Scheme vs Execution

Posted November 7th, 2025

More than a few people have been critical of Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. They say the Eagles offense is too plain. Too predictable. Why can’t Eagles coaches be more creative?

There is a flip side to this. Sometimes coaches can fall too in love with X’s and O’s. They can focus too much on scheme and not enough on execution. Check out these comments from Dan Orlovsky.

Is Green Bay too reliant on scheme?

I will let Packers fans and the media who cover the team debate that subject. I do think it is interesting that Orlovsky even brings up the idea. While you want creativity in an offense, you don’t want to rely on it too much. At some point, you need your guy to be able to beat the guy across from him. Jimmys and Joes are more important than X’s and O’s, as the old saying goes.

Patullo has shown the ability to be creative in the red zone, where the Eagles are ranked first in the NFL. GB is 11th in the league in the red zone. They went 0 for 4 in last week’s loss to Carolina.

The Eagles win over the Giants was Patullo’s best game of the year. He was creative with the run and pass game, but also relied on basic plays as well. He knew the Eagles were more talented. That’s a game where you shouldn’t have to be too exotic. When he did mix things in, they worked pretty well.

I love that play.

Green Bay has a much better defense than the Giants. This game will be a good test for Patullo and the Eagles offense. Can the run game have another good outing? Can the Eagles have another good passing game?

*****

Vic Fangio had the #1 defense in the league last year because his guys covered so well and could also rush the passer. The pass defense has mostly been good this year, but has been erratic at times. That’s what happens when you have a rookie safety in Drew Mukuba and a revolving door at CB2. It does feel like the coverage has gotten better as the season has gone along.

The Eagles traded for a pair of defensive backs, which means Fangio now can be more creative with who he plays and how he uses them. It will be interesting to see what he does. Maybe they give Jaire Alexander a shot at CB2. They could stick with Kelee Ringo, who is coming off his best game of the year. Or maybe they slide Cooper DeJean outside and play Michael Carter as the nickel.

DeJean is a key piece as Fangio makes his plans.

DeJean is great in the slot, but also can be a good outside corner. Fangio has to figure out the right combination of players for this game. The Packers love to throw deep so he needs to make sure he’s got CBs who can run and play the deep ball well.

It is tough to judge Alexander from his time with the Ravens.

Some of those plays aren’t bad coverage at all. I don’t think Alexander looked completely healthy on some of them. His movement wasn’t fluid. He did tackle, which is important.

Alexander says he feels healthy now, but players can’t be trusted. They want to play. The coaches got a look at him in practice and will be able to judge if he’s ready to play or not.

https://igglesblitz.com/2025/11/scheme-vs-execution/