The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles looked like a shell of their most dominant self, getting bullied on both sides of the ball by the rival New York Giants in Thursday night's 34-17 road loss.
Philly got hit in the mouth repeatedly and didn't respond. Then they wilted.
The defense couldn't generate consistent pressure or cover a crew of backup receivers. The offense sputtered, like it has for much of the season, unable to find complementary balance" between the ground and passing attacks, and missing plays in both.
Star right tackle Lane Johnson has an idea how to fix the offensive issue.
"It seems a lot harder than it needs to be," Johnson said, via ESPN. "Maybe moving forward, just have a little bit more variety, hitting the perimeter some."
Johnson clarified that he wasn't calling out first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who has been under heavy scrutiny for his play-calling.
"I'm with Kevin until the end. A lot of it comes down to execution," he said. "We'll go back and look at this tape and see what we've got to fix, but moving forward, maybe more efficient, less predictable and capitalize on big plays and explosives."
The Eagles' 339 yards of offense Thursday night were mostly empty calories. Jalen Hurts missed a few deep shots, and the ground game was hit-or-miss. There was never any semblance of reason behind the play calls. No script or recognizable plan to set up the defense for a big play. The offense at this point just feels like plays tossed against a wall to see what sticks. For long stretches, the rushing attack hibernates. Then, several straight runs into a brick wall occur, and a drive stalls.
"You play the game to win," said Hurts, who threw a back-breaking fourth-quarter interception. "Obviously, we're competitive in that and trying to figure that out. We've got some work to do, and that's all that matters."
Saquon Barkley rushed for 31 yards on his first two carries of the night. He finished with 58 on 12 totes -- the fourth time in six games he's finished under 60 rush yards. On his final 10 carries, Barkley averaged 2.7 yards per tote. This was against a defense that ranked 29th in yards per carry (5.3) entering Thursday Night Football.
Barkley said that he didn't think last year's offense, under Kellen Moore, was any less predictable, noting that they still ran the ball when defenses expected them to.
"I think we also have to get back into that attitude, that mindset, not really giving a f--- what people are trying to do," Barkley said. "That's something that I'm looking for."
The Eagles have been outgained in all six games in 2025 (outgained in six games in 2024). Their -410 yards margin is the worst for the franchise through six games of a season since 2000.
"We have a lot of things to get fixed," coach Nick Sirianni said. "We just had an off night. Everybody did."
On offense, you've had an off six weeks, Nick.
