What an ugly stretch it's been for the Philadelphia Eagles' offense. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has stocked the cupboard full of dynamic weapons like A.J. Brown and Saquon Barkley, yet the Eagles haven't done anywhere close to enough to put them in the best positions to succeed.
In the wake of Black Friday's 24-15 loss, Chicago Bears defensive end Austin Booker questioned Saquon's competitive spirit. One could argue there's a collective lack of fight from the entire offensive unit for the reigning Super Bowl champions.
A much bigger part of the equation, however, is Philly's vanilla scheme. Some newly revealed advanced stats highlight just how lacking it is.
The numbers don't lie about Eagles OC Kevin Patullo's unimaginative call sheet
With a hat tip to Breaking the Birds' Thomas R. Petersen, there's some fascinating data behind the Eagles' offensive struggles that paint an ugly picture.
The Ringer Fantasy Football Show has indeed some knowledge bombs for the Philly faithful regarding the stagnant offensive system masterminded by play-caller Kevin Patullo and head coach Nick Sirianni. The Eagles rank in the bottom five in pre-snap usage and 31st in play-action fakes.
Making Jalen Hurts a pure pocket passer from oft-static formations doesn't come across as a formula for success. But wait. There's more. Philadelphia runs the highest clip of hitch routes in the NFL, with the fewest crossing routes.
It feels like Patullo and Sirianni are asleep at the wheel. Is there some pervasive complacency setting in at Eagles headquarters?
Coaches work very long hours. Maybe they're too close to it, and the bottom-line results of an 8-4 football team are good enough to get by for now. If Sirianni refuses to take over the play sheet, he must feed Patullo some ideas to spark the group.
Although the Eagles' offensive line isn't quite the dominant force it's been in years past, their trench men are still plenty good enough. They rank top-five in pass blocking and 12th in run blocking, per PFF.
Opponents will stack the box to stop Saquon. They will continue to sell out. Hitches and go balls outside the numbers technically count as answers to blitzes, but launching deep shots to Brown and DeVonta Smith can't be all this passing attack counts on. The lack of man coverage-beating crossing routes is disconcerting to say the least.
Plus, wouldn't more motion and more horizontal stress on the defense open up running lanes for Saquon and Hurts? What about a tad more play-action so as not to be so obvious when it's a running play?
Read more: Bears defender calls out Saquon Barkley in a shocking way after Eagles' loss
These broad-statement fixes don't seem difficult to deploy. The question is whether Patullo and Sirianni will actually put them into action.