Nick Sirianni didn’t rest Kevin Patullo and the Eagles offense still looked inadequate

If there was an argument for Nick Sirianni playing his starters against the Commanders on Sunday, it was using the season finale as an opportunity to give the Eagles offense some momentum heading into the postseason.

The reasoning wasn’t exactly strong. But it had more validity than trying to jump up to the No. 2 seed (although starting Jalen Hurts & Co. could have satisfied both objectives).

Sirianni, of course, opted to sit his quarterback and most starters on both sides of the ball. The rest may benefit the Eagles against the 49ers in the wild-card round of the playoffs. As the coach said before and after a 24-17 loss to Washington, the one thing he could control was how he utilized his personnel.

It was a sound rationalization. Some will question the decision after a Bears loss to the Lions could have pitted the Eagles against the Packers and given them a potential home game at Lincoln Financial Field in the divisional round.

Either way, three games will stand between the team returning to the Super Bowl. And repeating as champion is unlikely if the offense continues to function as it has for most of the season. An inadequate Washington defense could have offered the chance to, at least, reverse a pitiful second half at the Bills last week.

“We treat every practice like we’re using that as momentum, and had a good week of practice with the guys and good individual work to sharpen our skills,” Sirianni said. “Again, this is what I felt was best for us, was to be rested and healthy going into the playoffs. Everything else was considered, obviously.”

It would be extreme to use the offense’s outing vs. the Commanders as a harbinger of how it will perform against San Francisco at the Linc. Two starters played briefly — wide receiver DeVonta Smith and right guard Tyler Steen — and several rotational skill position backups logged regulars’ snaps.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ first playoff loss was to karma. Next up: the 49ers.

There was some positive from quarterback Tanner McKee, running back Tank Bigsby and various reserves who were given more playing time. There was ultimately more bad than good, but it was hard to come to conclusions about individual players considering the circumstances.

And the same could be said about coordinator Kevin Patullo. He had a decent opening half, and dialed up concepts that beat various schemes on occasion. The offense looked a little different with McKee and some new faces. The operation seemed to move at a quicker pace.

But Patullo was the one main cog in the offense who didn’t get the week off, and his game plan and play-calling felt like essentially more of the same. A better evaluation can’t be made until after a film review, but in the macro it felt like there wasn’t enough of Bigsby and the running game, and in the micro there were questionable decisions.

The Eagles have been among the best offenses in the red zone all season. It’s where Patullo has shined the most. McKee’s 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Grant Calcaterra in the second quarter on a seam route was the perfect call against a quarters zone.

But when the Eagles advanced to the Washington 6-yard-line on their ensuing possession with balanced play-calling, Patullo had McKee throw out of the shotgun on third- and fourth-and-2. Maybe Sirianni didn’t inform his assistant that he was planning on gambling on fourth down, but a run on third down would have made more sense.

And having McKee with an empty backfield made it easier on the Commanders. Unlike with Hurts, a quarterback draw or scramble in that situation was improbable.

A series later, a Jalyx Hunt interception gave the Eagles the ball at Washington’s 22-yard-line. McKee hooked up with receiver Darius Cooper for a 17-yard toss over the middle, but the rookie spun the ball after his catch and was flagged for taunting.

The Eagles still had the ball at the 20-yard line, but after an incomplete pass and a Bigsby carry for no gain, McKee threw a bad interception.

“Like any game, he’s going to want some plays back, but I thought he did a lot of good things and we were able to move the ball,” Sirianni said of McKee. “Obviously, we didn’t finish a couple times in the red zone for different reasons.”

That didn’t count as a red zone possession. It’s hard to fault Patullo for Cooper and McKee’s mistakes on that drive.

The Eagles turned another fortuitous turnover into points in the third quarter. Patullo used a heavy dose of under-center runs to punch Bigsby into the end zone for a 14-10 lead. There was more shotgun on the next series that ended with a Jake Elliott 39-yard field goal.

But after Washington knotted the score at 17 in the fourth quarter, Patullo had McKee drop back to pass on all three downs before punting. It was the Eagles’ lone three-and-out of the game — an improvement upon their NFL-worst rate.

The inability to capitalize on Bigsby’s tough running and playmaking — his 31-yard catch was the Eagles’ longest of the game — was dubious, though. He didn’t get a single touch in the fourth quarter, partly because backup running back Will Shipley was on the field with the offense in pass mode.

But having McKee drop back on 15 straight plays on the final three possessions, behind a second-unit offensive line, wasn’t ideal. He completed just 5 of 14 passes for 40 yards and was sacked once on those drops. His lack of mobility was glaring whenever he was pressured.

There were other differences between McKee and Hurts, with some of them suggestive of areas in which the latter struggles. The Eagles didn’t often snap the ball as late into the play clock as they do with Hurts at quarterback.

On the first seven possessions, McKee completed 16 of 25 passes for 201 yards. The ball often went where it should go based on the progression read vs. a certain coverage.

“I kind of have a philosophy that the defense is going to tell you where to throw the ball,” McKee said.

He wasn’t as good out of structure. McKee also missed some open receivers, the most egregious coming when he overshot Kylen Granson on fourth down late in the game. But he often had little time with rookie tackle Cameron Williams, for instance, having never previously played in an NFL game.

“When you don’t have your starting offensive line and you’ve got to have lots of different thumps on the D-ends and chip blocks, rather than get everybody out in the route scheme,” Eagles receiver Britain Covey said, “things like that make a huge difference.”

The Eagles ran more from under center (53%) than the shotgun (47%). But McKee didn’t throw off play action as much as expected. He dropped back from under center only five times and completed 2 of 3 passes for 37 yards. He was also sacked and scrambled for 2 yards on those plays.

McKee lost his best option when Smith was pulled after eclipsing 1,000 yards receiving for the season. He hit the receiver on 3 of 4 targets for 52 yards. Sirianni said he limited Smith’s routes to protect him, but the Eagles clearly drew up passes in which he was a primary read.

“You have things drawn up for certain guys and certain things,” Smith said, “but, ultimately, it’s based on what the coverage is.”

It stands to reason why Patullo, Hurts and the offense can’t have more planned success with their designs. The sample was small and the Commanders, of course, didn’t offer the best resistance. But that might have been enough justification for playing the starters.

Sirianni tried something similar two years ago at the Giants and it blew up in his face. The Eagles had more at stake with the NFC East still on the line, but the offense was stagnant against another subpar defense and Hurts and receiver A.J. Brown also got hurt.

» READ MORE: Eagles react to facing the San Francisco 49ers in playoffs: ‘It’s going to be good on good’

The Eagles have a much better defense than they did in 2024. Parity is the best way to describe the NFC playoff picture. Each team is flawed. The Eagles’ Achilles’ heel is their offense. Resting the starters — and probably playing them, as well — was unlikely to cure that condition.

“We’ll be all right,” Smith said. “We know what we’ve got to do. We know what’s at stake. It’s win or go home. It’s no time for the mistakes, ‘We’ll get it next time.’ You’ve got to get it this time.”

But will the Eagles offense finally get it together when it counts?