Eagles win. Offense struggles. AJ Brown frustrated. Rinse and repeat.
At some point, something will break. That’s life. There’s only so much pressure permitted before the burst occurs. The Eagles and AJ Brown are heading down that road. Either the offense will finally push through their season long rut or Brown will fully erupt and maybe even leave the team or be suspended. Wins are the only thing keeping this situation intact, and by intact I mean on a knife’s edge. Don’t be fooled, though, this is not a Terrell Owens situation. Brown is in the right here. He’s right about the offense. He’s right about the scheme. He’s right about where the ball should go.
AJ Brown had two receptions Monday night for 13 yards. He was targeted once after the first two drives. He should be unhappy. He should speak up. The offense scored 10 points. The 2025 Eagles offense goes three-and-out more than any offense over the last decade. It’s inexcusable, given their talent, for the offense to be that inept for this long. Brown is 100% accurate when he says the offense has to do more and can’t rely on the defense to continually bail them out. They have to produce. They must be aggressive. They must deploy their weapons.
On Wednesday, Nick Sirianni was asked about the offense and more specifically how Brown’s constant frustration and criticism of the offense impacts the team. Sirianni mostly blew off the question. However, he did state two things. First, Sirianni said there are plenty of times the offense is designed to go Brown. Second, he confirmed that defenses are heavily focused on taking Brown out of the offense because he is one the NFL’s best receivers. That makes sense, but the offense is struggling mightily and Brown is not getting the football, so one of two things is true… either the Eagles are idiots or incompetent (and maybe both). Allow me to explain.
Brown not getting targets and touches is fact. If the Eagles are not designing offense to get Brown HEAVILY involved then they are idiots. He’s a game-breaker with the ball in his hands. He’s a contested catch beast. Good things happen when he’s a major part of the offense. If Kevin Patullo is not an idiot and defenses are actually eliminating Brown from the game… then… well… Patullo is just incompetent. I literally laughed out loud when I read Sirianni’s statement about defenses targeting Brown. No sh**. Defenses will always aim to limit the impact of the best players. That’s what they do. All Sirianni did was confirm that Patullo is an incompetent dope.
Through eight games this season, Brown is averaging 6.75 targets per game. He’s had two outings with three or less. Ja’Marr Chase averages almost 12 targets per game. He’s been targeted 10 or more times in five of nine games. Puka Nacua averages just under 11 targets in games he didn’t leave injured. Jaxon Smith-Njigba averages 9.5 targets. Amon-Ra St. Brown is targeted 9 times per outing. Chase leads the NFL in receptions. Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in receiving yards. St. Brown leads the NFL in receiving touchdowns. Nacua was on a record breaking pace before his injury. Do you think opposing defenses are scheming to stop those four guys? Do you think the offensive coordinators for the Bengals, Seahawks, Lions and Rams struggle to get their best receivers involved in the offense? No. This isn’t about opposing defenses. This isn’t even about Brown. This is about the incompetence or idiocy of Patullo.
The Eagles had the bye week opportunity to address the situation and passed. Howie Roseman likely looked at the 2023 season and how replacing coordinators did not work at all when it came to considering a change. I get it, but that team had some noticeable flows. Mainly, an aging defense that was on the verge of collapse. The 2025 Eagles have almost everything they need to repeat as champions. All they need is an offense that gets the ball to its best players. It isn’t a ground-breaking concept. It’s simple. It’s football. Patullo is simply too incompetent to get it done, and it appears the organization is committed to ride this sinking ship with Patullo at the helm while Brown continues to sound the alarm to those who won’t listen.
*****
Thursday Night Pick; Jets +13