Last week, I said I was frustrated, but also bored by this Philadelphia Eagles offense. This week, I feel angrier. The loss to the New York Giants was the worst offensive performance of the season and maybe the most disheartening one to watch back. It’s a team with elite offensive talent being dragged down by poor coaching, bad structure, and players who look uncertain about what they’re being asked to do.
Offense
The game actually started with something encouraging. The Eagles finally remembered they could run pin/pull, and it worked immediately. Cam Jurgens looked so much more comfortable pulling into space rather than playing under center, where bigger defensive tackles constantly expose him. It’s amazing how simple the fix seems, but put him in situations that highlight his athleticism, not his power. Barkley still looks excellent, running hard and decisively. The idea that he’s the reason the run game has regressed is laughable. The bigger problem is the coaches. We will get into why…
But of course, the next drive summed up why this team’s offensive sequencing is so maddening. They lined up in the exact same formation and ran the exact same play. The Giants’ linebackers immediately diagnosed it, crashed down, and blew it up. There’s zero unpredictability in this offense. Imagine if they had called play-action here? They’d have had an easy spot to hit behind the linebackers. The Eagles don’t use play-action and run a predictable offense. It’s easy to blame Jordan Mailata (as you should; it’s a bad play), but it’s hard on the offensive line when the defense knows what’s coming. There’s no sequencing to this offense.
And then there’s the dropback game. I don’t even know what to say anymore. I’m bored of talking about it. This is a third-and-eight, and the route concept has no answer against any coverage, but especially against zone. You’ve got routes that don’t threaten leverage, no clear spacing, and a late checkdown release from Barkley that makes the play completely unworkable. Who came up with this one? It’s embarrassing. Hurts has no chance here. These 2×2 concepts, where no one can separate against zone, are a weekly joke. I have no idea how any serious offensive minds can sit in the meeting room after the game, watch this play, and think this is good enough. What is going on?!
The crazy part is that Hurts didn’t actually play that poorly. He was 24-of-33 for 266 yards, but a few awful throws left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. At times, I thought he looked good and had some nice moments. The Eagles have the talent to destroy single-high man coverage, but why would well-coached teams play this coverage frequently against this team? This is a wonderful play, but it’s not enough. You can’t live in this world anymore. Especially without a run game, because teams don’t need to play single-high coverage.
Even when something works, I get annoyed. I’m going mad watching this offensee. On this run, they lined up quickly and caught the Giants off guard for a nice gain. But the design was insane. Why is DeVonta Smith used as a lead blocker behind the offensive line? Why is the run called toward A.J. Brown’s side, even though he’s been disinterested in run blocking all year? The coaches don’t seem to understand their players’ strengths. It’s like they’ve seen other teams run this look and think it looks cool. Using DeVonta Smith like this is just madness.
Hurts, meanwhile, continues to look most comfortable in empty sets. However, of course, the coaching staff doesn’t call it very often. Empty simplifies the picture and forces the defense to declare coverage early. Against zone-heavy looks, it’s also the easiest way to isolate receivers on linebackers in the middle of the field, just as the Eagles do here. If teams are going to play a ton of zone, why not go heavy frequently and put AJ Brown and Smith in the slot? This will force teams to play more man coverage. Hurts reads it quickly, gets the ball out, and the offense looks perfectly fine. And yet, they rarely use it. It’s a perfect example of this team’s refusal to lean into what works.
Once again, the red zone offense remains solid. The Eagles have continued to be creative inside the 20s, and they ran another clever concept here. They start by lining up in empty, shifting late, and getting Hurts under center for an underhand toss to Goedert. This was a smart, fun design. The frustrating thing is that they only show this kind of creativity in the red zone. Between the 20s, the offense is static. There’s no layering, no play-action sequencing, no attempt to build off previous success. I do not know this, but it makes me wonder if there is someone else on the staff designing the red zone stuff? Can we use him more?
The next play perfectly encapsulated the design failures. It’s so frustrating to watch stuff like this. The Eagles’ obsession with using their tight ends in key blocking roles this year has wrecked so many plays. They got A.J. Brown wide open on a slant for a potentially easy explosive play, but the whole thing blew up because they asked tight end Cameron Latu to block Abdul Carter, one of the best young edge rushers in football, on split-zone play-action. This is the kind of detail that separates good offenses from bad ones. You can’t call concepts that rely on tight ends blocking elite edges. The coaching malpractice on some of these calls is jaw-dropping. Once again, it is like they saw another team run this play and didn’t consider how it fits their own players.
Out of structure, the offense did look better than it has in recent weeks. Hurts had a few strong throws on the move, including a nice strike to Brown while rolling right. But those moments were isolated. It’s not enough.
This was one of the most frustrating plays on film. Hurts spent way too long reading the right side of the field against a zone look where four defenders covered two routes. He needs to speed up his process and quickly eliminate what isn’t here. I’ve seen enough examples of Hurts struggling to read 2×2 concepts, but the Eagles still use them, so I can’t be bothered to even moan about the design here. Meanwhile, DeVonta Smith was wide open on the backside, uncovered. Hurts eventually broke the pocket and extended, but Smith ran himself out of the play, covering his own route rather than working into space. This should have been a touchdown. Hurts’ eyes and Smith’s awareness both failed, and it summed up the disconnect between the quarterback and the receivers all game. This team is not coached well.
Every once in a while, something actually worked. On this play, the Eagles used motion to pull double coverage off A.J. Brown, freeing Goedert on a curl route against zone. Simple, effective, and exactly what this offense needs more of. This is how you beat zone: by using motion and spacing to create easy throws. Hurts can beat zone when the design helps him. The problem is, this kind of structure shows up once every three drives instead of every series. This is one of the only times I’ve seen the Eagles use a purposeful motion this entire season. The fact that this one example stands out is also depressing.
Then came the defining moment of the game: Hurts overthrowing a wide-open DeVonta Smith on a busted coverage. Smith had nearly 10 yards of separation, and Hurts missed him by several yards. This is a bad, bad miss. Smith was pushed inside early and never quite regained his route path, but this was still a horrible miss. You can’t have that. Hurts doesn’t miss like this often, so let’s hope it’s a one-off.
The play design continued to annoy me. On this one, both tight ends stayed in to block, leaving only two routes and a checkdown against seven defenders in coverage. Hurts had nowhere to go. Even worse, when the pressure didn’t come, neither tight end released, so the quarterback had no other answers. When they did release, they both ran to the same area of the field! This offense consistently wastes eligible receivers, “just in case” a blitz comes. It’s fear-based play calling, and it kills drives.
By now, the Eagles have completely abandoned using Hurts as a runner. I don’t get it and I can’t understand why. The Giants didn’t even respect the possibility of Hurts keeping it here. Their linebackers crashed inside immediately. The whole point of having a mobile quarterback is to be +1 in the run game, leaving an unblocked defender in conflict. Instead, Hurts just handed it off automatically. Yet another wasted run.
While we are talking about the run game, I want to rant about something else. The Eagles ran QB Counter Bash (finally!) in this game and Hurts lost 2 yards. That sounds bad, but the play was blocked well and Hurts missed a rush lane. Why call it once if you’re never going to run it again? Later on, they used 6 offensive line on a play from under center and gained 6 yards. Here’s my thing… why call these plays once? What’s the point? If you have success with 6 offensive linemen, why not run it again? Run play-action? Sequence something off it?
And then came the interception. A miserable way to end a miserable performance. My Patreon partner Shane Haff did a fantastic job breaking it down, so I’m going to steal most of his analysis for this one, because I agree with him! The pick came on an out route to Jahan Dotson, a throw Hurts left behind his receiver and straight into the arms of the cornerback. A lot of people have pointed to A.J. Brown being wide open across the middle, and yes, he was, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Hurts made the wrong read.
I actually think the read was fine. The Giants were showing a single-high safety pre-snap, which usually means cover one, and in that look, the out route to Dotson is the correct read. The problem is that the defense disguised a cover-zero blitz, and Hurts didn’t have enough time to pick that up. When the ball was snapped, he did what the play design probably told him to do; he just made a poor throw. If that ball is out in front, it’s probably a routine completion. Instead, it’s a back-breaking interception.
The bigger issue here is everything that happened before the snap. The Eagles broke the huddle with only seven seconds on the play clock, which gave the defense all the time they needed to disguise pressure. The formation was tight, the motion was meaningless, and the play design offered almost no flexibility if the first read wasn’t there. This is part of a larger problem. The Eagles’ offense has become too rigid and predictable. It’s not just a bad throw from Hurts; it’s bad structure, bad tempo, and bad design from start to finish. I’m not excusing Hurts, it’s a bad throw, I’m just pointing out some of the similar flaws that have cropped up time and again.
Overall
Right now, this offense is a tough watch. Hurts looks unsettled at times and the timing and rhythm that used to define his game have vanished. The offensive philosophy is the scariest part because it feels like it is built in Nick Sirianni’s image. I don’t see an easy fix. The staff clearly believes in what they’re doing, even as it fails week after week. However, I do think the play designs (although a problem) are part of an issue that includes the plays called and sequencing. Which is why I would support a change of playcaller.
The run game should be the easiest problem to fix. They are using unnecessary window dressing instead of simply calling the concepts that fit their personnel. There’s no gap scheme, no QB involvement, and no sequencing to set up play-action. It’s predictable football, and every defense knows what’s coming. It shouldn’t be that hard to fix. Just watch the film from last year…
The Eagles are 4–2 and still loaded with talent, but it doesn’t mean much if they keep wasting it like this. This offense isn’t broken because of one bad throw or one bad play caller. It’s broken because there’s no identity, no rhythm, and no creativity. The design is poor, the execution is worse, and the coaching staff looks out of ideas.
It’s just bad football.
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here. If you would like to support me further, please check out my Patreon here!
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