ESPN did a deep dive into Kevin Patullo’s best assets and most troubling flaws.
Stop us if you have heard this before. Philadelphia Eagles fans are different. Their record stands at an NFC-best 8-2. No one seems to be satisfied. They own a tie-breaker over the Los Angeles Rams. L.A. owns eight wins of its own. If the postseason began today, Philadelphia would be the top-ranked team and enjoy a bye.
You think Birds fans care about that? Absolutely not. They hold their team to a different standard. How the team wins is as important as winning itself.
If Philadelphia’s fans forget that, they’d be no better than… Dare we say it? That’s how Dallas Cowboys fans think. The results sometimes cloud the issues.
Yes, the Eagles are winning, but how they’re winning doesn’t seem sustainable, and that’s why we have seen and heard so much debate. The offense has been labeled the issue, so the spotlight falls on Kevin Patullo, and we know why he is often mentioned.
ESPN dissects Kevin Patillo’s strengths and weaknesses.
ESPN recently offered an intriguing read: Midseason reports on NFL offensive coordinators, playcallers. Philadelphia’s play-calling continues to come under scrutiny. You can see why most would find this interesting.
Tim McManus handled some overtime, digging into what has gone right under Patullo’s watch. Here’s where the OC’s contributions have produced some positive results and made a satisfactory impact.
“The Eagles specialize in three key areas: protecting the football, red zone offense, and deep throws. They entered Week 11 ranked No. 1 in red zone offense with a touchdown rate of 81% and a league-low four giveaways. Jalen Hurts excels at the long ball, tossing six touchdowns and zero interceptions on throws of 20-plus yards for a passer rating of 131.8.”
Coach Patullo has been part of the Eagles’ organization since Nick Sirianni arrived as head coach. To a man, every coach and player who spoke about his promotion to the OC’s chair offered congratulatory statements. They had firsthand knowledge of the work he had put in, but this is Philadelphia, and these are the Eagles. No man is above reproach.
“They often lean conservative, and while that helps with the turnover battle — a key metric to their success — it holds a high-powered offense back. Third-down efficiency has been a problem for the first 10 weeks of the season: Philadelphia ranked 27th with a conversion rate of 42.4% and went three-and-out on 41% of its drives, ranking 28th.”
That’s what McManus mentioned has gone wrong and the problem areas he sees. He also mentions finding the appropriate balance between protecting the football and maximizing the talent of the stars on offense as one of the keys to improving down the stretch.
“[A.J. Brown’s] major gripe is that the way the Eagles are playing now won’t be good enough come January. Patullo and Hurts need to be more comfortable opening things up for this offense to really shine.”
Most would agree, but at this point, everyone’s sick of words. Fans and the media want to see results. The business of football is about winning. It’s about knowing your wide receivers are better than everyone else’s cornerbacks and putting the former in the best position to be successful. That’s what A.J. Brown wants. That’s what we all want.
Minus a few exceptions, the pieces are the same as they have been for a while now. That’s perhaps the biggest reason why coaching has come under the microscope. The Eagles must find ways to effectively utilize the top strengths of their players. Otherwise, close wins will eventually become losses, and we all know how that will be received. This is fixable, but time is of the essence.
