The city of PhiladelphiaNeither Saquon Barkley nor Joel Hurts were present. Neither DeVonta Smith nor A.J. Brown. There is only one starting offensive lineman, Dallas Goedertor.
Jahan Dotson, the No. 3 receiver who only managed 19 catches for 216 yards without a touchdown last season, was the closest the Eagles offense had to a starter on the field Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Even so, it was simple to see how the offensive may improve in 2025 compared to 2024, when the squad placed eighth in points and seventh in scoring.
Yes, Tanner McKee’s outstanding performance was largely responsible for the Eagles’ 432 yards of offensive output versus the Bengals. Nick Sirianni laughed when the first inquiry concerned his backup quarterback because he knew McKee was that excellent.
After McKee completed 20 of 25 throws for 252 yards and two touchdowns, the coach grinned and remarked, “Played pretty good.” McKee also reminded the league that the tush push is still alive when he plowed into the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the Eagles’ opening offensive series.
After little persuasion, Sirianni shared his thoughts on McKee’s performance.
Sirianni claimed he accomplished a lot of wonderful things. He was accurate and took the football to the correct spot. His operation was excellent.
Naturally, McKee won’t play when the Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys on September 4th, but he seems like a great insurance policy in case Hurts has an injury.
More importantly, despite losing Doug Nussmeier and Kelvin Moore to the New Orleans Saints after their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, it seems that the Eagles have the correct people in place at quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
Hurts has had a new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the third consecutive year, but he at least knows Patullo, who has been with Sirianni’s staff since the head coach moved to Philadelphia in 2021.
Having Jalen on the headset for Thursday’s game is fantastic because it allows Sirianni to say, “Hey, Jalen on this one, we’ll be thinking this with this scenario.” However, Kevin and I have collaborated on a lot of projects. Kevin is aware of our circumstances. Hey Nick, what are you thinking about? For the past five years, Kevin and I have been doing that together, even returning to Indianapolis.
Following their 2023 meltdown, the Eagles believed that Sirianni needed an outside opinion to lead the offensive, and Moore was that person. Now that Sirianni has one of his guys back in charge of the offense, the forced marriage worked out well for the Eagles. That might turn out to be a good thing, given how effective McKee and the offensive reserves appeared in the opening preseason game.
Hurts has reportedly welcomed the adjustment. The Eagles’ two joint practices versus the Cleveland Browns at the NovaCare Complex next week will give us our first glimpse of him.
Patullo is known to have stated that the 2025 Eagles offensive will resemble the 2024 squad, which led the league in rushing attempts and trailed in passing attempts.
Yes, Patullo stated, “I believe we are still the Eagles offense.” That won’t change, in my opinion. We’ll see how it goes during training camp and where it takes us. I believe it starts with the run game up front, and we just develop from there. Of course, we’d like to try new things occasionally.
In Patullo’s first season as the team’s playcaller, the running game was crucial as the Eagles amassed 132 yards, with Will Shipley and AJ Dillon averaging over five yards per carry. During the Eagles’ first touchdown drive, Shipley broke a 38-yard run, while Dillon added three 27-yard catches to his five 27-yard rushes.
Sirianni stated, “We’ve seen that in practice a lot, just his ability to get downhill on runs and catch the ball out of the backfield.” I adore that running back room, and he’s a strong runner.”
The other backs will only get limited action as long as Barkley is healthy, but with Dillon and Shipley’s progress in his second season, it’s reasonable to argue that the 2025 running back room is superior to the 2024 one.
The coach must have been pleased with his wide receiver room as well.With Smith and Brown out, Jahan Dotson had to fill in as the starting wide receiver, and he produced two catches for 27 yards on the Eagles’ first scoring drive.
McKee’s favorite target was Johnny Wilson, who was quiet during the first few days of training camp but caught three passes for 73 yards, including one contested catch that he easily hauled away from the Cincinnati CB.
When the Eagles selected Ainias Smith in the fifth round of last year’s draft out of Texas A&M, he appeared to be the explosive weapon they had in mind, despite having only seven catches as a rookie. He also had a 46-yard punt return and two catches for 11 yards and a touchdown. Darius Cooper, an undrafted rookie, also left a good impression, leading the club with six catches for 82 yards, including a 20-yard score.
Sirianni remarked, “You have a lot of good competition, and competition brings out the best in guys.”
The Eagles defense’s success in 2024 was largely attributed to depth, and it looks like the offense might possess that crucial attribute in 2025.
