The Eagles’ offense ranks in the bottom half of the league in points per game (22.5) and yards per game (304.8) after a season in which it was one of the best, prompting calls for offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s firing.
Former Eagles quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles supports keeping Patullo and believes the offense can improve with one tweak in Patullo’s play-calling location.
On “The SZN with Nick Foles & Evan Moore” podcast, Foles recommended Patullo return to the coaching box to see the field and how the defense aligns against the Eagles.
“I don’t think Kevin needs to be fired,” Foles said. “I think the answer right now is little micro-changes to make guys more comfortable in their position. I think Kevin Patullo’s first thing needs to go from getting off the sideline and getting away from what’s going on and the emotions, because that could be clouding your vision with play calling. …
“You have a different perspective from the sideline. You can’t see the coverages as they’re forming, and you can’t see the defensive alignments very well. You can see it on the tablet afterwards and sort of make predictions. But when you’re up in the box, you can see it as the drive is going on, what they’re trying to do, and you can see the concepts forming more clearly. That is what you have been trained in since 2021, to sit in the box.”
Foles also recommended Patullo do something he observed when Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who held the same position with the Eagles, was calling plays.
“Andy Reid throughout the week would be in his office playing the game in his head, watching film and how he would call each and every play,” Foles said. “He would have index cards and he’d have a first-15 for every single quarter. Then, whether it’s on a sheet of paper or an index card, he’d have them in his pocket. Sometimes you have to take the emotion out of the game and what’s going on and just pull out an index card from your prep during the week and be like, ‘Hey, let’s get back to who we are, what our rhythm is, go with this play call and redirect.’”
Regardless of whether Patullo implements these changes, the Eagles need remedies to fix a stagnant offense ranked 24th in the NFL at 303.6 yards per game entering Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bears. In the loss, the Eagles converted 4 of 12 third-down attempts and rushed for only 87 yards, struggles that exemplify the offense’s inconsistency. The Eagles have time to make those changes before their next game on Dec. 8, a Monday night game on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers.
