The main topic of Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s press conference on Tuesday was the second half of the team’s Week 17 win over the Bills.
The offense gained 17 yards, picked up one first down and did not complete a pass while running 17 plays over five possessions that all ended with punts. That helped the Bills get back into a game that they trailed 13-0 at halftime and the offensive blackout remains an issue despite the Eagles escaping with a 13-12 win.
On Tuesday, Patullo said that offensive slumps “never come down to one thing” and that he doesn’t believe the offense got too conservative while playing with a lead. He did identify one area that was a particular issue against Buffalo.
“When you look at it, is the amount of drives we had and plays and some of the starting positions, it was the first down thing again,” Patullo said, via a transcript from the team. “We had four drives where we had inefficient first downs, put us in four second-and-longs, and then from that, we were in three third-and-longs. When you’re doing that, when that’s happening, it’s going to be very hard to move the ball. . . . When you look at those drives, it gets frustrating. We need one play. All we need is one spark, one thing to get those things going and we’re out of it.”
The lack of production against Buffalo was extreme, but it’s hardly been a one-time event for the Eagles offense over their 16 games so far this season. Patullo was asked if that means this is what the offense is going to be or if they’ll be able to switch into a higher gear in the postseason.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a switch,” Patullo said. “I think we’ve been a little inconsistent, and we know we have it in us to do what we need to do because we’ve done it in spots. That’s what we’ve got to really lean into and press into and be detailed and do what we have to do.”
Head coach Nick Sirianni said this week that he thinks he can be doing more in between drives to help the offense and Patullo said on Tuesday that he welcomes Sirianni’s involvement, but each week that passes with the Eagles failing to find answers makes it harder to believe that they are going to come in time to get the team where it wants to go.
