Eagles Leaning Heavily On Flawed Super Bowl Blueprint

The defending champions (somehow) sit fourth in Super Bowl odds. It’s been a tumultuous ride for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025. However, their victory against the Buffalo Bills in Week 17 reaffirmed their status as championship contenders – albeit in a way Howie Roseman didn’t expect when he assembled the highest-paid offense in the NFL.

Vic Fangio coaches a Super Bowl-caliber defense that impressively dominated Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense. A ferocious physical beatdown on a rainy evening in Orchard Park rejuvenated Eagles fans looking to believe in the team’s identity for a second straight playoff run.

The Eagles, however, won’t repeat as champions on the back of their defense alone. Jalen Hurts and the offense failed to take pressure off a dominant defense, and it nearly cost the Eagles on Sunday.

An NFL team leaning on a defense as its foundation won't lift a Lombardi Trophy without improvement in coaching, ball possession tendencies, and team discipline to fuel a stronger brand of complementary football in all phases of the game.

NFL defenses don’t usually stifle their opponents for four quarters in the modern era. When a top-tier quarterback like Josh Allen takes the ball with continuous opportunities, he’ll almost always break the dam exactly like he did on the final two possessions in Week 17.

He led touchdown drives of 53 and 84 yards to put the Bills in position to tie or win the game.

After an exceptional defensive performance, the Eagles still relied on a fortunate miscue from one of the best quarterbacks in the world on a two-point conversion.

When the Eagles shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, they swarmed with splash plays in the second quarter while the offense put the game out of reach. They didn't ultimately keep Mahomes off the board for four quarters, as the future Hall of Famer racked up hollow stats late.

The offense's failure to possess the ball in Buffalo fell short of the complementary football coaching cliche.

The Bills ran 73 plays while the Eagles ran only 54. Standout Jalen Carter sat the first two plays of the final drive with a six-point lead and the game on the line. The Eagles relied on Byron Young on Buffalo’s two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter with an overworked Carter exhausted in his first game back from injury.

The Eagles similarly wore down on defense in the second half of two recent losses. 

The Dallas Cowboys climbed out of an early hole by dominating possession on their way to a 24-21 comeback victory in Week 12. They ran 68 plays while the Eagles ran 58. The Chicago Bears ran 85 plays to Philadelphia’s 51 on a cringy Black Friday at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles ended both games with no signs of the physical rushing attack and impressive ball control they used to secure late victories through a dominant stretch in 2024.

While the Eagles narrowly won the time of possession share in Dallas, the Bears stunningly controlled the ball for 39:18, and the Bills held it for 35:15.

Wins against the Raiders and the Commanders sparked some hope that the Eagles had turned a corner offensively. Another clunker against a more formidable opponent crushed the optimism.

The Eagles put heavy pressure on their defense by gaining 16 yards and one first down on their first five possessions of the second half before a kneel down in the final seconds.

The offense is unlikely to regain its identity from 2024 with Saquon Barkley in full rhythm behind a stout offensive line. Lane Johnson has sat out six consecutive games while interior linemen Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens have battled nagging injuries throughout 2025.

Jalen Hurts has shown flashes of the dynamic arm that has helped the Eagles in critical moments of the franchise’s recent run of dominance.

However, Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo continue to lean on a conservative offensive strategy. Philadelphia’s gameplans prioritize winning the turnover battle – which did play a major factor in their victory against the Bills – above generating the explosive plays that the unit is capable of.

How does the offense hope to improve? The unit executed well in their previous two wins before the trip to Buffalo mixing under center play-action passes and a smoother rushing attack. However, the rhythm halted against the Bills. The Eagles will rely on better execution, especially along the offensive line, for an offensive effort that complements the Super Bowl-caliber defense.