For the Philadelphia Eagles, the path back to the Super Bowl isn’t about finding a new identity, but rediscovering an old one. The Eagles and Buffalo Bills are playing at Highmark Stadium in Week 17. The Birds have improved by leaps and bounds after head coach Nick Sirianni started being more present in the offensive meetings. However, ahead of the hyped contest, he got major advice from the NFL analyst Greg Cosell.

“One thing that they’ve done more of over the last number of weeks, and I would expect it this week, especially because of the nature of Sean McDermott and how he plays on defense, is no-huddle and empty formations. I would expect to see both of those,” he said on the December 26 episode of One Bills Live. “The Eagles are very good out of both no-huddle and empty, and it really helps Jalen Hurts an awful lot.”

It happened multiple times during the Week 16 win against the Washington Commanders. They played under-center plays for the most part. Even Sirianni acknowledged that he stopped the defense from subbing by using no-huddle plays. Their offensive plan became clear on the second drive of the game.

The seven-play, 63-yard drive had five straight empty-set plays, the most in any play under Nick Sirianni. Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw five passes to receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith for 37 yards with 14 more rushing yards. If the Eagles’ head coach sticks to these plays, the players are spread out, which will make it tough for the Bills’ defense to cover them.

While spreading the field with empty sets unlocks the passing game for Hurts, its true power, according to Cosell, lies in how it revitalizes the very foundation of their championship identity: a dominant run game led by Saquon Barkley.

The bigger gain is that running back Saquon Barkley also gets more chances of scoring with the changed approach. It will help them find the Super Bowl-winning lineup ahead of the playoffs.

Nick Sirianni needs to keep the run game strong

Last year, Barkley was the dominant force on the Birds’ roster. He finished the season with 345 carries for 2005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. His performance has dropped almost in half in 2025. The running back has only 261 carries for 1,072 rushing yards and seven scores. But Cosell wants them to rely on the run game.

“The Eagles have a specific template. It’s the template that they won the Super Bowl with a year ago. They’re a running football team,” he said. “People might be surprised that over the last three weeks, Barkley has the most carries of any back in the league and the second most yards. So, they’re just executing what they have to be better.”

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Barkley started the season on a high note. In the first two games, he had 40 carries for two touchdowns. But Nick Sirianni tried playing Hurts at shotgun, which cost them big time. The defense could easily predict whether it was a pass or a rush.

From Week 3 to 7, he had a maximum of 58 yards in a game and scored only one touchdown in five games. During the Week 12 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, he had only recorded 10 carries for 22 yards. In the last three games, Barkley has scored one touchdown in each of them.

So, the expectations are clear. Keep the players spaced out over the field and give Barkley a chance to run down the field. Nick Sirianni knows this and will use every trick he can to defend the title.