If there is one thing that is automatic about the Philadelphia Eagles, it's the offensive line being solid up front and helping with the running game.
That appeared to be the same case in Week 1 as the Eagles hammered the ball on the ground to beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-20. Philly finished with 38 carries for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came from Jalen Hurts as the team averaged 4.2 yards per touch.
Overall, it was another stellar day on the ground, but there was a sense that the Cowboys were loading up the box more at the end of the game as they knew what was coming. The Eagles didn't have many answers to stop it, but their offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo, might be able to shed some light on it. His response might not be what fans would think is the blame.
Eagles offensive line takes the hit for some of the late-game struggles
During the Eagles' press conferences on Tuesday, Patullo was asked by the media about seeing heavier boxes by Dallas in the game. Patullo didn't see that on tape. It was more about execution up front.
"When you look at it situationally, we went back and did some self scouting and stuff. It wasn't that we ran into heavy boxes. There were just at times, situationally, a run called and when you look at the coverage that we were given, they were messing around with some stuff that appeared to be a heavy box and we didn't always block it properly, so we just need to continue to work on that."
Eagles Coordinators speak with the media. #FlyEaglesFly https://t.co/tRei51olOm
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 9, 2025
There might be some merit to this, as the Eagles struggled late in the game to create holes in the running game. On the final four drives of the game, they had 15 carries for 13 yards, and none of the runs exceeded eight yards.
Keep in mind that three of those carries for Hurts were kneel-downs, so if fans don't count those, it would be more like 12 carries for 16 yards. It doesn't make the numbers look any better.
Eagles fans might be more likely to jump at defending the offensive line than agreeing with Patullo. There was some criticism he faced for being too conservative with the play caller, with only one call resulting in a 51-yard pass from Hurts to Dotson. Patullo chalked it up to Hurts going with the flow of the game and taking what the defense gives him.
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To be fair to Patullo, it was just his first game calling the plays, so not many were expecting perfection, but not all of it can be on the offensive line for not blocking. Let's see if he will mix it up more often with the play calls in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs.