Sept. 11, 2026
Never before have I been so locked in on one moment the way I have been with the Eagles’ final play-call of last season, when head coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo both choked on the sideline before a year’s work ended in despair and disgust.
And I’m not the only one. A few days ago, Jeff McLane of Philly.comreported that Patullo “froze” on that last play. Welcome to the party, Jeff. I didn’t need any sources to see what happened. It was on TV. I have been obsessed ever since because it revealed so much about the offensive dysfunction that ruined 2025.
Now we’re all supposed to move on and embrace a new season with Sirianni still on the sidelines and Jalen Hurts – who threw the ill-fated final pass into triple coverage – still behind center. We’re all supposed to believe the pabulum coming out of the Eagles camp this summer that Patullo’s equally inexperienced replacement will cure all ills.
Let’s get this straight now, before the opening kickoff of a new season. No one can predict with any accuracy how the Eagles will do this year unless they know where on the spectrum of offensive coordinators Sean Mannion lands between champ Kellen Moore and chump Kevin Patullo.
If Mannion is a fast learner – really fast – he will remind fans of Moore in his one season here as offensive coordinator, a year in which Hurts, Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown all reached the pinnacle of their careers. If that championship season proved anything, it’s that play-calling is the most underrated aspect of football.
And never was that fact more obvious than last season, when Patullo bumbled away another prime opportunity to win a Super Bowl. All the way to the final play-call, Patullo was a blind man driving a Rolls Royce. And the guy standing next to him, his loyal pal Sirianni, was no GPS.
I had a great laugh the other day when John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia asked the head coach how difficult it was for Nick to call the plays himself during his first season leading the Eagles.
“The main thing,” he said, “is just having a plan for everything.”
Apparently that plan included finding someone who was actually good at calling plays after he realized that he sucked at it in the middle of his rookie season.
Hey, kudos to him at the time. OC Shane Steichen was a much better play-caller. But it bears mention that Nick has not jumped back into the fray even when it was painfully obvious that both Brian Johnson in 2023 and Patullo last season had no clue how to do the job.
Even on that last play – here I go again – the coach stood passively on the sideline while Patullo froze, leaving Hurts with no choice but to call a play himself.
Now, with another novice OC in control, I feel uncomfortable even offering my prediction for the 2026 season, which begins on Sunday. I do need to remind you that I have an admittedly spotty record in these annual guessing games. But here goes anyway.
I’ll start with what I know. The defense will be terrific, both because of the personnel and even more so because of the coaching. If there’s a way to exploit the talent on that side of the ball, I’m confident Vic Fangio will find it. The defense will be top 10 in the NFL, for sure. Maybe top five.
My biggest concern, other than the obvious variable of injuries, is how well the middle of the defensive line – Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis – will perform now that the two big stars are wealthier than they ever dreamed. The $230- million investment in two players who have had some motivation issues in the past is precarious, at best.
Still, the talent is so deep, and Fangio is so savvy, that the defense will be the least of the Eagles’ problems this season.
The big doubts are in the other two units.
Special teams took a major dip last season, primarily because of the erratic kicking of Jake Elliott. If the offense bogs down at all, the need for field goals will become more dire than ever. I’m not sure Elliott can do it anymore.
And now we’re right back to the biggest question mark, Mannion and his offense. Here’s a list of just a few of the key questions:
- How quickly will Hurts turn against Mannion – his seventh OC in seven NFL seasons – if the play-calling in 2026 is a replay of 2025?
- Can the Eagles expect another healthy season from Saquon Barkley, who has enjoyed two pristine years after an injury-marred tenure with the Giants?
- The offensive line is healthier than last year’s, but is it still the strength of the offense? At 36, in his final season, can Lane Johnson continue to be a difference-maker at right tackle? Is the line going to run-block as effectively as it did two seasons ago?
- Who will replace A.J. Brown on big third downs? I realize the ex-Eagles wide receiver is already hurt in New England, but his early departure there doesn’t solve the problem here. Can DeVonta Smith play as well as a No.1 receiver as he did at No. 2?
For me at least, those are too many questions for a team hoping to challenge for another Super Bowl, especially when the 49ers, Rams and Seahawks are locked and loaded for a terrific run this year.
The Eagles will continue their streak of winning seasons under Sirianni – thanks mostly to the strong roster-building of GM Howie Roseman – but it will either be another early playoff exit this season or maybe even a year with no postseason games at all.
The Eagles will finish at 10-7.
It will be the beginning of an inevitable descent from the ranks of elite NFL teams.
Hey, no one can stay on top forever.
I really hope I’m wrong.
Some final thoughts:
- Of all the sports venues in our city’s proud history, none has had as little impact as the facility that currently houses the Sixers and Flyers. I don’t even know what to call it. In its 30-year history, it has been the CoreStates Center, First Union Center, Wachovia Center, Wells Fargo Center and now the Xfinity Mobile Arena. No team has won a championship there. It has none of the charm of the Spectrum. Good riddance (in four years) to a building that couldn’t even figure out what to call itself.
- And while construction begins soon on that new $1.5-billion arena, don’t be surprised when the Eagles ramp up pressure to fulfill owner Jeff Lurie’s newest obsession, a domed stadium. Hey, I can understand the desire for a new arena; there are 162 home dates a year just between the Sixers and Flyers. The only thing a dome would do – with barely a dozen Eagles games a year scheduled there – is feed the already bloated ego of the owner. No, thanks.
- Brandon Graham retired again the other day. As a fellow retiree, I understand the constant pull of returning to something you love, and I know no one who loved their job the way BG loves playing football. For that reason alone, I’ll believe Graham is really retired when the Eagles, inevitably, need a situational pass rusher later this season and the Super Bowl hero says no. Something tells me he will be there whenever the Eagles need him.
- Bottom of the ninth inning, no outs, Edmundo Sosa on second with the tying run, J.T. Realmuto, at the plate. One of the toughest pitchers to hit, Houston closer Josh Hader, is on the mound. Has there ever been a situation that screamed more for a bunt? Phils manager Don Mattingly didn’t hear the plea from my living room. Moments later, Astros 6, Phillies 5. Hey, at least the analytics nerds were happy.
- I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Sosa was on second base, instead of third, only because he posed for a couple of seconds at home plate admiring his blast to center field rather than running hard out of the batter’s box. Later, manager Don Mattingly said he reminded Sosa that it’s wise to run every time you hit the ball in fair territory. Edmundo is 30 years old, in his ninth season in the big leagues. I have nothing else to say.