Eagles fans are blaming offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo for the team’s offensive skid. (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Sports Illustrated via Getty Images
Philadelphia Eagles fans presented a frothy, full-throated solution for their team’s slumping offense:
“Fire Kevin! Fire Kevin!”
The chants thundered down from every nook, cranny and crevice of Lincoln Financial Field, dumping blame onto offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo during another loss, this one a 24-15 loss at home to the Chicago Bears on Friday.
Here’s a clip showing an assortment of Philly fan disgust, along with the booming “Fire Kevin” chants:
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni declared his support for the man the fans want gone. “No, we’re not changing the play-caller,” he said after the game.
This is becoming a recurring response for Sirianni, who also showed his loyalty to Patullo on Monday, a day after the Eagles’ offense vanished in the second half of a 24-21 disaster at Dallas.
“It’s never about just one person,” Sirianni said. “I have confidence in the entire group. I know it will keep coming back to Kevin. If I thought it was one thing, then you make those changes. Obviously, it’s a lot of different things. I don’t think it is Kevin.”
It’s clear Patullo’s unit looks broken at the moment, going three-and-out on four possessions on Friday while committing two turnovers (one interception, one fumble). The offense finished with just 51 plays (317 yards) to the Bears’ 85 (425 yards).
But what sparked some of the loudest jeers from Philly fans on Friday was Patullo’s clumsy clock management. With the ball at their own 35 with 2:47 left in the first half, the Eagles got off just one play — a 1-yard pass to A.J. Brown — before letting the clock hit the two-minute warning and prompting a torrent of boos.
Perhaps the clearest indictment of Patullo’s qualifications has been the fallen-off-a-cliff regression of Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024, breaking the Eagles’ single-season rushing record.
Barkley ran for just 56 yards against the Bears on Friday. That gives him 740 for the season, which puts him on pace to finish with just 1,048 yards. He’s had only one game with more than 100 yards this season. And if you subtract his 150-yard performance against the New York Giants, he’s averaging just 53.6 yards in his other 11 games.
Publicly, Eagles players continue to have Patullo’s back.
“I don’t think something big needs to change,” Barkley said via reporter Tim McManus of espn.com. “The sky’s falling outside the locker room, we understand that. But I have nothing but utmost confidence in the men in this locker room, players and coaches included. It’s going to take all of us to come together, block out the noise. Can’t be pointing fingers.”
The Eagles will have extra time to troubleshoot the offense with their next game 10 days away when they play the Los Angeles Chargers Dec. 8 on Monday Night Football. But their fans will not get their wish: Patullo will be calling the plays — indefinitely.