An 11-win season and a division title usually signals success, right? Not for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025. What looked like a statement year was actually a sluggish offensive struggle that ended with a measly 19 points in a Wild Card Round loss to San Francisco. Now they’re scrambling for a minor reset in what should be a win-now window. Philly’s offense was straight-up bad, ranking 19th in points per game with 22.3, and a dismal 24th in total yards per game at 311.2. They were slow, too, with only 59.4 plays per game, also 24th in the league. It was clear from mid-season that this wouldn’t cut it, and it absolutely didn’t.
Patullo’s Failure and the Locker Room Meltdown
This team is cycling through offensive coordinators like crazy, moving to their fifth in five years. While the “run-run-pass” philosophy has been a constant, described almost as a “Jalen Hurts stat” for how run-heavy they are, the OC’s job is supposed to be maximizing the *passes*. Kellen Moore did that to perfection in 2024, earning him the Saints’ head coaching gig. But his in-house replacement, Kevin Patullo, couldn’t get it done. Hurts’ YPA absolutely cratered from 8.0 to a career-low 7.1 under Patullo. His EPA per play also dropped from 0.161 in 2024 to 0.123. The numbers were bad, but the attitude was worse. A.J. Brown was openly miserable, and he wasn’t alone. Things got so toxic that the team installed a “Positivity Rabbit” in the locker room. Yeah, you read that right. A Positivity Rabbit. It lasted one game, a loss to the Chargers, before getting shipped off to a farm upstate. This, my friends, is what the end of an empire feels like.
Sean Mannion’s Make-or-Break Mission for Philly
After the Positivity Rabbit era became a fever dream, Philly fired Patullo and brought in Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion. This move is huge. If Mannion can’t make this offense click, Nick Sirianni is going to find himself on the hot seat faster than you can say “furlough.” The big problem was how stagnant Hurts and the offense got, refusing to add any creative wrinkles. They had the league’s lowest rate of throws over the middle of the field at 20.6 percent, and went under center at the fourth-lowest rate, just 9.3 percent. For a run-built team, a 24.7 percent play-action rate was just sad, barely below league average. Mannion didn’t call plays in Green Bay, but the Packers last year were 12th in both under-center and play-action usage. They were 25th in middle-of-the-field usage, showing they lean on these advantages way more than Philly did. The crazy part? Even in a down 2025 season, Hurts’ YPA improved by one to two yards on play-action, under-center, and middle-of-the-field throws. Mannion has to unlock that potential.
What’s next for the Eagles? Mannion has to implement these changes immediately. With their win-now window staring them down, and Sirianni’s job on the line, the entire 2026 season hinges on whether this new OC can actually get Jalen Hurts to rebound and bring some real positivity back to Philly, no rabbits required.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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