Does the Eagles' offense in 2025 actually have an identity?

Does the Eagles' offense in 2025 actually have an identity? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles' offensive identity was clearly defined for most of the 2024 season.

They leaned on their elite offensive line and superstar running back. They had the best rushing attack in the NFL and rode it into the playoffs and then to the Super Bowl. And when they needed to pass the ball in the postseason, they were able to do it and hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

But what is this offense in 2025?

Because the Eagles haven't been very good at running the ball this season. Saquon Barkley might be the same guy, but the holes don't look the same and the explosive runs are nonexistent through five games behind a line that isn't quite as elite. And there are moments where they pass the ball effectively, but they are also going 3-and-out at an alarming rate. They're very hot and cold.

The Eagles are 4-1, but it's a little unclear just what they are exactly on offense. The day after their first loss of the season, head coach Nick Sirianni was asked what they can lean on going forward.

We have the players to be able to run and pass," Sirianni said on Monday. That's how we feel. And you want to dictate to the defense what you want to do. But there are times you also ... you can't just force something in there. You have to take what they give you in the run game and in the pass game no matter what. And so we have a lot of confidence and we gotta build on that.

We have to finish a game. We have to play a game all the way through, coaching, playing, everything. I think that's something that we have is the ability with the players we have on this team, the ability to do it multiple ways. And we just have to do it and coach it more consistently."

We saw some of that strategy in their Week 5 loss to the Broncos. The Eagles went with a super heavy passing attack and even though it dried up in the second half, it was effective through the first two quarters (and a drive in the third), as Sirianni pointed out on Monday.

The Eagles also reintroduced their RPO (run-pass option) game against the Broncos and found some success with that too.

I think every game dictates different things," Sirianni said. Yesterday, we saw opportunity in the pass game to be able to take advantage of a couple things and a couple matchups that we were getting. I think for a majority of the first half and the first drive in the second half, we were having a lot of success with that. Throwing for 200+ yards in a little bit over two quarters of work.

And then some other things that happened that we didn't finish out that game. But I think that every game calls for something different. We had some RPOs yesterday that were really good. Sometimes RPOs aren't going to be good based off of how they're doing."

So what's the issue? It's probably not just one thing. The most obvious answer is that new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo is the problem. But plenty of the issues we're seeing in 2025 pre-date his promotion to that position. While there's no doubt that Patullo can be better, it's probably unfair to pin this all on him.

OK, so what else? The offensive line, like we mentioned, hasn't been quite as elite thanks to injuries and perhaps attrition. Aside from that, execution has been lacking. Mental errors have been abundant. They keep getting behind the sticks. The Eagles somehow can't seem to get to the line of scrimmage quickly enough. Jalen Hurts has been inconsistent. Receivers look lost on scramble drills.

There are a lot of issues that have prevented this offense from hitting its ceiling and perhaps finding an identity.

Here's where the Eagles' offense stands after five weeks in several key categories:

Yards: 261.6 per game (30th)
Passing yards: 161.8 per game (31st)
Rushing yards: 99.8 per game (25th)
Rushing success rate: 43.0% (13th)
Red zone efficiency: 92.3% (1st)
EPA/play: -0.03 (18th)
EPA/pass: -0.09 (23rd)
EPA/rush: +0.04 (6th)

The one area on offense the Eagles have been elite in 2025 has been in the red zone. And on their first trip inside the 20 against the Broncos they were held to a field goal for the first time all season.

Sometimes the talk of identity can be a little overblown. Ideally, the Eagles want to be good at multiple things. Like Sirianni said on Monday, the hope is, that with all their talent, they should be good at running the ball and passing it. That has not happened so far.

We're already over a month into the 2025 season and this offense is far from good enough. There's still time to figure it out but they better hurry. Because Sirianni is right about one thing: There is a lot of offensive talent on this team.

Way too much for it to look like this.