Jason Kelce Passionately Blames Eagles Players for Playoff Loss to 49ers

Jason Kelce put the blame for the Eagles’ playoff loss on the players, not the coaches.

Jason Kelce placed blame on the Eagles players for their loss to the 49ers in the wild-card round. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The reigning Super Bowl champions will not defend their title this season after the Eagles fell to the 49ers 23-19 in the wild-card round of the playoffs on Sunday.

The Eagles’ offensive dysfunction showed itself again in their matchup against a depleted San Francisco defense. After getting off to a solid start offensively, the Philadelphia attack slowed in the second half, mustering just six points with the game and their title repeat hopes on the line.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has been the recipient of much of the blame publicly—particularly when the Eagles are running uninventive route concepts or resorting to the run game on third-and-long. Despite a roster loaded with talent at all levels, the Eagles offense simply was inefficient and ineffective when it mattered most. This is especially glaring in contrast to a 49ers offense even while missing two of their top targets executed some exceptional plays late against a stout defense—including a thoughtfully designed trick play touchdown—to win the game.

Though Patullo is typically the fall-guy for Philadelphia’s offensive woes, Eagles legend Jason Kelce believes the blame for this game falls on the players, not Patullo and the coaching staff.

“I know that everybody is out on Kevin Patullo, I happen to know the guy, I love Kevin Patullo. I know he’s a great coach. I know it wasn’t the best performance this year offensively,” Kelce said on ESPN Monday. “They had the No. 1 highest-paid offense in the league and were mediocre across the board. That’s unacceptable. They had their chances to win that game yesterday, and they—the players—didn’t make the plays.”

"[The Eagles] had their chances to win that game yesterday, and the players didn't make the plays!"@JasonKelce acknowledges the coaching issues throughout the year, but holds the players accountable for losing against the 49ers 😳 pic.twitter.com/EiBdITdGXs

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 13, 2026

“What Robert Saleh did, that defense, is commendable. What they’ve done to get to here is absolutely a testament to that organization and how well they’re built and they function across the board,” Kelce continued. “Kyle Shanahan with the trickeration, finding a way to get things open, you tip your cap to them, but Philly had their opportunities.”

Marcus Spears echoed that the blame should fall on the players, particularly for the final 4th-and-11 play, which fell incomplete after Jalen Hurts tried to fit a pass into Dallas Goedert’s hands.

49ERS STOP THE EAGLES ON 4TH DOWN! 😳

WHAT. A. GAME.

(📺 FOX) pic.twitter.com/tbXeSTtQub

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 12, 2026

“This is the playoffs. It’s on the line and you don’t go to your $100 million receiver that’s in man-to-man coverage,” Spears said. “I don’t care if he dropped passes earlier in the game. I don’t care what the situation is. Even DeVonta, your first-round draft pick that you paid is out there singled-up. If not for going for that one-on-one, you threw the ball in the middle of the field with three defenders around the receivers. Stop it, man!”

It certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see the Eagles move on from Patullo, but regardless of what they do, the move won’t matter if Philadelphia can’t execute better on a regular basis. The Eagles offense is simply getting paid too much to perform this way over the course of a season, and must step up next year.

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