The Philadelphia Eagles enter their matchup with the Chargers staring directly at a crisis. Two bad losses is a pattern but three is a trend. Tonight’s game in L.A. will either lend credence to a familiar collapse theory or serve as a late-season much needed correction. The offense has not simply slowed down. It has collapsed. The numbers, the film, and the body language all say the same thing. Philadelphia fans are not frustrated anymore. They are exhausted and fed up, and they have every right to be. Over the last 9 games the Eagles have delivered one of the worst offensive stretches this franchise has seen in more than 60 years. They have averaged fewer than 3.5 yards per carry in 3 straight games, something that had not happened in more than two decades. They have failed to reach 16 first downs in 3 straight games. Their negative play rate is 9.2 percent. Their explosive play rate has fallen more than 30 percent from last season. Their points have dropped from 23.5 per game over the first 4 weeks to 19.4 over the next 8. Against Chicago they produced just 116 meaningful yards and 1 touchdown on 9 real drives. Every number points to the same conclusion. This offense has lost its structure and its identity.
SCENE SET:
Eagles (8-4, 4-2 Away) at Chargers (8-4, 5-2 Home)
Where: Sofi Stadium – Inglewood, CA
When: December 8, 2025
Kick0ff: 8:15 pm ET
TV: ABC/ESPN
Betting Lines: Eagles -2.5, Over/Under 41.5
Money Lines: Eagles -135, Chargers +120
No Juice
What makes the situation worse is the tone coming from the locker room. Players continue to reference a lack of energy, a slow start, or juice that never showed up. Those comments are not excuses. They are admissions. A team that lacks energy is a team that does not fully believe in what it is running. When players do not trust the structure, sequencing, or concepts, they play tight, slow, and indecisive. The public words are upbeat because players try to hold locker rooms together, but the body language on Sunday afternoons tells the more honest story. They do not believe in the offense right now.
This starts with Birds’ head coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. Sirianni oversees the identity and philosophical backbone of the offense, while Patullo is responsible for sequencing, red zone, third down, overall design, and the adjustments that must take place during a game. Right now the Eagles do not major in anything. They are not a tempo offense, not a downhill run offense, not an RPO offense, not a play action offense. They run fragments of several systems while mastering none of them, which is why so many drives feel disconnected and directionless.
No Coordinated Game Plan
Patullo has not created the foundational chains of plays that make NFL offenses dangerous. Great offenses do not call concepts in isolation. They build off one another. A run sets up a look. A look sets up a shot. A shot sets up a constraint. Through most of this season the Eagles have lacked that chain. Inside zone does not tie into matching play action. Quick game concepts do not create opportunities for double moves. RPO designs do not naturally lead into counter or misdirection that punishes defensive adjustments. Lane Johnson openly said earlier this year that the offense had become predictable. When a veteran as respected and measured as Johnson says that, it reflects a structural issue, not a lack of effort.
The offensive line has taken a step back as well. Everyone in the league knows how different the Eagles look when Johnson is limited or unavailable. The run game loses its edge. Protection becomes tentative. The right side lacks its usual confidence. Trevor Green adds depth but cannot replicate Johnsonâs impact. The coaches must call the game understanding that this line is no longer the dominant force it once was.
Early downs have been catastrophic. Instead of second and four the Eagles repeatedly find themselves in second and ten. Instead of third and two they are stuck in third and seven. A negative play rate near ten percent wipes out large portions of the playbook before halftime and forces Patullo into calls he does not trust. Red zone and third down execution has cratered. Concepts take too long to develop. Routes take too long to uncover. There is a lack of motion, leverage manipulation, spacing advantages, and misdirection. Good situational offense gives the quarterback simple answers. The Eagles have not done that.
The Fix is in?
The fix, however, is not complicated. It begins with Jalen Hurts and something this team has drifted away from. The Eagles are at their best when Hurts is a real part of the run game. The numbers are overwhelming. When Hurts has 10 or more carries the Eagles average 182.3 rushing yards per game. When he does not they average 135.1. Last season he posted 8 games with double digit carries. This year he has only 2. Since the start of last season the Eagles are 9 and 1 when Hurts runs 10 or more times and 11 and 6 when he does not. Jason Kelce put it bluntly on WIP when he said he wants to see more quarterback runs because it keeps defenses honest, improves angles for the offensive line, and makes traditional runs easier. In his words it is âalmost like cheating.â
There were reports claiming Hurts did not want a heavy designed run load this season. Hurts rejected that and said he will always do whatever it takes to win. Still, his rushing pace is well below his norm, with projections of 119 attempts and 466 yards, both career lows as a full time starter. Coming out of a mini bye while mired in a prolonged offensive slump, it would be a surprise if the staff did not lean back into what has always supercharged this offense.
Some Run Eh?
More involvement from Hurts helps Saquon Barkley as well. Barkleyâs production has become a major point of discussion. His speed has not declined, as he hit 21.87 miles per hour this season compared to 21.93 last year. His issue is structural. Barkleyâs rush yards over expected dropped from 546 last season to 17 entering this week. That reflects blocking breakdowns, defensive penetration, and a lack of sequencing that once set him up for success. The explosive runs and highlight plays are down, but his teammates and coaches insist nothing about his work ethic, attention to detail, or consistency has changed. Jordan Mailata said the offense has new wrinkles built in for this week. Landon Dickerson said Barkley communicates constantly to make sure the line and backs are aligned on aiming points and expectations. Nick Sirianni praised Barkleyâs steadiness and said that his consistency is why teammates and coaches trust him.
All of this funnels into a Chargers matchup that becomes a referendum on whether the Eagles have actually rebuilt their offensive identity. The Chargers defense is vulnerable in space and has struggled with misdirection, motion, and mobile quarterbacks. They give up explosives through poor communication and run fit breakdowns. They are exactly the kind of defense an offense in crisis should be able to attack, particularly if the Eagles restructure their sequencing and return to a more Hurts centric ground game.
If the Eagles truly make the changes they need, the signs will show immediately. The offense will have more rhythm. Hurts will have quicker answers. Motion will return. Sequencing will make sense. Barkley will have cleaner run lanes. Red zone and third down concepts will simplify. Drives will have purpose instead of panic.
If they do not, the Chargers will expose them the same way Chicago did. The Eagles are not simply playing a game this week. They are fighting to keep their season from slipping further toward the edge described in the headline. This is the moment to fix it or the moment that confirms this collapse is real. We will soon know.
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