Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …
After the Eagles lost consecutive games to the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears, much of the scrutiny has centered on offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley and their offensive line, as they have all contributed to the offense’s poor performance this season. But Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni deserves the most criticism for the team’s and the offense’s underperformance. Sirianni promoted Patullo to offensive coordinator after the 2024 season, and so far that decision looks like a disaster. Heading into the team’s Week 14 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium, Philadelphia ranks 24th in total offense (304.8 yards per game), 22nd in passing (196.3 yards per game), 22nd in rushing (108.5 yards per game) and 18th in scoring (22.5 points per game). While the Eagles won the Super Bowl this past February, leaving them with little time to vet outside candidates, Sirianni has now hired a first-time play caller who wasn’t ready for the role for the second time in three years — he hired and fired Brian Johnson in 2023 — and he never helped either coach turn the offense around. Yes, Patullo calls the plays, but the two have worked together since Sirianni’s days as the Colts’ offensive coordinator, and they think alike.
And then there’s Sirianni, the guy with the tremendous 56-24 regular-season record, 6-3 in the playoffs. He knows how to build and maintain a winning culture, doesn’t he? He’d seen what happened in ‘23, when a couple of lopsided losses to top contenders exposed a defense that didn’t have the talent to get back to the Super Bowl, and a big chunk of the team saw that and just packed it in emotionally. The 2024 turnaround, winning it all, was a vaccine against that sort of thing, right? Sirianni had figured it out. Once more, nah. I’d be happy to be wrong about this, but right now, it seems to me that 2024 was about two things – Barkley gave the Eagles a dimension the rest of the league hadn’t seen from them before, and Vic Fangio fixed the defense, with a healthy assist from Howie Roseman. Hurts and Sirianni retained the same strengths and weaknesses that characterized them before they put on those gaudy rings.
NFC Playoff Picture: Where the Eagles stand after Week 13 – BGN
Talking about the Philadelphia Eagles’ potential postseason outlook feels a little weird at the moment since the team has played pretty poorly recently. But the reality is that the Birds are mathematically very alive for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture even though they lost in Week 13. Had the Eagles beaten the Chicago Bears as they were expected to do (seven-point home favorites on Black Friday), they would’ve exited this weekend on top of their conference since the Los Angeles Rams dropped a game to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. But now it’s the Bears in the top spot (who would’ve thought?) with them holding a conference record tiebreaker over the Rams. And then it’s the Eagles in third place.
Complementary Football – Iggles Blitz
Sunday showed us that teams are constantly changing. Pittsburgh began the season 4-1, but is now 6-6 after an ugly loss to Buffalo. The Texans began the season 0-3. They took down the Colts and Houston is now 7-5. The Colts looked like the best team in the league to start the season. They’ve now lost 3 of 4. The whole world had fallen in love with the Rams. They lost to the Panthers 31-28. That means the Eagles are just a game away from the top seed in the NFC. The Eagles lost consecutive games in early October. Then they won four in a row. If they can put together a stretch like that again, it will put them in excellent position for the postseason. The key will be for Nick Sirianni to get his guys to focus on one day at a time, one play at a time and one game at a time. Do that and this team can make a run. If the Eagles keep making mistakes and playing sloppy football, you will have plenty of free time in January.
The scary similarities between Eagles’ 2023 collapse and what we’re seeing now – NBCSP
How can the Eagles avoid another collapse? I don’t know. Which doesn’t matter. But I don’t think anybody in the NovaCare Complex knows either. Which is a problem. How does a team fall apart like this two out of three years? How does a team coming off a Super Bowl just forget how to play football two out of three years? How does a team that has enough talent to go 10-1 and 8-2 suddenly start looking over-matched against less-talented teams almost overnight? And the biggest question is when this happens, how do you stop it? Nick Sirianni had no answers in 2023. So far no answers in 2025, although there’s plenty of season left. Despite everything, only four NFL teams have more wins than the Eagles, and the Cowboys look scary but they still need to almost win out to win the division. Wins over the Chargers and Raiders would have the Eagles right back where they need to be. And as bad as 2023 was, we have to remember that a year later the Eagles won the Super Bowl. So there’s still time to turn this around. The Eagles have good players, a proven coaching staff and the best G.M. in the business. Which is exactly what we were all saying right about this time in 2023.
“Fire Kevin Patullo” Road Sign Debuts on Pattison Avenue – Crossing Broad
At this point, we’re just playing the blame game, right? Who is most to blame for the Eagles offense looking like garbage? The first-year offensive coordinator probably goes to the top of the list by default, but let’s add a few caveats here: Patullo hasn’t been good, he’s calling Nick Sirianni’s offense, the QB has been just okay over the last few games, the offensive line is banged up and the healthy guys aren’t playing at a 2024 level line concerns aside, Saquon Barkley just doesn’t have “it” this season, Jeff Stoutland is the run game coordinator and should shoulder some blame as well. That’s basically the gist. “More than one thing can be true” might be too pragmatic for social media and sports talk in 2025, but it always checks out.
2025 NFL playoffs: Reason for hope for seven bubble teams entering Week 14 – NFL.com
THREE DOWN: 2) Saquon Barkley. A month ago, right before the Eagles’ bye, it seemed that Barkley was returning to dominant form with a 150-yard day against the Giants. Today, it feels like it’s time to start accepting the truth about Philadelphia’s star runner: He’s not putting this team on his shoulders for the second straight season. Barkley hasn’t reached the 100-yard mark since that day. He’s averaged a stunning 3.1 yards per carry over his last four games — that number drops to 2.8 if you subtract the 56 yards he gained on 13 attempts in the Black Friday loss to Chicago — and he hasn’t scored a touchdown in a month. Philadelphia’s O-line injuries and the lack of creativity from offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo haven’t helped Barkley much. He’s also not doing enough to change the narrative that he’s a player suddenly in decline.
Justin Herbert fractures hand, will have surgery Monday – Bolts From The Blue
After showing no signs of an issue during the scoring play, Herbert jogged into the locker room with trainers soon after coming off the field. Moments later, it was being reported that Herbert had injured his left hand and was questionable to return. Herbert eventually came back out of the locker room with a heavily-taped glove and would go on to play the remainder of the team’s 31-14 win over the Raiders. However, following the win, head coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters that Herbert suffered a break in his left hand and would undergo a procedure on Monday. As of right now, Harbaugh is unsure whether or not Herbert will miss time.
Bears vs. Eagles Game Balls: A Two-Headed Monster – Windy City Gridiron
If you told me that the Chicago Bears would go into Lincoln Financial Field and defeat the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday, I would have thought it was plausible. The Bears have been playing very good, and we just saw the Eagles blow a big lead against another team the Bears have defeated this year (the Dallas Cowboys). But if you told me the Bears would go into Philadelphia and thoroughly dominate the Super Bowl Champion Eagles for pretty much the entire 60 minutes of the game, I’d have thought you had dipped into some spiked Egg Nog a little early. But that’s exactly what happened. The stat sheet speaks for itself. Bears on the left, Eagles on the right.
NFL winners and losers: Chaotic Panthers shake up the NFC – SB Nation
Winner: Da Bears. The Bears get to say they’re the top team in the NFC for at least the next week, and that’s a massive achievement. Haters can point to inconsistent play from Caleb Williams, or that the Bears have played the softest schedule in the NFC this season — but you can only base a season on the teams in front of you, and Chicago is passing that test. Ben Johnson and Co. can thank the Panthers for beating the Rams, propelling them into first, and making them the team to beat in the NFC — especially after the loss the Lions sustained. Everything will hinge on how Chicago closes out the season against the Browns, 49ers, Packers (twice), and Lions. That will define what happens to this team, but they’re looking pretty good.
Cowboys playoff picture: Week 13 ends with Dallas ‘in the hunt’ – Blogging The Boys
An argument could be made that the most probable path to the playoffs for Dallas, presuming they keep doing the aforementioned hard work themselves, is as the NFC East winner. This idea is predicated on the fact they have closed the gap with the Eagles who have lost two in a row and appear to be spiraling. Again, you could argue that it is more likely they fail and Dallas leapfrogs them than any Wild Card scenario. There are five weeks remaining in the regular season and therefore a lot of mathematical possibilities left. Time will tell what ultimately does and does not break in the Cowboys’ direction, but to their credit they are taking care of their own business which is all they can do at this point.
Did Dan Quinn wait too long to try and save the defense? – Hogs Haven
One central question some have after two weeks of Dan Quinn in the defensive coordinator role is what things might have looked like had he been in charge from the early weeks of the season? At this point, they are decimated by injury. It is hard to say, given the current state of the team, if they could have been statistically better than what they are. They still allowed over 400 yards of offense, as Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw for over 300 yards for the second time this season. However, the defense is clearly playing faster and executing better. Quinn seems to have a feel for situational football in his play-calling, forcing offenses to play right into his defense’s hands. If you search for truth inside the locker room, I am sure the players won’t acknowledge the drastic change in their intensity over the past couple of weeks. However, for fans and media in a lost season, it is certainly hard not to think about what could have been had Quinn had more time with the defense in the enlarged role he currently has overseeing the defense.
NY Giants head coaching search: Could Mike Tomlin become a real option? – Big Blue View
Could Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin actually be a realistic candidate for the New York Giants head coaching vacancy? The Steelers are stumbling toward their first losing season since 2003 and the first of Tomlin’s 19-year career as their head coach. The Steelers haven’t always been a juggernaut under Tomlin, but they’ve never lost like they did Sunday evening against the Buffalo Bills. Chants of “Fire Tomlin” echoed through Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) as the Steelers gave up 249 rushing yards to the Bills en route to a 26-7 loss at home.
The Dart dilemma: Giants’ quest to protect future franchise QB – ESPN
One offensive player told ESPN he didn’t expect designed runs in this week’s game plan against the Patriots. That should help limit the hits that Dart takes. People both inside and outside the Giants organization spoke with Dart recently and urged the rookie quarterback to be more thoughtful with when and how he runs, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney even said recently they’ve shown Dart videos of other quarterbacks to point out the difference between being aggressive and acting in self-preservation. It’s still a slippery slope. The Giants don’t want to completely take away what makes Dart so dangerous in the first place.
Word circulates within Kentucky program that Chip Kelly could be next coach – PFT
The Raiders may be saving some of the money that would otherwise go to pay former offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s buyout. Word is circulating among Kentucky players that Kelly could be the team’s next head coach. That doesn’t mean he will be. It doesn’t even mean he’s an official candidate. It means only that Kentucky players have somehow developed the impression that Kelly could be the new coach.
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