The Philadelphia Eagles have spent most of the season hoping that the offense will eventually figure itself out, but with the postseason nearly here, that belief feels tough to love.
This hasn’t been a unit dealing with a few bad weeks, as it’s been an offense that has consistently struggled to look halfway decent for long stretches of games. Frankly, it has been really, really bad.
Passing has been an issue, Saquon Barkley has struggled, and we all know A.J. Brown’s attitude hasn’t helped. Against good defenses, the issues become even more obvious.
In the playoffs, there’s little margin for error, and the Eagles haven’t shown that we should trust them in those types of situations.
That’s why Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia isn’t buying the idea of a postseason switch being flipped.
“Can the Eagles’ offense magically figure things out and become productive, efficient and competent in the postseason after sputtering all year?” Frank wrote. “I don’t see how. I don’t see how this offense is going to magically figure things out against the kind of teams you face in the postseason. I don’t see how you can expect to just flip a switch and suddenly start moving the ball and finishing drives and scoring points against top defenses. I don’t see how Kevin Patullo can magically morph into the sort of elite play caller you need to win playoff games.”
Playoff football doesn’t hide flaws; it’ll show them and show how ugly they can be.
If an offense hasn’t shown it can consistently score during the regular season, it’s impossible to expect those problems to disappear when it matters most.
On the flip side, the Eagles' defense is so good that it’s tough to say they can’t win.
The Eagles can still compete, but expecting a major offensive change probably isn’t the best idea. As Frank said, it’s hard to see how this suddenly gets fixed when the games and every drive matter more than ever.
We’ll see how things look soon enough. If the Eagles have a bad moment in the playoffs, however, I’d expect some interesting changes to come to Kevin Patullo and others, whether it be players or coaches.