Sportsnaut
Kevin Patullo’s latest comments aren’t inspiring much confidence that he can figure out how to fix a struggling Philadelphia Eagles offense. Despite being 4-0, the Birds are just the second team in NFL history to start the season undefeated through Week 4 despite being outgained by their opponents, joining the 2012 Arizona Cardinals — a team that ended up finishing dead last in the NFC West.
The Eagles offense is averaging just 250.1 yards per contest, ranking 30th in the league. Saquon Barkley has yet to have a 100-yard game after coming off a 2,000-yard season. A.J. Brown has only 14 receptions for 151 yards and a touchdown while DeVonta Smith has 17 catches for 158 yards and a score. Jalen Hurts is averaging 152.3 passing yards through the first four weeks.
During Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Eagles had 201 yards of total offense in the first half as Hurts went 15-for-16, but fell flat in the second half, accumulating minus-one yards of offense as Hurts didn’t complete a pass, going 0-for-8.
“I felt like at times, we were just trying to do what we kind of wanted to and looking back, I think there’s some things we can change as far as how we want to approach that situation,” Patullo, the first-time offensive coordinator, said, via The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Olivia Reiner. “But really, it just comes down [to] learning from each situation. We’ve had very unique games to this point, so I think it’s been good to go through that early in the season.”
When asked what he could do to get the offense back on track, it seemed like Patullo didn’t have an answer.
“That’s part of the process we’re going through — right? — as a staff, as a team, throughout this first four games is finding what that is,” Patullo said. “There’s some things that we know a little bit, like, OK, this is starting to pop up that we know we’re excelling at a little bit. I think as we go, we’ll start to figure out that more.”
It’s concerning that Patullo hasn’t found an identity for an offense that returned 10 of 11 starters from their Super Bowl season. Patullo was promoted from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator after Kellen Moore left to become the head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
Patullo’s familiarity with the offense made it seem like he should’ve been a solid hire to lead the offense into the future, but it’s been incredibly conservative through the first four games with a lack of explosive plays. Defenses have been able to stop Barkley at the line of scrimmage running up the middle, and Patullo hasn’t drawn up plays to get Brown and Smith more involved consistently.
On top of that, Brown posted a cryptic biblical message on social media following Sunday’s game where he had only two catches for nine yards.
“If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly...
