Once again, Philadelphia Eagles fans had to suffer through the offense being flat in the second half and nearly allowing their opponents to come from behind, but they barely held on for a win.
In Week 17 against the Buffalo Bills, the Eagles gained just 16 yards on 18 plays with zero points in the second half as the Birds held on for a 13-12 win. Reporters asked Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo about being too conservative with the play-calling in the second half, which allowed Buffalo to storm back in the contest. Still, Patullo didn't see it that way.
"I don't think we're trying to be conservative at all," Patullo said via The Athletic's Zach Berman. "I think the biggest piece is-- it comes back to what we talked about earlier. If you're not successful on first down and/or second down, you're behind. Now the defense is dictating to you what's going on. I think that's happened to us a few times, and unfortunately, it's been with leads like Tampa and this game, and so we've had those moments where that's happened and that's where we've got to get out of because when you go from first-and-10 to second-and-10 or more, now you're in this weird game of, 'Okay, I can't pressure the defense.' That's what's happened to us a little bit and we've had limited plays. When you have those moments, you have limited plays. I think that's where you get stuck in those ruts where you've got to get out of them."
Nobody in Philadelphia would even remotely agree with Patullo's assessment
In four of the five second-half drives for the Eagles, Patullo called running plays on first and second down to open the series. If that doesn't scream conservative, Philly fans might think they are the ones going mad over Patullo.
It's tough to judge Patullo too harshly, given the weather in Buffalo, but there are still ways to be creative while giving the receiver a chance. The Eagles got away from running more plays under center and calling more play-action bootlegs to get Jalen Hurts moving, either to run it or throw the ball.
Patullo might want to be careful, as his head coach, Nick Sirianni, did comment after the game that he is going to be more involved with the play calling in some capacity in the second half. Sirianni admitted he wasn't as involved in the second half in what was being called on the field, despite being vocal in offensive team meetings.
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It's a shame that the defense is playing at such a high level, but the offense keeps looking awful. Otherwise, more people would be talking about Philly being repeat Super Bowl champions, but it falls to Patullo to change how he calls games.