There were bound to be a lot of questions about the Philadelphia Eagles' offense after torpedoing themselves in the foot in the second half once again in their 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card.
The offense produced three three-and-outs in the second half with only six points and 114 yards to show for it. With yet another performance like that, all the blame was pointed at offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who has repeatedly proven to have failed this unit with predictable play calls and a lack of awareness of what is working in the game.
After the game, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was asked about the offense and why it struggled, and the future of Patullo with the team. Hurts refused to bring Patullo down to that level and did what a true does best.
"I think I'm always growing," Hurts said via 94 WIP's Eliot Shorr-Parks. "I'm always taking in my experiences and learning from everything that we go through. I think it's tough to single out one individual especially at a moment like this. We all gotta improve and that's how I look at everything that we go through."
Jalen Hurts wouldn't blame just Kevin Patullo for the loss
Hurts would be the first to admit to everyone that he did not have the best game himself. He finished with 20 completions out of 35 passes for 168 yards and one touchdown, with 14 rushing yards to add to it.
With that being said, the Eagles did have four drops on third down, so that can't be all on him. The play calls were all the same, too, as Patullo kept having receivers run out routes almost every other pass, which just made them look predictable.
Everyone is going to examine Hurts' season differently, but there's no way the blame can be put on him for how the offense looked. There were moments when he missed some throws, but he played well in the playoffs and protected the ball, avoiding turnovers. Outside of the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in December, he did a good job with that overall for the season.
Read more: Nick Sirianni tried to play down sideline tirade with A.J. Brown in Eagles loss
Of course, Hurts was never going to throw Patullo under the bus like that, as he had to point the finger at everyone, including himself. The real question is whether he will have a new offensive coordinator once again going into the 2026 season.
