Eagles' Offense Has Been So Bad That the Stats Don't Even Make Sense

When we look at the Philadelphia Eagles' offense, it feels like it might be even worse than it was a season ago. 

Statistically, it certainly is, and after moving on from offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, nobody thought that it would ever be the case once again. We also have to factor in that last season, Patullo had a bit more to work with.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts was on the field, Philadelphia had A.J. Brown as its WR1, and wasn't dealing with multiple injuries in other avenues. 

Philadelphia this season has been without Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and wide receiver DeVonta Smith at some point or another. Most offensive coordinators and offenses in general are going to struggle when guys like that are out, so it's understandable that the offense isn't what it should be.

What isn't understandable, however, is just how bad the numbers actually are. It's almost crazy to look at, but NBC 10 in Philadelphia did a great job of outlining them, with the suggestion being that this is actually the worst statistical offense that we've seen in Philadelphia since 1999.

“How do you score 16.4 points per game? How do you average 260 yards per game? How do your running backs average 3.4 yards per carry? How does your offensive line allow 3 ½ sacks per game? How do you average 4.3 yards per play? How do your wide receivers go four games without a catch longer than 21 yards?

“What we’re watching is an abomination. By far the worst display of offensive football by the Eagles since 1999, Andy Reid’s first year as an NFL coach, and one of the worst in franchise history. That was 27 years ago,” Reuben Frank wrote.

With how much offense has changed since 1999, there should never be any point in time where these comparisons are being made. 

Offenses are much better now than they were back then for many different reasons, but at times, it does feel like we're watching an old, boring offense like we used to back in the day. As for how the Eagles are going to change this, it doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime in the near future. 

Philadelphia has to make some decisions during the offseason to ensure that it's a lot better than it was this year, but in the immediate term, I have a lot of doubts about whether this offense can actually improve. I don't even know if that's Mannion's fault, Sirianni's fault, or anybody else's. I think it's a combination of many different things, and Philadelphia unfortunately has to just deal with that for now.