What makes the Eagles optimistic about offense after a 3rd straight loss?
What makes the Eagles optimistic about offense after a 3rd straight loss? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The crazy thing about the Eagles' offensive performance Monday night is that they actually did some good things.
It's hard to come to terms with that in light of their five turnovers and just 19 points, but hidden by Jalen Hurts' awful game there were enough positives to give the Eagles hope that maybe they've turned a bit of a corner.
Maybe.
They netted 365 yards, their 2nd-most this year, most on the road, most against a winning team and most against a top-10 offense.
They averaged 5.4 yards per rushing attempt, their 2nd-highest this year, highest on the road, best vs. a winning team.
They had 10 plays of 15 yards or more, their most since last year's NFC Championship Game.
An explosive breakthrough in the 22-19 overtime loss to the Chargers? Hardly. Signs of progress? It's possible.
It's a definite positive," offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo said after practice Thursday. I think we've been close multiple times in certain games. You can see the Vikings game. There are certain games where we've been kind of on it and able to push through and do some really good things.
Some games it's kind of been up and down, and we've had those moments where obviously we know we want to be better, but I think there were some positives that came out of that game. We were able to do some different things that we've been pushing toward doing and trending toward at times that showed up, and it was very encouraging.
I think the guys felt pretty good about the things we did well on. They know what we need to fix and kind of continue to grow from."
It's tough to brag about scoring 19 points. But this offense has been so bad for so long that when there are some positives, it's important to note them.
This was the first time since the Super Bowl the Eagles had at least 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in a game and the first time they've had at least 350 net yards against a winning team since the NFC Championship Game.
Now, the reality is that five turnovers meant they scored just one touchdown on 14 possessions. They had seven drives inside the Chargers' 40-yard-line that didn't result in a touchdown, the first time that's happened in nine years.
Moving the ball but coming up empty isn't anything to celebrate. But when you've been one of the worst offenses in the NFL for three months, you'll take even the smallest breakthroughs.
But while Patullo was happy to see a few positives, the bottom line is one touchdown, 19 points and numerous wasted opportunities.
It's really frustrating because obviously red zone-wise, we've been one of the best teams in the league in the red zone, so it's frustrating when that happens," he said.
When you have good drives and you get it going and then you just can't capitalize on it with a touchdown, you come to the sideline, you're excited about the drive and we had good plays, but ultimately, when we get down in there, we want to score touchdowns. That's the name of the business for us on offense. It is frustrating.
Fortunately, we've been very good down in those areas (deep in opposing territory) throughout the year. That's the one thing we've been good at, and we've just got to keep building on that and find new ways to score.
We've had a couple of drives where we were on the fringe of the red zone and we just couldn't quite push it through. ... We've just got to capitalize when we get down there."
The Eagles have scored 21 or fewer points in seven of their last nine games, and their 81 points in five games since the bye week are their fewest in a five-game span in 13 years.
They will try to end their three-game losing streak Sunday at the Linc against the 2-11 Raiders, who've lost seven straight games and are allowing 25 points per game.
It's easy to have a positive mindset when you believe in yourself and you know the talent that you have on this team and the coaches that we have on the team," Saquon Barkley said at his locker Thursday.
I'm a big believer in the work you put in, it's going to show at some point. It hasn't, especially the last three weeks. The beautiful thing, we're getting (another) opportunity Sunday.
So I promise you guys we're working our ass off. And hopefully we get back on track this week."