This week, all week long, we've been taking a negative look at each of the teams in the NFC East, in detail. Today we'll finish out the series with the Philadelphia Eagles.

🔥 DUMPSTER FIRE SERIES 🔥

Cowboys | Giants | Commanders

1) Firing Kevin Patullo won't fix everything

After the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2024, they lost offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who left to be the New Orleans Saints' head coach. Because they lost Moore so late in that offseason's hiring cycle, available coordinator options around the league had already been picked clean.

And so, the Eagles opted for familiarity and continuity by promoting Patullo, who had been the Eagles' pass game coordinator since 2021.

"That continuity is really important because he knows what I'm thinking in certain situations, how you want things to be taught, all of those different things, so he's been a great resource for me the entire time, our success this year, but really the success we've had since we've been here," Nick Sirianni said after Patullo's promotion. "Can't be great without the greatness of others and that is definitely a fact with Kevin Patullo and I trust him with everything. Got a ton of trust and faith with him. He's awesome."

Narrator: "He was not awesome."

The Eagles' offense stunk in 2025, as their numbers were down almost entirely across the board. 

And it's not as if the Eagles' offensive personnel changed from 2024 into 2025. It was more or less the same starers, with the exception of Tyler Steen taking over for Mekhi Becton at RG. 

The Eagles entered the 2025 season with the most expensive offense in the NFL, filled with decorated players:

• QB Jalen Hurts: 2 Pro Bowls, 1 All-Pro, 1 MVP runner-up, 1 Super Bowl MVP

• RB Saquon Barkley: 3 Pro Bowls, 1 All-Pro, 1 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

• WR A.J. Brown: 3 Pro Bowls, 3 All-Pros

• LT Jordan Mailata: 1 All-Pro

• LG Landon Dickerson: 3 Pro Bowls

• C Cam Jurgens: 2 Pro Bowls

• RT Lane Johnson: 6 Pro Bowls, 5 All-Pros

There were only four players without any postseason decorations who were primary starters for the Eagles' offense this season, and two of them were very good players in DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.

Even if most of the above players underperformed individually in 2025, it's still unfathomable that the Eagles could finish comfortably in the back half of the league in almost all of the team stats shown in the chart above with the roster they fielded.

But even worse than the pure numbers was the experience of watching the Eagles' offense, which was predictable, far too conservative, and frankly, often nonsensical.

And so, there were some changes this offseason. The Eagles fired Patullo, the primary target for Eagles fans' frustration during the 2025 season. And certainly, that firing was deserved. Patullo was in over his head as a coordinator, but on some levels, he also unfairly bore the full brunt of the blame for some aspects of the offense that were very likely outside of his control. For example:

• In several games — notably in losses to the Broncos and Cowboys, as well as a near-loss to the Bills — the Eagles got a lead, and then went into hyper-conservative mode in the second half, blowing double-digit point leads.

• Oftentimes on third and long the Eagles would call ultra-conservative plays (draws to Will Shipley that had no chance, for example), opting not to risk a turnover and instead choosing to punt.

• In several scenarios at the end of the first half, the Eagles would effectively opt not to try to score more points, and let the time run out.

Make no mistake. Those frustrating big picture types of strategic decisions came from Sirianni, not Patullo.

And there were aspects of the offense that were at least partly attributable to Patullo that were maddening to watch on a week-to-week basis, but also weren't fixed at any point by Sirianni either:

• They were the slowest team in the NFL to get out of the huddle and to the line of scrimmage.

• Pre-snap procedural penalties were a season-long issue.

• They rarely schemed their receivers open for easy throws/catches, and instead relied on their receivers to constantly have to win contested catches.

• Route concepts were remedial at best, as they ran a historic number of hitch routes, complemented by four verts.

• There was rarely any discernable play sequencing, in which one play early in the game might set up another play later in the game.

• Personnel decisions were often maddening, such as the reliance of tight end Grant Calcaterra to serve as a run-blocking specialist, when that is the biggest weakness in his game; or the refusal to get the effective Tank Bigsby involved in the rushing attack in any meaningful way.

• They would line up in tight formations, bringing receivers close to the offensive line, thus triggering the defense to bring more defenders into the box and then running out of those looks into brick walls.

And after every game, film junkies would point out these very obvious flaws; and Sirianni and Patullo would be asked about them during their weekly press conferences. And yet, it never changed. They ran their boring, predictable offense complete with all of their annoying quirks all the way through the regular season and into the playoffs, when an absolutely abysmal 49ers defense was able to shut them down one last time.

After parting with Patullo, the Eagles hired Sean Mannion, who by all accounts seems to have won the respect of the players for his ability to install an offense and answer their questions. The messaging from the team is that the offense is his. Fans certainly hope that he can bring some creativity back to the offense, and that he'll be allowed to cook.

But if you think there won't be interference from Sirianni, think again. There are already hints that Mannion will be micromanaged.

Sirianni has been and always will be hyper-focused on turnovers — creating them defensively, and avoiding them offensively. Not turning the ball over is great. However, Sirianni's avoidance of turnovers has gone too far at times, as he has often been far too conservative in many ways, some of which were outlined above.

Sirianni was recently asked if he could tolerate a small uptick in turnovers if it meant Jalen Hurts could discard the training wheels and dive into the new offense.

"As long as I'm the head coach here, we're going to be very diligent about winning that turnover battle and winning the explosive play battle," Sirianni said. "I know it's like, 'Okay, that sounds simple,' but there's an art to it because you've got to be able to create explosives in different ways and sometimes that puts the ball at risk, but at the end of the day, that ball is still the most important thing. 

"We'll know how to create explosives in that time, but taking care of the ball is the most important thing and we'll talk about this all the time, can we come out of a game with every drive ending in a kick? Whether that's an extra point, hopefully, whether that's a field goal or whether that's a punt. That's the mission of how we want to go about our fundamentals."

There may not be a coaching quote I hate more than the "End every drive with a kick" horseshit. Punting is bad! Aside from some late-game situations, punting should not be an acceptable outcome. 

But with this Eagles team specifically, which had the highest percentage of drives ending in three-and-outs in the NFL in 2025, any kind of messaging that punts are OK is just mind-blowing.

2) The quarterback is successful, but has flaws

As noted above, Hurts is a decorated player. He was the MVP runner-up during the 2022 season and arguably the best player on the field during the Super Bowl that year. In 2024, he was good-not-great during the regular season, but turned it on in the playoffs, and walked away with a ring and a Super Bowl MVP trophy.

But also...

Hang on, allow me a second to lock the doors of my house. OK, ready?

(Clears throat.)

Hurts has flaws.

😱😱😱

A whole lot of Eagles fans object to the notion that Hurts had a down season in 2025. And uhhh, I'm sorry, but were we watching different games? The scheme and the play calling and a lot of the other coaching staff's failures mentioned above certainly didn't help, but as a passer, a number of Hurts' old bad habits resurfaced, and he was not much of a threat as a runner. 

Last offseason, the discourse surrounding Hurts was exhausting. You had people saying freaking Geno Smith (lol) was a better quarterback. My personal feeling on a lot of those silly rankings was that a lot of people either discounted or ignored Hurts' contributions to the run game. Not only did he make his own plays with his legs, but he also kept opposing defenses honest on zone reads, making defenders account for him as a runner and giving Saquon Barkley more favorable numbers in the box on his runs during his historic season. 

However, as we had mentioned throughout the back half of the 2025 season, I was told that Hurts did not like having a lot of designed QB runs in the game plan. And sure enough, his rushing attempts per game were way down. He had rushed for over 600 yards each of his previous four seasons, but in 2025, just 421. He did not seem to want to utilize a highly effective part of his skill set, and the rushing offense suffered as a whole.

If Hurts isn't willing to heavily utilize his talents as a runner, the reality is that he is not maximizing his effectiveness as a quarterback. And you know what? Some of those silly rankings of a year ago kinda become more valid if we're looking at Hurts strictly as a passer.

And then the other hot button discussion about Hurts' game this offseason is his willingness (or lack thereof) to throw in the middle of the field, which is likely going to be a necessity in Mannion's offense.

Earlier this offseason, I took a question about that in a mailbag post, and pointed out that while it is a fact that over the last two years Hurts threw over the middle of the field less than any other quarterback in the NFL, that didn't mean that he couldn't do it. He didn't throw over the middle of the field much in 2021 either, and there were concerns that the team's trade of A.J. Brown during the 2022 offseason would test Hurts' ability to adjust. As it turned out, he did, and he was very efficient throwing over the middle.

Anyway, a bunch of Hurts stans somehow saw that as a slight and absolutely lost their shit, lol.

Ultimately, the reality is that although he has bounced back from adversity in the past, Hurts didn't have a good year last year. 🤷‍♂️

3) Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens may never be the same again

Dickerson was named to the Pro Bowl in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Jurgens was a Pro Bowler deservingly in 2024, undeservingly in 2025. They both had down 2025 seasons.

Dickerson battled through an assortment of injuries in 2025, some known, like an August meniscus injury that required "a minor procedure," and some that he kept to himself. 

There were so many times in locker rooms after games when Dickerson looked like he had just been through a really rough day, physically, perhaps more consistently with any one player than I've ever witnessed in my 13 seasons covering the team. But if we're being honest, Dickerson has pretty routinely looked banged up throughout the season going back further than just 2025. It merely accelerated last season.

Dickerson had a long injury history as a college prospect heading into the NFL:

1. November 2016: Torn ACL, right knee.
2. October 2017: Right ankle surgery ended his season.
3. 2018: Nagging/recurring left ankle injury caused him to miss most of the season.
4. December 2020: Torn ACL, left knee.

Though Dickerson has avoided major injuries through his first five NFL seasons, he has accumulated a lot of wear and tear. He was a retirement candidate this offseason, before taking a pay cut in exchange for some non-guaranteed money being converted into guaranteed money. 

Jurgens played through a back injury during the Eagles' Super Bowl run in 2024, and had a procedure in February of 2025 to alleviate nerve pain. Following the NFC Championship Games he looked like a guy who had a very hurt back.

He missed most of 2025 training camp, and acknowledged during the regular season that he wasn't fully recovered from that procedure.

When healthy, Jurgens is an elite athlete for a center, but he looked ordinary in 2025.

Both Dickerson and Jurgens went to Medellín, Colombia this offseason for stem cell treatments.

It's probably unlikely to expect those guys to ever completely return to their 2024 form.

4) The Tush Push doesn't work anymore

Remember a couple of offseasons ago when teams around the league decided that the Tush Push was too hard to stop on the field so they tried to get it eliminated off the field. 

Well, nobody cares about trying to eliminate it these days because it doesn't work anymore.

The only team on the Eagles' schedule in 2025 that voted not to ban the Tush Push during the 2025 offseason was the Lions. In their Week 11 matchup against the Lions, the Eagles had four failed Tush Pushes. Two were false starts, and the Lions stopped consecutive Tush Pushes on third and fourth and 1 with about three minutes to go. Respect.

But also, the Tush Push actually led to turnovers. This should have been a turnover against the Giants.

And this WAS a turnover against the Bears, on the same type of play:

With Dickerson and Jurgens both banged up all year and Hurts' aversion to running, the Tush Push just wasn't anywhere near as effective as it has been. It was arguably a net negative for them in 2025. Opposing teams got better at figuring out ways to stop it, and the Eagles simply didn't run it anywhere near as well as they used to.

Obviously losing that play as an auto-convert on third and fourth and short is huge deal.

5) Saquon Barkley probably isn't the ultra-explosive back he was in 2024

As we identified in our Eagles dumpster fire post last summer, Saquon Barkley got an astronomical 482 touches in 2024, playoffs included. That was the third-highest number of touches in a single season since 2000. 

There have been 17 players who have had 430 or more touches in a single season during that span. Last year we showed those players with their yards per carry during their heavy workload season, and their yards per carry in their follow-up seasons. Only three of those players saw their yards per carry increase after their heavy workload seasons. That trend held true for Barkley, who went from 5.8 yards per carry to 4.1.

Here we'll tack on another column for those players' "next-next season."

As you can see, Arian Foster averaged 4.8 YPC in that "next-next season." Nobody else averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry, and the average yards per carry overall was 3.9. 😬

In other words, when running backs had massive workloads one season, it usually affected them for multiple seasons thereafter.

Barkley had a lot of things working against him last year. As noted already, Dickerson and Jurgens didn't play to their standard, and Lane Johnson missed almost half the season. Also the scheme stunk and Hurts didn't draw the same attention from opposing defenses as a runner like he did in 2024.

Still, this is obviously subjective since the NFL doesn't share GPS data with us, but it sure looked like Barkley didn't have the same extreme burst he had in 2024, and he just turned 29 in February. And it's not as if he had some sort of break from carrying the football last season. His touches were down from 482 to 346, a drastic decrease, sure, but he still also had the sixth-most touches in the NFL.

6) If the Eagles can't be a dominant run team, they probably won't be special

OK, so if the quarterback doesn't want to run it and the running back is likely in decline and two formerly dominant run-blocking offensive linemen are getting stem cell treatments for lingering injuries, there's a pretty good chance the Eagles' run game won't be that much improved in 2026. 

The Eagles have made it to the Super Bowl three times since 2017. Here's where they ranked in rushing offense those three seasons:

All of those teams had great defenses and this one appears to be really good as well, but they all also rode their run game to the Super Bowl. We'll see what the new scheme brings, but there's less reason for optimism on the run game front than there has been in other offseasons.

And if they just don't have an elite run game, it'll be harder to lean on the passing game, partly because...

7) A.J. Brown isn't on the team anymore

Brown wasn't happy in Philly anymore, and in my opinion he was pretty clearly in decline. The Eagles did very well to get a first-round pick and more in exchange for Brown, and they were right to trade him before his value plummeted. Long-term, it was kind of a no-brainer.

But short-term, the team is worse without Brown than they are with him. I've seen Eagles fans disagree with that notion, on the premise that Brown's bad body language and occasional on-field moping made him a lesser player than someone much less talented trying their hardest. 

So, OK, for that crowd, we can at least agree that the Eagles' outlook at receiver this offseason is the lowest it has been since the team traded for Brown, right? I mean, he was an elite receiver in Philly who had more than his share of legitimately great moments. We can find common ground there? Yes? Cool.

You know what's fun? When fans can claim they have a top three receiving duo, like Eagles fans could argue the last four years. Cowboys fans certainly can try to argue that. Though DeVonta Smith is primed for a bigger role that I think everyone agrees he is ready for, it's hard to reasonably claim that the Eagles' receiving corps overall are even top 10 anymore.

And if the Eagles' run game stalls again and they need these receivers to be make the kinds of plays that Brown and Smith made in tandem the last four years, they probably just don't have that capability. Expecting rookie Makai Lemon to fill those shoes is unrealistic and unfair. (And also he's rehabbing a hamstring injury that cost him most of OTAs and minicamp.)

8) What's up with Jalen Carter?

Jalen Carter is arguably the Eagles' most talented player. In 2024, he was a menace all season on the interior, despite facing constant double teams. He made his first Pro Bowl and earned his first All-Pro nod after his regular season performance, and made arguably the two biggest plays of the season in the Divisional Round against the Rams, when he sacked Matthew Stafford on a late third down and forced a quick, off-target throw on fourth down, saving the Eagles' season.

In the Super Bowl, Carter was a major reason why the Eagles' defensive line obliterated the Chiefs' offensive line, as he often occupied the Chiefs' two best linemen, allowing his teammates to dominate favorable one-on-one matchups across the board otherwise.

The 2025 season didn't go quite as well. He missed most of training camp with a shoulder injury, but was ready to play Week 1. Except, well, he spit on Dak Prescott before he even played a single defensive snap.

You're not allowed to do that, and Carter was kindly asked to leave the game.

He then proceeded to have a disappointing season, collecting 33 tackles, three sacks, and seven batted passes in 11 games. 

Carter had shoulder issues throughout the 2025 season. He was a late Week 6 scratch in a game the Eagles' defense got bullied, by the Giants of all teams. And then later, after a game in which he played poorly and the Eagles' defense got bullied again against the Bears, he had a procedure on both shoulders. In fairness, he did block two kicks in games the Eagles might have otherwise lost.

As we noted in our Eagles dumpster fire last year, Carter led all NFL interior defensive linemen with 1,068 snaps played in 2024. Much like a heavy workload probably caught up to Saquon Barkley on the offensive side of the ball in 2025, the same thing may have happened to Carter on defense.

This offseason was the first that Carter was eligible for a contract extension, and nothing has gotten done yet. It's at least noteworthy that Carter skipped voluntary OTAs, and was present at a mandatory minicamp but did not participate in team drills. 

Nick Sirianni was asked if that was injury and/or contract related, and he declined to answer. 

It also perhaps worth noting that at the owners meetings in March, Jeffrey Lurie was asked if a contract extension was in the works for "Jalen." The question did not specify which "Jalen," but every reporter in the room understood that it was in reference to Jalen Hurts. Lurie then gave a stock answer about how the team doesn't discuss contract negotiations. 

He was then asked how he thought "Jalen" played last season, to which he simply replied with a semi-dismissive, "Good."

Lurie is typically effusive in praise for Hurts at every opportunity, and for him to just give an unenthusiastic one-word answer was kind of shocking. He was then asked another "Jalen" follow-up question that was more clearly about Hurts, when he realized the previous two questions were about Jalen Hurts, when he thought they were about Jalen Carter, lol. OOPS! He then requested to rewind the press conference and re-answer the question about Hurts' 2025 performance. And sure enough, he gave his usual effusive praise for Hurts.

That misunderstanding was perhaps revealing. Lurie knew full well that he gave an unenthusiastic "Good" when he thought he was being asked how Carter played last season. He asked for a re-do on the question with Hurts but not for Carter lol. Interesting moment!

Anyway, Carter is a "hold in" candidate, which would be a rarity for an Eagles team that is always more than eager to pay its star players long before their contracts expire.

Carter had character concerns coming out of college. As a reminder, his stock took several hits leading up to the draft, which is why he was available at pick No. 9.

• Then-ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said on the air that Carter had some character concerns, as transcribed by USA Today: 

"With Carter, there are some character issues. Does he get along with everybody. What’s he like to deal with in the locker room, those sorts of issues. I know it’s early in the process, but I’m forewarning everybody out there. Carter is going to be a hot-button name when we talk about some of the intangible aspects of it...

“That will be the big discussion. It’s not about his talent, his size or his explosive take off or finishing as a pass rusher, it’s about the character and do we want to bring that guy into the building.”

• Later, Carter was at the scene of a crash in which teammate Devin Willock and recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy were killed. He misled prosecutors about his whereabouts when the incident occurred, and later left the NFL Combine to go back to Georgia, where he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing. He received a year of probation, plus a small fine and community service. A longer summary of the situation can be found here.

• In March, he had an ugly performance at Georgia's pro day during which he came in about 10 pounds heavier than expected, and he looked gassed running through drills, shown here:

Jalen Carter bending through the bags pic.twitter.com/Lsk3RJl6zo

— Billy M (@BillyM_91) March 15, 2023

The spitting incident was a reminder of those concerns. As such, there seems to be some uneasiness about the team's willingness to commit to Carter long-term at the top of the iDL market, which currently sits at around $35 million per year.

Yes, the Eagles have star players on defense, like Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, and Zack Baun, and a nice trio of edge rushers. But Carter is the guy who stirs the drink. We saw what the defense looked like without him in that alarming game against the Giants, and also what they looked like when he wasn't himself against the Bears. It wasn't pretty.

The need him to be a star player. They can be elite if he's playing at a high level. If not, who knows? So, you know, this is a situation that the Eagles cannot mess up, however it plays out.

9) The kicker and the safeties

After a near-automatic season in 2023, Jake Elliott signed a four-year contract extension worth $24 million, making him one of the highest-paid kickers in football.

But that season, concerns started creeping up, as Elliott dropped to a 77.8 field goal percentage and struggled especially on kicks from 50-plus yards out (he was 1-for-7 on them during the regular season). The Eagles winning the Super Bowl heavily masked that, but 2025 left nowhere to hide. Elliott's field-goal percentage dropped further to 74.1, going 4-for-8 on kicks from 50-plus yards and 7-for-10 on attempts from 40-49 yards. 

In several games late in the season – all losses to Dallas, Chicago, the L.A. Chargers, and then in the playoffs to the 49ers – Elliott missed kicks that ended up being crucial points left off the board for the Eagles.

This offseason, the Eagles restructured Elliott's contract, reducing his base pay from $6 million down to $5 million, but guaranteeing all of it for 2026. They probably should have just gotten a new kicker, but are letting past achievements cloud what he is as a player currently.

And then there's a safeties, a semi-annual concern for the Eagles this time of year. One starter, Andrew Mukuba, is 5'11, 186, and missed six games as a rookie. The other, Marcus Epps, has just three career INTs and two career forced fumbles in seven NFL seasons.

10) The NFC is really good

There were a few years in which the NFC was kind of up for grabs. Now, there are legitimately really good teams. The Seahawks stomped all over their playoff opponents on their way to a Super Bowl last year. The Rams had the league MVP and the No. 1 offense in the league in 2025, and they traded for freaking Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie. The Packers are playoff regulars who traded for Micah Parsons. The Bears were a rising team last year. The Lions still have a lot of talent. The 49ers and Cowboys always seem to give the Eagles problems.

The Eagles were the best team in the league in 2024 and were deserving Super Bowl champions. But also... they got to play a fraudulent Commanders team in the NFC Championship Game, lol. The NFC is way better in 2026 than it was a couple years ago.