Philadelphia Eagles fans are not yet trying to panic about the offense, but there appear to be some issues in the passing game.
During the Eagles' 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Philly finished with 101 passing yards and for the second straight week did not throw a touchdown. They didn't even have a completion of over six yards until the fourth quarter.
Overall, the offense finished with 216 total yards. 94 of those yards were through the air, and another 122 yards on the ground.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni had to face the music during the press conference and answer for the offensive struggles. Sirianni admitted himself they are missing the big pass plays, but isn't panicking yet.
“The pass game’s been efficient, we just haven’t hit the chunks," Sirianni said viaBleeding Green Nation. "But, what I would say, is in a moment we needed a chunk, we hit the chunk.”
Sirianni would later pay his quarterback, Jalen Hurts, a massive compliment on his ability to hit those deep balls.
“I think Jalen Hurts is one of the best deep ball throwers in the NFL. I think he’s shown that. I don’t think people talk about that enough. Go back to last year, and all those fourth downs that went vertical — whether that was in the Browns game in a four-minute, or whether that was in a Giants game on a fourth down, or the Super Bowl on a fourth down that ended up coming back. There’s all this nitpicking on Jalen, but no one talks about all that. He’s unbelievable at throwing the deep ball, which ends up helping set up things underneath.”
If Hurts has a great arm, why aren't Eagles fans seeing it?
The most common response to this answer has been that Hurts is taking what the defense gives him. It's a massive reason the offense has not had a turnover in two games. Hurts is protecting the football, which is a tremendous positive for the unit.
What's not so great is that it took until the fourth quarter for Hurts to connect with DeVonta Smith on a 28-yard completion. Now it was a massive moment in the game, but one that needed to happen much earlier in the game.
It was similar in the 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys when Hurts connected with Jahan Dotson on a 51-yard completion, and that was it. The rest of the game was short five to seven-yard completions for the offense.
Sirianni is going to defend his offense because that's what a good coach does. Still, it'll start to get hard when his offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo, resorts to slant passes and throws to the running backs out of the backfield. The Eagles have the deep threat receivers to go deep multiple times a game. They just aren't being called.
At some point, the question will be when this offense finally opens it up and stops leaning on the run so much. 34 runs to 22 passes is fine, but the pass calls have to count with some vertical plays down the field.
Read more:Jalen Hurts' struggles in Eagles' bland offense are undeniable after 2 weeks
The good news is that the Eagles are 2-0, but that was the same situation in 2023 when the offense struggled, and look at how that season ended. If Philly isn't careful, it could be more of the same in 2025.