A Winning Formula

Posted December 15th, 2025

The Eagles offense has gotten a ton of attention this season. We have discussed Kevin Patullo, Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Saquon Barkley, the offensive line and just about every aspect of the offense possible. What will it take for the offense to get fixed? Can this group turn things around and help the team to have success this postseason?

We just might be focused on the wrong thing.

Think back to last season. The Eagles defense allowed the fewest yards in the league and were second in points allowed. Look at the playoff scores.

PHI 22, GB 10
PHI 28, LAR 22
PHI 55, WAS 23
PHI 40, KC 22

No one scored more than 23 points in a game. And that is an impressive collection of QBs and offenses. The Rams scored 7 of their points at the end of the game. The Chiefs scored all of their points when the game was a blowout.

As good as Barkley, Hurts and the offense were last year, the defense was the real star. And that appears to be the case once again this season.

The defense was erratic early on this season. The unit has come together over time and is playing at a really high level. This isn’t about one player or one part of the unit. The whole defense has improved, and for a variety of reasons.

The pass rush got better when Nolan Smith came off IR, the team traded for Jaelan Phillips and they got Brandon Graham out of retirement. Smith is a tone setter against the run and has 2 sacks in the last three games. Phillips has been regularly disruptive since arriving. BG is playing inside and outside and just had a pair of sacks on Sunday.

Don’t forget about Jalyx Hunt. He’s played the best football of his young career over the past month. Hunt leads the team in TFLs, FFs and QB hits. He is second in sacks. And don’t forget the INT he had against the Bears. Hunt is developing into a good edge rusher.

Nakobe Dean came off IR and proved to be an instant impact player. He’s started seven games this season. He is tied for the team lead in TFLs and FF. Dean is third in sacks. He’s added a physical presence in the middle of the defense. You see that in how he plays the run and also with his blitzing. Dean punishes RBs who try to block him.

Drew Mukuba struggled at times early in the season. He got better as he got experience. Then he was injured in the Dallas game and that really hurt. The coaches gave Sydney Brown a shot to start, but he struggled. They brought Marcus Epps back from IR and he’s started the last two games. Epps has played well. He understands Fangio’s system, which makes life hard on safeties.

Remember when CB2 was a major problem? Adoree Jackson struggled early in the season. He’s gotten better as he’s adjusted to the system. He’s now playing with more confidence. It probably also helps that the pass rush has improved.

Making this stretch of defense all the more impressive is the fact Jalen Carter has missed the last two games and wasn’t healthy for the Bears game. He is still the best player on the defense. If he gets right and comes back in a week or two, it will make the defense even better.

I’m not saying the defense is as good as last year and will lead the team back to the Super Bowl. They are coming together in a big way and have the potential to help the Eagles on a postseason run. The defense will need help from the offense. One of the keys last year is that the offense sustained drives and kept the defense off the field. The defense faced the fewest plays in the league last year with only 999. This year’s defense has already been on the field for 893 plays and there are three games left.

The offense has shown some flashes in the past two games. If they can just sustain drives and give the defense some rest, it will make a world of difference. The offense doesn’t have to be great. If they can take a big step forward, this team could be dangerous in January. With the way this defense is playing, I think we can finally put to bed any comparisons to 2023. Over the final seven games of that regular season, teams averaged 31 points against the Eagles. Only one team all year has scored more than 26 points against Vic Fangio’s defense. Shockingly, that was the Giants on TNF. Crazy.

I don’t know how this season will turn out. I do know that as long as the Eagles have Fangio and that defense, they have a shot.

That is pretty damned impressive.

https://igglesblitz.com/2025/12/a-winning-formula/

Eagles' D definitely deserves props, they've been carrying the team all year. If the O can start carrying their fair share, we'd be in good shape entering the postseason.

Winning NFL games, especially playoff games, is a 3 phase endeavor.

Defense wins championships as the saying goes.

The eagles defense, right now, is playing better with each passing week. There's no doubt the eagles defense has been keeping them in games and probably will continue. But.....

The best defense is a good offense......as that saying goes.

And the eagles offense has not been doing its job. It's tough to gauge the offense based on the raiders game.....they did what they needed to do against a weak opponent but it was a step in the right direction. 2 games against Washington and 1 against Buffalo SHOULD let the running game produce.more, but the offensive line is still hobbled and underperforming.

They need to control the clock and grind out first downs. Playcalling and bad penalties could continue to sidetrack the offense. Sirianni and Patullo don't have the creativity for adjusting to "in game" obstacles.

Special teams are so-so this year mainly due to Jake Elliot not being what he used to be, but overall S/T are dependable.

So while the defense and special teams will keep the eagles in games....the offense has to perform better by controlling ToP, staying on the field by grinding out first downs, helping more with the field position battle and being more unpredictable.

Stick to the run, don’t ask Jalen to throw it 30+ times and look after the ball. It may not be pretty and it may not be comfortable against good teams where the game is so close but it’s the way it has to be. It’s what made us great last year and it’s what we need to do this year if we want to go deep in to the playoffs.