This season should not be remembered solely for how it ended. It should be remembered for what it squandered. The Philadelphia Eagles were one of the most complete teams, both on defense and on offense, in terms of talent.
The Eagles had a team that should still be playing, but they aren’t because the offense never reached its potential. Misuse, misjudgment, and a stubborn refusal to adjust ultimately ended what could have been another run towards back-to-back Lombardi’s. Now the organization has a long offseason ahead to evaluate what went wrong and how to correct it. They started with removing Kevin Patullo as their Offensive Coordinator, but there are many other failures to correct than the removal of one person.
By October, the offensive struggles were obvious. The playcalling was predictable, repetitive, and far too cautious. The team ran the same ineffective routes, such as the hitch, at historic rates, rather than coming up with fresh ideas and a revamped offensive identity. What followed was either an unwillingness to change or an inability to do so.
The bye week served as a turning point during their 2024 Super Bowl season as the team came out rejuvenated and played championship-caliber football. This time, it did the opposite. Post bye, the Eagles’ offense stalled, and ranked near the bottom of the league in most measurable categories.
The season didn't fail only because of bad play calls, though there were plenty of those. It also struggled due to poor execution and self-inflicted wounds. Slow breaks from the huddles, lack of tempo, and long stretches where urgency never seemed to dictate the moment when needed. The offense played as if it were protecting a lead in the second half of most games, even as their leads diminished.
Jalen Hurts is one of the most efficient runners at his position, yet his designed runs were largely erased from the playbook. The reason may have been for preservation, but the result was limitation. Hurts’ legs have always been a cheat code for stressing defenses; taking that element away didn’t protect him, it constricted him and their offense.
Saquon Barkley’s production looked out of character to casual observers, but context matters. Nearly half of his carries were blown up behind the line. When he did get an opening, he was explosive, and his burst looked like the same player Philly fans are used to watching. The problem wasn’t Barkley; it was how often the Eagles' playcalling and offensive line put him in losing situations.
The final play was a microcosm of the entire season offensively. The Niners had run a quarter defense for 10–12 of the Eagles' final offensive plays. On 3rd and 11, the Eagles' pass play failed, and they did not have anything dialed up for 4th and 11 in the event it failed. They burned a timeout, which ended any chance of getting the ball back if they failed on fourth down. Despite taking a timeout, the offense broke the huddle late and only had 3 seconds left on the play clock at the line of scrimmage when the safety dropped back, revealing their defensive alignment. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Niners' quarter's defense is highly effective at stopping their call, the predictable 4 verticals. They had already taken a timeout, and they did not have time at the line of scrimmage to make a change. So the outcome was to run a play that has little to no chance of succeeding. Spoiler alert, it didn’t, and the ball game was over, along with their season.
The OL has traditionally been the backbone of this team, yet this season it was cracked. To be fair, injuries matter. Lane Johnson’s absence has always brought on hard times since he was drafted back in 2013, and the Eagles' record reflects it. Cam Jurgens played through issues all season, as did Landon Dickerson. Blocks that were once automatic and second nature for one of the NFL's best lines became inconsistent. Their execution never improved.
This is not meant to be a criticism of Jeff Stoutland or the players; however, it was an offense that sought balance but never quite found it, unable to lean into its usual strength. For a team that is built to win in the trenches, they were never able to overcome one that didn’t.
The defense did its job until it could no longer do so. The Eagles could only go to that well so many times before they eventually tired out.
The Eagles were 42–3 under Nick Sirianni when winning the turnover battle. That’s not a coincidence, but it was something they relied on too often. Losing to the Niners took that record to 42–4. When you play the best teams, the margins for error disappear, even when you gain advantages with turnovers. Especially when you can’t convert them into points. The defense didn’t fail; it just didn’t rescue them this time.
This loss should sting more than most, because it wasn’t about running into a better team. It was about a talented roster reaching the end of its season without ever fully unlocking itself. This was a season where Hurts managed games instead of dictating them. And in the end, that approach of being risk-averse and conservative, whether to protect the QB, a bad scheme, or a first-time playcaller, was too much to overcome.
Everyone on the outside wonders how a team with this much ability can bow out so soon. Inside the building, they have more answers than they are willing to share, but the changes they make in the coming weeks will reveal most of them.
In short, it was a season that should have ended so differently, and because it didn’t, there will be a reckoning, a change of philosophy and coaching.
The Eagles didn’t lose because they lacked talent; they lost because they failed to maximize it.
As always, thank you for reading!
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