The Philadelphia Eagles did finish 11-6 last season. But fans don’t need to read between the lines to know how bad the offense was. It was a shock because this offense helped Philadelphia win the Super Bowl the previous year. Many have pointed fingers at Jalen Hurts’ disappointing play, but he cannot be blamed for all the offensive failures. Former offensive-line coach Jeff Stoutland elaborated on why the run game in particular dropped.

“Well, I think anytime things don’t go well, and I don’t want to sound like I’m in an interview, but it’s the truth,” Jeff Stoutland said on the New Heights podcast on April 24, 2026. “It’s about execution. It’s calling the right play at the right time and not running bad plays against the bad defenses. I mean, it ain’t that hard. I’m not going to sit here and make up anything—that’s pretty much it.”

Last year, it seemed like there was no creativity from this side of the ball, and the rushing game was ignored entirely. The total yards on the ground dipped to 1,908 from more than 3,000 in 2024. That alone is a telling fact that the Eagles did not call enough running plays. Star running back Saquon Barkley‘s production nearly halved between  2024 and 2025. And, fans did not get to see the other half of Jalen Hurt’s dual-threat ability enough.

The offense chose not to run. This drop in production did not happen out of the blue.

A big reason why the Eagles’ offense drew a lot of flak for this is that the players have the skills to light up the ground, but they were simply not playing in their groove. Stoutland’s unit also failed, part of which can be blamed on injuries. Lane Johnson was out for a long time, and Landon Dickerson also struggled with injuries. The latter used to really get after defenders in the past. But they were just not up to the mark, which further complicated the offense’s quality. And as Stoutland said, the wrong calls were being made.

There were instances of linebackers breaking free, with no one to block them. And at other times, two blockers were going after one defender, letting others through with no hesitation. The play that drew the most criticism from the season, however, was the four verts that ended Philadelphia’s campaign in 2025.

Interestingly, the Eagles’ rushing problems also came from the play that is their brand.

What happened to the Eagles’ Tush Push?

Imagine becoming famous for something you’ve invented, dominating events with it, and then suddenly failing to bring success with what was your best identifier. That is exactly what happened with the Eagles’ famed tush push, their version of a quarterback sneak, which was developed by Jeff Stoutland. The move, which is tough on the players, has become a signature for the Eagles. But last year, this became a glaring problem.

The offense converted on first downs 81% of tush push attempts in 2024. In 2025, only 63% of these attempts were successful.

To make matters worse, the Eagles no longer have the man who helped design it. Despite that, head coach Nick Sirianni has expressed that the Eagles will work towards owning this move in 2026.

“We gotta get back to being able to,” he said in February. “We either have to get back to being able to be as dominant as we were at it, or we find new avenues to be able to convert on third down or in the red zone.

“And so, that’s the fun part about offseason is to be able to go through those processes. You go through them during the season as well. And I think you saw us do some cool things off of it, and you still want to be able to do them.”

This is the fifth straight time the Eagles will have a new offensive coordinator in as many years. Sean Mannion will now be put to the test on how well he improves the team on this front, to breathe some life into what was a lackluster offense. Stoutland’s wise words should help bring some change in the Philadelphia offense this season.