After embarrassing Kevin Patullo pile-on, Eagles must make Mike McDaniel their main OC target

The worst kind of mob is the one that is displacing its aggression. Then again, maybe every mob is that kind of mob. The more unhinged the vitriol, the more concentrated its direction, the more likely it is driven by fears and frustrations that are much more difficult to reconcile than the ones that have bubbled to the surface. The easier the target, the more likely it is the wrong one. Because the fixes are rarely easy.

Kevin Patullo isn’t the first person to experience the downside of this city’s manic emotional instability when it comes to professional sports. He might be the first one to have his house egged, and he almost certainly is the first one to have his image offered as a target by a golf simulator company. But the general phenomenon is something that we see any time a Philly sports team underperforms expectations to the extent that the Eagles offense did this season. Frustration is a lot easier to process if you can convince yourself that it would not exist but for the gross incompetence of one person. It is even easier when that person has a job that is relatively easy to replace.

My point here isn’t to shame anybody. Actually, my point is to lobby the Eagles to spend whatever it takes to hire Mike McDaniel as their offensive coordinator. It’s a move that would give them a radical upgrade in play-calling and game-planning expertise and that would give them a fighting chance at reinventing a scheme that has stagnated under Patullo and Nick Sirianni and may be obsolete due to some serious personnel regression. But I also feel a little bit guilty expressing an opinion that legitimizes or adds to the unrestrained and oftentimes unthinking pile-on of poor Patullo that we’ve witnessed here over the last month-plus. It should be possible to criticize and/or question a person’s professional performance without disregarding the person part of it, especially when that person is someone who lives among us in the community and whose kids attend our schools.

» READ MORE: Kevin Patullo out as Eagles offensive coordinator

I’m not suggesting that everybody, or even most people, have crossed the line into gratuitous abuse/humiliation. It sure feels that way in the aggregate, though. I don’t have a personal relationship with Patullo. If I did, I would certainly apologize to him on the city’s behalf. I actually think most people would do the same if they randomly found themselves talking to him one-on-one, maybe in an airport bar, or at their kid’s CYO game. I suppose that’s another funny characteristic of mobs.

I wasn’t going to bring up any of this. Mostly because I don’t want a mob to come after me. I know I’ll be accused of saying something I’m not actually saying, a common mob tactic that serves to stake out a defensible rhetorical position and reframe an argument into one that can actually be won. So, although it won’t matter, I will say it again. I agree with a lot of the criticisms of the Eagles’ offense, and that Sirianni’s decision to make a change at offensive coordinator is both warranted and necessary.

That said, Eagles fans and media will be setting themselves up for a self-perpetuating cycle of offseasons like this one if they will not acknowledge the very obvious structural problems that exist well below the play-calling level on this Eagles offense. Even when this unit was at its best, it was trying to score points the same way it did under Patullo this season. The formula is the same as it was under Sirianni or Shane Steichen or Brian Johnson or Kellen Moore. The scheme and the personnel structure are built to stay ahead of the sticks with dominant run-blocking and to fill in the blanks with big plays from their elite talent at wide receiver and running back.

Listen to what DeVonta Smith said on Sunday when somebody asked him if the Eagles’ scheme needed to change after their season-ending loss to the 49ers.

“This the scheme that we’ve been in the whole time [since I’ve been here],” the receiver said. “Whatever anybody thinks, nothing changed. It’s the same scheme.”

» READ MORE: Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.

Other players and coaches have said it countless times. Nobody seems to want to accept it. Yes, the Eagles have had four offensive coordinators in four seasons. And, yes, the offense was markedly worse this season than it was in the past. But it was the same scheme. It was the same philosophy.

The biggest difference between the Eagles offense this season and last season? On Sunday against the 49ers, Eagles running backs had eight carries that gained zero or negative yards. They had 20 such carries all last postseason, over four games. Eight on 30 carries against the dilapidated 49ers defense vs. 20 on 108 carries against the Rams, Packers, Chiefs, and Commanders last year.

Lane Johnson, one of the NFL’s ultimate warriors, is battling a foot injury that kept him from playing Sunday. Landon Dickerson basically shrugged when somebody asked him if he could get his body back to where it was last season. Cam Jurgens was pushed around all afternoon against the 49ers.

The Eagles’ only option is to bring in a fresh set of eyes and a proven track record of inventive run-scheming. They need to reinvent this offense, and McDaniel is the perfect mind to do it. Since he arrived in Miami in 2022, the Dolphins rank sixth in rushing average at 4.5 yards per attempt. He did this while also calling an offense that saw quarterback Tua Tagovailoa throw for 4,624 yards and go 11-6 in 2023.

There are all kinds of reasons to think it won’t happen. McDaniel is an eccentric personality who has spent the last four seasons with total control. Vic Fangio lasted less than one season as his defensive coordinator. McDaniel already reportedly has an interview scheduled with the Lions, who can offer him a good offensive line, excellent pass-catchers, and a running back that has the Devon Achane mold in Jahmyr Gibbs. That’s if McDaniel doesn’t land one of the remarkable nine head-coaching jobs that are currently open.

All the more reason for the Eagles to be aggressive. Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie pride themselves on being ahead of the curve. They’d rather be a year early than a year late. Right now, it is getting late early. McDaniel or not, they need a new voice, an inventive mind, and a fresh set of eyes. Anybody else will end up right where Patullo is. And that’s not fair to anybody.