Though the Philadelphia Eagles secured the win in Week 4, maintaining their undefeated streak dating back to December of 2024, fans weren't exactly happy coming out of the contest.
Now granted, a win is a win and wins against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers specifically have been hard to come by during the Nick Sirianni era, but after turning in an exceptional second half in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles had the opposite results in Week 4, failing to complete a pass in the second half while watching their commanding lead come down to the wire.
Asked about what went wrong down the stretch and why the Eagles' offense has been so up-and-down, offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo attempted to explain what went wrong and how the offense can grow from the experience moving forward.
“I mean when you look at the game as a whole, we started off the game like we wanted to: we had good pace, good rhythm, we got it going. I think sometimes when you evaluate games after the fact, there's obviously things we want to work on to get better, and we know we can be critical of as a staff that we know we can continue to improve. I think stepping out and looking at it, there were some things I felt like, at times, we were just trying to do what we wanted to. Looking back, I think there's some things we can change as far as how we want to approach that situation,” Patullo told reporters via Dave Zangero.
“But really, it just comes down to learning from each situation. We've had very unique games to this point, and so I think it's been good to go through that. Early in the season, we've played really, really good defenses and we've had to adjust accordingly, whether it's second half, whether it's come out in the first half, and do different things to try to throw them off. I think really, it's been a good learning process for us now as coaching staff, and players to continue to grow as an offense.”
Fortunately for Patullo, he is correct that the Eagles' defense has been very, very good so far this season, to the point where Vic Fangio's squad has bailed out the offense in almost every game.
But teams are rarely going to win games where six of their last eight drives end in a punt, especially when the final snap ends in a safety. Sooner or later, the Eagles will have to figure out how to maintain their offensive heights over a full game. If that happens, the Eagles have a chance to repeat as Super Bowl Champions, as they have the talent to beat any other team in the NFL. But if the offense continues to stop-and-start regardless of the situation, that volatility could define their ceiling for better or worse.
