Eagles' Have An Indentity Crisis On Offense

PHILADELPHIA – This was a game the 2024 Super Bowl champion Eagles would have won.

Up two touchdowns entering the final quarter, they would have put the game on the shoulders of their offensive line and Saquon Barkley, chew up clock, and play keep-away from an opponent over the final 15 minutes.

This isn’t that team, though. Not, yet. Maybe not this season, though there's still time to get it right.

The Eagles’ inability to run the ball finally caught up to them in Sunday’s 21-17 loss to the Denver Broncos, their first of the season. It’s a reason that, for the second straight week, they lost the time of possession battle. The Broncos had it more than eight minutes longer than the Eagles.

The real final score should look like this: 38-6. Jalen Hurts attempted 38 passes. Saquon Barkley ran it six times, only once in the second half. As a team, the Eagles ran just 11 times for 45 yards.

“Just like when we talk about getting A.J. (Brown) the ball, or DeVonta (Smith) the ball or Saquon the ball, we all want to get them all the ball as much as we possibly can,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “Dallas (Goedert) as well. Obviously, we want to run the ball more than we were able to (on Sunday). You always want to come out of that game with Saquon getting enough touches for the type of player he is. So again, we'll look for solutions.”

Saquon Barkley Sounds Off On Offense

Hurts’ 38 attempts were the most he’s had since Week 3 of last season, when he threw 38 in a 15-12 win over the Saints.

Saquon Barkley ran it six times, with only one run coming in the second half. He had 30 yards and just nine touches overall. The only other time he had fewer in his career when he was healthy was in 2021.

“I think every game is going to present different challenges,” said Barkley. “I really don’t know what people want. If I touch the ball too much, sometimes we’re not throwing enough. We throw it too much and I only have nine touches, it’s like, I’m not in the business of ‘What are we doing enough?’ I’m in the business of winning football games, and we didn’t win the football game. With nine touches, we had an opportunity to win the football game, still, and we didn’t.”

The 38-6 final indicates an offense out of whack, and one that is still trying to find an identity. They discovered that last year around this time, in Week 6 coming out of their bye. That’s when they became a run-first team.

“I won't say the word out of balance,” said Hurts, who completed 60 percent of his 38 pass attempts for a season-high 280 yards and two touchdowns. “I just think we're searching for improvement and so given what type of team we're built to be, we have to be able to establish the run in some regard and that could look different. It may not be what it's been, but ultimately being able to lean on the run game is important.”

Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo should be under a white-hot microscope now. He needs to figure out what this offense is, among other things, such as coming up with more creative ways to get the offense moving, better play designs. Something that this offense can hang its hat on.

“(The run game) was a big reason why we were able to be successful last year,” said Barkley. “That was last year. That’s in the past. So we gotta figure out what’s the reason why we’re going to be successful this year. Whether it’s the run game. Whether it’s the pass game. Whether it’s a blend. I believe that it can be a blend … I’m a big believer in whatever the (other) team presents for us, whatever we can take advantage of, we gotta do that.”

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