Nick Sirianni’s latest explanation of the Eagles offense says plenty about where this season has gone.
When asked by Eagles On SI whether the players have bought into Sean Mannion’s system and whether the transition has been tougher than expected, Sirianni described a staff that is still trying to find the right fit on the fly. The Eagles have a plan, but they are also reaching beyond it, adjusting week to week, and searching for whatever gives the roster the best chance to work.
"You have a system of what you want to do and the things that you want to hang your hat on, but you also have to have the ability to adapt to what you do well and what your players do well," Sirianni said. "Again, we're doing some things within the system.
We're doing some things outside the system. Again, our job is to be problem solvers and if things aren't working, it's to figure out what gives our guys the best chance to go out there and succeed.
"That's what we're in the midst of. I don't think it's like, 'Hey, this is a scheme.
This is the only thing we can do.' We're doing everything we can do to figure out what fits us the best, and what we will execute at a high level and what our players do well. ...
I think there's a lot of different things that we'll continue to try, and we'll keep fighting, and we'll keep hammering at it."
That doesn’t sound like a staff that found its answer. It sounds like one trying to patch over a bet that has gone badly wrong.
The Eagles made the move to a Shanahan/McVay-influenced offense with more under-center snaps, heavy motion, and play-action off wide-zone runs after the 2025 offense stalled under Kevin Patullo. The idea was to create an identity the unit had lacked. Instead, the offense has been one of the league’s least efficient groups, with under-center looks often producing worse results than shotgun.
The numbers from The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia are brutal. Across all 27 Eagles teams that have played this century, the 2026 offense ranks 27th in points per game, 27th in yards per game, 27th in yards per play, 27th in YPC, 27th in 3-and-out percentage, 27th in EPA per play, 27th in success rate, and 27th in explosive play rate.
That kind of collapse points to a deeper issue than just a cold stretch. The league’s best versions of this offensive style depend on the right personnel, steady continuity, and a quarterback who is comfortable operating under center with clear play-action timing. Philadelphia tried to force that model onto a roster that had been built differently.
The Eagles’ recent success came from a different formula: a physical offensive line coached by Jeff Stoutland and Jalen Hurts operating best from shotgun with a more static pre-snap look. Instead of leaning into that, the team tried to remake itself around a trendier template. The result has been a mess of missed assignments, protection problems, and an offense still trying to figure out what it does best.
The ripple effects went beyond the field. Stoutland, the longtime offensive line coach and run-game coordinator who helped build two Super Bowl championship lines, left after 13 seasons.
Reports said he felt bypassed on run-game adjustments late in 2025 and that the coming scheme change under Mannion left little room for the approach he had developed in Philadelphia. He was offered a reduced role and declined.
The passing game, meanwhile, has somehow gotten even worse.
Sacks, negative plays, and stalled drives have piled up, injuries or not. Sirianni keeps saying the staff’s responsibility is to put players in position to succeed, but the season so far has made the opposite case. The Eagles chased a system that worked for others and tried to make it theirs, even if it meant sacrificing continuity and fit.
There is still time to salvage parts of the season, and Sirianni’s comments make clear the staff is not treating the original plan as untouchable. But the fact that they are already blending ideas from inside and outside the system is its own verdict.
The Eagles did not need to become a lesser version of the Rams or 49ers. They needed to keep building around what already worked.
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