This game against the Denver Broncos summed up everything about the 2025 Eagles offense: moments of brilliance surrounded by long stretches of sloppiness and frustration. The first half looked functional but the second half fell apart through the same old issues. The lack of detail, a non-existent run game, and poor receiver effort let the entire unit down. For all the talent on this roster, they continue to play below their potential because of execution and design flaws.
Offense
I was annoyed after just one drive. Everything is covered (as it often is), but the one receiver who has a chance to uncover, Dallas Goedert, jogs through his route. Hurts puts the ball where he has a chance, but Goedert’s half-speed effort means he’s two yards short of making a play. These are the “small details” this staff preaches about but never fixes. It’s not new. This has been happening since Week 1. Too many guys, especially the non-primary reads, aren’t running their routes with intent. The offense has lazy habits.
A good run! Sound the alarm! The Eagles ran a simple outside zone toss and picked up 17 yards. It was the perfect call versus Denver’s heavy front: the Broncos love to stack the line with five and six defenders, which makes it easy to seal the edge and create horizontal space. I called for this exact call in the preview to this game. The offensive line executed it perfectly, Barkley looked decisive, and it felt like a foundation to build on. Then they never ran it again. One play, 17 yards, and gone. It’s insane. The staff seems allergic to sticking with what works. Who runs a successful run play once and never again?
Here’s what good sequencing looks like. We don’t see this enough. The fake toss from the same look as the 17-yarder caused the linebackers to step up, opening the other side of the field. Hurts booted the other way, hitting a short throw that set up another first down. This is how a functioning offense builds rhythm: establish a run concept, then build play-action off it. This stuff doesn’t have to be hard. But like the toss itself, the Eagles went away from it. It’s hard to build an offensive identity when your own play-caller doesn’t trust what works.
The silver lining is that Hurts’ improvement against the blitz is real. We might as well look at some of the positives. It isn’t all bad, I guess. Denver sent pressure frequently early, and Hurts carved them up. He’s processing faster, staying calm, and delivering on time. You can tell the game has slowed down for him. He’s diagnosing blitz structure pre-snap and taking what’s there. This was an area of legitimate growth. He was 8-for-9 against blitzes in the first half with a touchdown. For all the issues elsewhere, this is a quarterback playing high-level football mentally. It seems clear to me that this coaching staff has prioritised this part of Hurts’ game over the past year and worked hard at it. This is what happens when you sweat the small stuff.
The RPO package returned, and it was easily the offense’s most consistent weapon. Hurts was decisive, the reads were clear, and they executed well the majority of the time. The touchdown to Dallas Goedert came off a simple RPO rub concept, which they ran repeatedly, and it felt like vintage Eagles football. I find it maddening that we haven’t seen this more this year. The frustrating part is that these quick-decision, rhythm concepts seem to keep disappearing from the plan for entire drives.
This one really annoyed me. It shouldn’t be because it’s a fine play, but there are so many minor things I don’t like. The shotgun run game is, in my opinion, completely lifeless. They do not use Hurts as a rusher anymore. On this play, Hurts had no read; there was no threat of a keeper, no defender being held by the threat of Hurts. You could run this play with the most immobile quarterback of all time, and it wouldn’t look any different. Defenders can crash freely because they know Hurts won’t pull it. Then you get the RPO itself. Just look at how Hurts and Barkley are lined up. There is no chance Hurts can actually throw this to the bubble screen. It’s a fake bubble screen because he can’t actually throw it.
Hurts didn’t have a bad game, but he missed some throws he’ll want back. This was a simple stick throw to Goedert, which he should have made. I could sense some hesitation creeping in when the first read wasn’t there. I still think that, out of structure, he looks too cautious. Maybe even overcoached to avoid turnovers? For a quarterback this athletic, he rarely creates on the move. Whether that’s fear of turnovers or schematic conservatism, it’s holding the offense back as it prevents big plays. When he’s in rhythm, the ball jumps out and he’s a top-tier passer when confident and protected. However, I think he is leaving some big plays out of structure on the field. However, this is not all on him! Just wait until later…
When this offense attacks vertically, it still looks elite. Hurts and DeVonta Smith connected on a gorgeous deep shot, and Smith was outstanding all game. He beat the corner clean off the line, stacked him, and tracked the ball like the star that he is. Denver’s corners struggled all night against double moves, and the Eagles could’ve punished them more if they’d been on the same page later on in the game. He finished with 7 catches for 118 yards, most of them coming on precise routes against man coverage, which is where this offense excels.
A.J. Brown can dominate at will. He beat Patrick Surtain II a few times in this game, which is hard to do. But the effort remains inconsistent. There were snaps where he barely left the line of scrimmage when he wasn’t the primary read. The tension between him and Hurts still feels palpable, and it’s affecting their timing. We will get into this more later, but I wanted to just show how good this player is. This is an outstanding route. When Brown’s locked in, he’s almost unstoppable. But right now, he’s not fully locked in, and that’s on both the player and the staff to fix. He’s still an elite receiver, and we are missing his dominance right now.
The Broncos sat back in Cover 3 and Cover 4 for most of the second half, and the Eagles had no answers. They haven’t all year. This team just sucks vs zone coverage. It’s so obvious.
The concepts are static, with no motion, no route adjustments to attack space. They don’t flood zones. They don’t put defenders in a conflict. On this snap, Goedert again jogged through his route, knowing the ball wouldn’t come his way. The spacing was poor, and there’s nothing there. Hurts held the ball because there was nowhere to go. Teams don’t need to blitz the Eagles anymore. Just sit back in zone and wait for them to implode. It feels that easy. I would love to coach defense against this offense. If I can figure it out with the film, and the numbers back me up, then every good defensive coordinator is going to play a ton of zone every single week against this team until they can fix it. It’s that simple.
There are still moments where the talent wins. Mainly, against man coverage. Hurts read the coverage perfectly here, identifying Barkley isolated on linebacker Alex Singleton and taking the shot. This was a weakness I noted in the preview as well. Perfect throw, perfect touch, easy touchdown. The Eagles’ offense remains exceptional against man coverage because their talent ultimately prevails. Barkley’s still a dynamic receiver, and this was a reminder of that. The issue is that these moments come through individual brilliance, not coherent design. Talent beats man coverage, scheme beats zone.
It’s one of those plays that will circulate all week. We may as well get into it. Hurts launched a deep ball to A.J. Brown, who stopped running mid-route. It should’ve been a touchdown, and game over. Instead, it fell incomplete by five yards. Brown was redirected early and assumed Hurts would come off him. He ‘assumed’ the football would not come his way. You can’t have that kind of effort at this level. I’m not throwing Brown under the bus here. This happens all the time on film this season. It’s been happening since week one. The coaching staff has let it happen, and it has cost them in a big moment. Lapses in effort are evident throughout the film. Effort and accountability remain significant issues. This sucks.
This play drove me mental. Absolutely mental. The concept is bland as always, and no one is open, but Hurts tried to extend the play due to outstanding pass protection. Jahan Dotson, instead of breaking upfield like scramble rules usually dictate, drifted laterally. Hurts threw the ball, expecting a vertical route. The minor details are not coached well, as I’ve said all season. This is precisely the kind of breakdown that separates good offenses from elite ones. Scramble rules should be second nature. Instead, it looks like everyone’s guessing. This happens way too often.
At this point, the run game is beyond broken. I have no reason why. I am lost for words. After the toss play earlier on, the offense ran outside zone and inside zone. That’s it. Barkley had 6 carries. 6! Hurts had zero designed runs. As if I wasn’t annoyed enough, the Eagles decided to throw in a pointless under-center run for good measure. They can’t block this well, and it happens every week. I could write a book about how vital Hurts is to this running game. Until he becomes a significant factor, it won’t be great again. I don’t get it. I wish I had the answers!
This final play summed up the season so far. An illegal shift wiped out a perfect deep ball from Hurts to Smith. Dotson moved before the snap, Barkley didn’t reset, so I guess the flag had to be called. The offense just can’t get out of its own way. They make great plays and immediately undo them with sloppy details. Discipline issues are everywhere: false starts, illegal formations, poor spacing, and a lack of effort. It’s not one player; it’s a reflection of the entire operation. It needs a hard reset.
The Eagles’ offense remains one of the most talented but least cohesive units in football. The first half offered glimpses of what they can be, but the second half exposed all the same cracks. They can’t beat zone coverage, they can’t run the ball, and they do not do the basics well. The coaching staff deserves scrutiny. The run game lacks direction, the route concepts are too rigid, and players aren’t being held accountable for their effort.
At 4–1, the record looks fine. However, this offense has not been effective all season long. This team has the talent to be 5-0, but the coaching is a group lucky not to be 3-2 or 2-3. The margin between those outcomes lies in coaching, attention to detail, and play design. All of which must improve immediately if the Eagles are going to look like genuine contenders. Right now, I’m incredibly frustrated (and quite frankly, bored) by this offense.
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