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Eagles HC Nick Sirianni to evaluate Kevin Patullo, rest of staff after crushing loss
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- Eagles HC Nick Sirianni to evaluate Kevin Patullo, rest of staff after crushing loss
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Eagles HC Nick Sirianni to evaluate Kevin Patullo, rest of staff after crushing loss appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Philadelphia Eagles ' attempt to repeat as Super Bowl champions ended Sunday with a 23–19 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card round at Lincoln Financial Field, a defeat that further intensified criticism of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo .
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Following the loss, head coach Nick Sirianni addressed Patullo's future and offered a carefully worded response without an endorsement.
"Yeah, you know, again, there will be time to evaluate everyone's performance," said Sirianni (h/t 94 WIP's Eliot Shorr-Parks). "Right now, I feel for all our guys in the locker room, all the players, all the coaches, the front office, everybody that works so hard, the fans they come out and support us, Mr. Lurie, I just feel for all of them. There'll be time to evaluate everything."
Patullo, a first-time play-caller who replaced Kellen Moore, oversaw an offense that ranked 24th in total offense (311.2 yards per game), 23rd in passing (194.3), 18th in rushing (116.9), and 19th in scoring (22.3 points per game) during the regular season.
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Philadelphia came in as a 5.5-point favorite against San Francisco and even rested its starters in Week 18, but what played out looked a lot like what Eagles fans had seen all season. The Eagles scored 19 points despite facing what was described as the weakest defense in the playoff field. The offense mustered 308 yards, yet managed only six points after halftime, undoing a 13–10 halftime lead.
The statistical drop-off was severe. Philadelphia gained 188 yards in the first half but just 114 in the second, with 87 of those yards coming on the final two drives. Before that, three second-half possessions ended in three-and-outs. In the third quarter alone, the Eagles produced only 36 yards on 16 plays. The team finished 2-for-9 on third downs after halftime.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 20 of 35 passes for 168 yards and one touchdown, averaging just 4.8 yards per attempt. He threw for only 75 yards in the second half and did not complete a pass traveling more than 14 air yards. His 1.6 average air yards per attempt in the second half highlighted the offense's conservative approach. In fact, 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings threw a 29-yard touchdown pass that traveled 26 air yards — more than any pass by Hurts in the game.
Running back Saquon Barkley provided one of the few bright spots, rushing 26 times for 106 yards, though only 35 came after halftime. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith recorded eight receptions for 70 yards, while AJ Brown had a game to forget, finishing with three catches for 25 yards on seven targets and multiple third-down drops. Philadelphia had four third-down drops in total , most of them by Brown — the most by any team in a playoff game since 2006 and more than their entire regular-season total, according to ESPN Insights.
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It was the Eagles' defense, as it had been all season, that kept Philadelphia in the game, forcing two interceptions by rookie Quinyon Mitchell and giving the team a +2 turnover margin. Still, a missed extra point by Jake Elliott and a fourth-quarter decision by Sirianni to kick a field goal on 4th-and-3 from San Francisco's 15-yard line proved costly, as those were the final points Philadelphia scored.
The early end to the Eagles' season leaves the team with several questions to address this offseason.
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