Eagles Shouldn't Shift Play-Calling In-Season

PHILADELPHIA - The reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have an 8-3 record and a comfortable lead in the NFC East.

However, an admittedly ugly collapse at Dallas has the City of Brotherly Love in full “Chicken Little mode.”

The sky literally falls in the psyche of so many of the team’s fans when a loss occurs.

That’s the prison of this organization’s expectations stemming from the demonstrated success in the Nick Sirianni/Jalen Hurts era.

It’s almost like a college “Blue Blood” environment, where a loss is unacceptable, and a win without style points is rewarded with a “whine and a bitch” in Vic Fangio parlance.

The result of that is that Sirianni gets asked the same kinds of questions that 2-9 teams who’ve actually fired coaches like the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders get.

At Sirianni’s Monday afternoon post-Cowboys collapse video conference, the Eagles' coach was asked if he has thought about a switch at offensive play caller, away from the embattled Kevin Patullo.

No Change

Nov 23, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni looks on before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

“No, I haven’t,” Sirianni responded. “We are always looking for answers. As coaches, we are always looking for answers, and we’re never into assigning blame.

“It’s just looking for answers. I think what sometimes can happen is, ‘It’s just this.” Well, it’s not just that. It’s every piece of the puzzle. Coaching, playing, execution, scheme, everything. We’ve got to be better in all of those aspects.”

Not assigning blame in a zero-sum industry like the NFL is ludicrous of course, and the idea of moving off a play-caller during a successful run already has a precedent in Sirianni’s world when he moved off Sean Desai for Matt Patricia in 2023.

The Eagles scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and never scored again in Sunday’s 24-21 loss to the Cowboys.

The offense scored only 10 points in a win over the Green Packers and 16 against the Detroit Lions in the two weeks prior.

When the wins turned to a loss against the Cowboys, though, the virtual torches and pitchforks assembled, asking for a pound of flesh without an exit plan.

You don’t hire from outside the organization in Week 13, nor do you change philosophies after spending the past five-plus months moving in one direction.

The in-house candidates with some play-calling experience are Sirianni most notably, but the head coach has insisted he doesn’t want to rewind to that setup after excelling as a CEO coach.

From there, it’s tight ends coach Jason Michael, once an OC in Tennessee in 2014-15, passing game coordinator Parks Frazier, who did it with Indianapolis for a short time after Frank Reich was fired, and quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler, who has extensive experience but only at the college level.

In other words, this is an issue for the offseason which should give Patullo six games and the postseason to change the narrative and make sure owner Jeffrey Lurie doesn't go searching of scapegoats.

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