata still hold down the tackle spots, AJ Brown and Devonta Smith are still good, but everything is just off. Many have opted to blame offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo for their shortcomings, but I think the issues go much deeper than that. 

In an era of teams playing more two-high shells, the foundation of the Eagles' offense is simple: they force teams out of two-high shells via the most punishing run game on early downs and against light boxes (6 or fewer players in the tackle box). They have the best offensive line in the NFL, and a built in run threat in Jalen Hurts who forces teams into moving a safety into the tackle box, and that's when they take their shots throwing to Brown and Smith on the outside.

Saquon Barkley injury: Eagles RB (knee) says he has 'general soreness,' is 'excited' to play Giants on 'TNF'

Bryan DeArdo

The Eagles forced teams to play the World's Hardest Game, and just like when I actually played that game online as a kid, many teams failed. In 2025, there seems to be more answers to stopping the Eagles' offense, and it has to do with their personnel. Left guard Landon Dickerson has been dealing with knee and back injuries since the preseason, and left the Broncos game with an injury. Barkley is also nursing a knee injury, although he should be ready to go for Thursday's tilt against the Giants. It was already going to be difficult to replace the impact of Mekhi Becton in the run game, but with Dickerson less than 100%, it has made the formula for the Eagles' offense turn sour. Philadelphia still wants to run the ball on early downs; through five games this season their early down pass rate of 52.6% is almost in lockstep with their early down pass rate of 51.2% in 2024. However, they had an EPA per carry of 0.057, on early downs last season, absolutely mowing teams down in the run game even without Hurts using his legs. 

This season? They've dropped to -0.051, a drastic difference in how explosive they are on the ground on first and second down. Per Sports Information Solutions, their Positive Play Rate on these early down runs has dropped from 43.2% to 38.6%, a precipitous fall in one offseason. This is also compounded by their inability to punish light boxes like they did last season. If you tried to defend the Eagles with 6 or fewer in the tackle box in 2024, you were asking to get run over; their 5.9 Yards per Carry and 0.16 EPA per carry against light boxes through the first five games of 2024 were the engine of a dominant offense. In 2025, that's gone down to 3.9 Yards per Carry (tied with the Cleveland Browns for second-worst in the NFL) and -0.02 EPA per carry. They've simply been a poor rushing team this season, and when your identity is compromised, it makes everything else fall apart.

What was on display Sunday against the Broncos was a team trying to figure out who they are against one of the best defenses in the NFL. As their run game floundered, the RPOs that were working in the first half got cut short by a Broncos defense that sent more zone coverage at the Eagles than they expected. Hurts on those zone coverage plays: 14 of 23 for 138 yards and was sacked six times. This is also another issue for the Eagles' offense, they simply are not good when teams play zone against them in passing situations. In 2025, Hurts is 33rd among all QBs with 50 attempts against zone in Success Rate, compared to ninth against man coverage. This isn't just a 2025 thing, however: Hurts was 22nd in success rate vs. zone compared to second vs. man in 2024. It's not just throwing zone at the Eagles that clutters their pass game plan, however. Simulated pressures have been an issue for Hurts and the Eagles this season, bringing guys from depth while still getting four into the pass rush. These plays for the Eagles' passing offense have been all over their tape this season; a lack of answers against zone and a QB who isn't working quickly enough to help mitigate those.

Their run game losing efficiency is the key to everything else coming apart for the Eagles' offense. You don't get the same variety of route concepts for AJ Brown with the run game not working, he and Smith become more bailout options on 3rd-and-long. Jalen Hurts becomes more of a dropback passer, an area that while he's improved in it, is not where the Eagles want to win games. When there are cracks in your foundation, it's hard to build anything on top of it.

So how do the Eagles fix their offensive issues? The answers lie both in personnel and playcalling. The first one is hoping Dickerson and Barkley are both healthy, if neither guy is at 100% this offense could crater. The second one is a little bit riskier, but I think with the way their offense has struggled, they have to give Jalen Hurts more designed run attempts. Running all the RPOs is very cool and helps you jump out to a lead, but you need some sustainability on the ground, and if you're not getting it from the RB runs, you have no way of forcing teams out of two high looks. I get that the Eagles run the risk of Hurts picking up wear and tear injuries, but in order to force teams back into that problem of sending a safety into the box, Hurts might have to take on more responsibility in the designed run game. As a passing unit, keeping the RPOs in the offense is a good thing, but where I think the Eagles can improve is getting Hurts easier targets in the intermediate area to beat 2-high structures. Every throw is an RPO or sideline shot, so getting Hurts to work the intermediate part of the field will help open up the offense much more for those explosive passes to Brown and Smith.

The Eagles are in the middle of one of their biggest offensive crises since Hurts took over as starter. However, these are fixable issues and could be the difference between repeating as champions and bowing out come playoff time.