Back To Business? Eagles Need To Revert To Form

PHILADELPHIA - Other than the scoreboard, the most important numbers coming out of a rare 21-17 Eagles loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday were 46 and 9.

A run-first team that rode Saquon Barkley, a historic offensive line, and a devotion to ball security to a Super Bowl LIX championship a scant eight months ago, Philadelphia went off-script against the Broncos, turning from risk-averse to pass-happy, just to prove a point to critics the organization claims are whistling in the wind.

Actions always speak far louder than words, however.

Head coach Nick Sirianni has often defaulted to the idea that if the Eagles need to run it 40 times, they will, and if 40 passes are needed, so be it. That’s a nod to circumstance in that NFL games have personalities.

If you’re in a shootout, you might have to throw it all over the lot, and if you need to close out a game in four-minute offense, grinding it out can skew that run-pass ratio quickly.

What was strange about Sunday was that the Eagles spent the vast majority of the game as the frontrunner.

Philadelphia was in the lead from midway through the second quarter until midway through the fourth. They had a two-touchdown advantage from the early third quarter until early in the fourth.

During that larger span, the Eagles had seven offensive series (including a kneel-down at halftime to be fair, so really six). Yet, Saquon Barkley only had two rushes in the guts of the game with no obvious medical issue.

The All-Pro’s nine total touches, which included three in the passing game, including a 47-yard TD after beating former Eagles’ linebacker Alex Singleton, were a career low.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Sep 28, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni looks on during the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Does any of that track with Sirianni’s offensive philosophy with this group?

“I’m not going to really get too caught up in that. At the end of the day, whether we ran the ball enough or not, we had an opportunity to win a football game, and we didn’t. We didn’t do enough,” Barkley lamented. “So, I really don’t caught up in, are we throwing the ball enough? Or are we running the ball enough? Can we win a football game?

“It’s going to look different every single game. So far, we’re 4-1, and we didn’t win today.”

Looking different is not an issue if the circumstances warrant it.

That was not the case against the Broncos, at least until Denver went ahead, 18-17, with 7:36 remaining. And let’s be clear, a one-point deficit with that much time remaining shouldn’t take the running game off the table either.

Other extenuating circumstances, like a banged-up offensive line, with Landon Dickerson removed with an ankle injury, and perhaps the tweaked knee Barkley suffered at Tampa the week prior, may have contributed. However, Barkley's 17-yard run earlier, his longest of the season, and the 47-yard dusting of Singleton refute any need for a drastic reorganization.

The actions here tell the story of Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo arriving to Lincoln Financial Field with a mallet ready to pound the square peg of the passing game into the round hole of aestheticism.

Whether it was the inside voices of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith or the outside chatter from Drew Brees and dozens of other critics, the Eagles were hell bent on proving they can throw the football.

And they did in the form of a 280-yard passing performance by Jalen Hurts that could have crossed over into the 300s if an open deep shot to Brown came to fruition, or if Barkley’s illegal shift on a key fourth down late didn’t wipe out a big play to Smith.

All it cost for those style points was the franchise record for consecutive wins and the first loss in over a calendar year when Hurts started and finished the game.

“I really don’t know what people want,” Barkley said. “If I touch the ball too much, sometimes we’re not throwing enough. We throw it too much, and I only have nine touches.

“I’m not in the business of ‘What are we doing enough?’ I’m in the business of winning football games.”

Sirianni used to be in that business as well.

The silver lining to the setback to Denver is the reminder to get back into that business Thursday night against the New York Giants.

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