On defense, the Eagles are in their second year with Vic Fangio at DC. Fangio typically runs a 3-4 front and 2 deep safeties to limit explosive plays. He also typically runs a light box, relying on stout defensive lineman to stop the run while dropping most of his players back in coverage. This worked well last year, but ran into issues this year after the departure of DT Milton Williams and EDGE Josh Sweat in free agency and the retirement of Brandon Graham. The Eagles have managed to fortify their DL midseason by trading a 3rd-round pick to the Dolphins for talented EDGE Jaelan Phillips and convincing Brandon Graham to come out of retirement midway through the season, though the defense has remained vulnerable to the run. Overall, the Eagles defense has remained one of the NFL\u2019s better defenses<\/a>, ranked 9th in passing yards allowed, 22nd in rushing yards allowed, and 5th in total points allowed.<\/p>\n I asked Brandon Lee Gowton<\/a> of Bleeding Green Nation five questions to better understand the state of the Eagles and what to look for in this game.<\/p>\n 1) How has the offensive scheme and play-calling changed under OC Kevin Patullo and how much of the offensive design should be credited to him vs Nick Sirianni vs. Jalen Hurts?<\/p>\n Sirianni and Hurts definitely have significant input on the offense. It\u2019s not like Patullo is bringing his vision to the table without them being heavily involved.<\/p>\n With that in mind, it\u2019s not always simple to parse through who deserves credit\/blame. And there\u2019s certainly been more blame than credit going around this season. The Eagles have the most expensive offense in the NFL by a significant margin \u2026 and it\u2019s a group that\u2019s largely underperformed. Entering Week 15, the Eagles were in a five-game stretch where they scored just eight touchdowns. Only the Las Vegas Raiders had fewer in that same span.<\/p>\n The Eagles obviously looked better against those Raiders this past weekend. How much of that was genuine improvement on their own? How much of that was the fact that the Raiders are atrocious?<\/p>\n Eagles OC Kevin Patullo has received a lot of criticism for the inconsistent nature of the Eagles offense, to the point that Eagles fans vandalized his New Jersey home by egging it two weeks ago after a loss to the Bears. AP\/Chris Szagola<\/p>\n I know you\u2019re the one asking me the questions but we\u2019ve yet to see the answers in that regard. I think it\u2019s fair to say that game was a step in the right direction for the Eagles. It could serve as a much-needed confidence boost.<\/p>\n But we previously saw the Eagles make some strides on offense in wins over the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants before then only managing to score just two touchdowns in wins over the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.<\/p>\n So, I need to see more to truly believe the offense is on the right track. If they go out and stink again against Washington, that\u2019ll be discouraging.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to target Patullo since he\u2019s the new variable in the equation. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s done an amazing job this year (except for in goal-to-go situations, where the Eagles have been really efficient). But I also think he\u2019s hardly the only problem with the offense.<\/p>\n 2) The Eagles offense has been really up and down this year. What seems to be the common factors through the Eagles good offensive games and the common factors through the Eagles bad offensive games this season? <\/p>\n We can dumb it down to Jalen Hurts playing well (or not) but I don\u2019t even think that\u2019s necessarily true. Hurts had a perfect passer rating against the Minnesota Vikings, for example, but I don\u2019t think the offense as a whole really functioned well as much as he made big plays out of structure.<\/p>\n Quality of opponent has definitely been a factor. The Eagles\u2019 two biggest games in terms of yardage gained were against the teams currently picking top two in the 2026 NFL Draft order: the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders.<\/p>\n Then again, an optimist could point out that the Eagles gained their third-highest yardage total against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14. Meaning that two of their three highest games have come over the past two weeks. Maybe they\u2019re turning a corner. I still need to see more to truly believe it.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s because the bad has been really bad. The Eagles have led the league in three-and-out percentage. The offense can go through really long stretches where it looks like moving the ball is an impossibility. It\u2019s a bad combination of lacking schematic answers and poor execution in the form of missed throws, poor blocking, dumb penalties, or all of the above.<\/p>\n 3) What has the Eagles special teams been like this year and are there any players on special teams particularly worth highlighting?<\/p>\n KICKER: Jake Elliott has had some struggles; he\u2019s missed five field goal attempts and one extra point. It\u2019s worth noting that all of his misses were with Cal Adomitis filling in at long snapper. The Eagles waived Adomitis last week and activated veteran Charley Hughlett from injured reserve. I don\u2019t think Elliott\u2019s misses were only about the long snapper change because he also had struggles in 2024. But Hughlett\u2019s returned is welcomed nevertheless.<\/p>\n PUNTER: Braden Mann ranks fourth in punts this season with the Eagles going three-and-out way too often. His 42.7 net punting average ranks seventh in the NFL. He\u2019s solid.<\/p>\n LONG SNAPPER: Already touched on this in the kicker section. Hughlett > Adomitis.<\/p>\n PUNT RETURNER: The Eagles originally had former Washington draft pick Jahan Dotson as their PR but he didn\u2019t have a great feel for it, which makes sense given his lack of experience in that role. They then went with Xavier Gipson, who got cut by the New York Jets for fumbling issues. Gipson then had a really bad punt return in the Eagles\u2019 loss to the Dallas Cowboys where he fielded the ball at the 2-yard line and then fumbled. The Eagles moved on from Gipson and signed Britain Covey, who had been on the practice squad all along, to the roster. Covey has been one of the best punt returners in the NFL over the past few seasons, so, it\u2019s not exactly surprising to see that he\u2019s having success once again with a 12.1 average. Just weird it took this long for the Eagles to go back to him.<\/p>\n KICK RETURNER: The Eagles rank 29th in kick return average. Not a strength.<\/p>\n ST COVERAGE: Special teams tackles numbers vary depending on the source but Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Kylen Granson, Kelee Ringo, and Cameron Latu are the Eagles\u2019 leaders in that category. I especially enjoy watching Latu play because he looks like a beast out there. Latu is on the injury report this week, so, we\u2019ll see if he plays \u2026 but if he does, don\u2019t be surprised if you see No. 36 make a big hit on special teams.<\/p>\n PUNT\/FG BLOCKS: Latu blocked a punt in the Eagles\u2019 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that got returned for a touchdown. Jalen Carter blocked a field goal in the Eagles\u2019 win over the Los Angeles Rams \u2026 and so did Jordan Davis, on the Rams\u2019 game-winning attempt. OFFENSE: Darius Cooper. The undrafted rookie free agent wide receiver was a summer standout, which helped him make the roster as a long shot. Cooper was a prolific pass-catcher for Division II Tarleton State but he\u2019s done well to carve out a role as a dirty work player in the NFL. His blocking efforts and special teams contributions have led to him earning more playing time on offense, where he\u2019s starting to show up a bit more. Cooper logged just two targets for seven receptions in his first eight games. He\u2019s since had three targets for three catches and 48 yards in the past two games. Cooper also drew a pass interference penalty in Week 15. With Jahan Dotson set to be a free agent after this season, Cooper could be a contender to take over the WR3 role in 2026.<\/p>\n DEFENSE: Are Commanders fans super familiar with Jaelan Phillips? He\u2019s a former first-round pick \u2026 but he played in a different conference before the Eagles traded for him. And he\u2019s actually never played against Washington. So, to answer my own question: yes, I\u2019m counting him. I think Phillips could be a huge factor in Saturday\u2019s game. He\u2019s been very disruptive and him going up against rookie right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. seems like a huge mismatch in Philly\u2019s favor. Only nine players have generated more pressures than Phillips this season, according to Pro Footabll Focus.<\/p>\n The Eagles traded a 3rd-round pick for EDGE Jaelan Phillips. Although he is set to be a free agent after this season, he has immediately turned EDGE from a weakness to a slight strength on the Eagles roster. AP\/Mike Roemer<\/p>\n 5) How should Washington go about game-planning this matchup on both sides of the ball?<\/p>\n Vic Fangio will likely prioritize shutting down the Commanders\u2019 run game in an effort to make Marcus Mariota throw the football a lot. The Eagles have stifled opposing rushing attacks more often than not but they have had two really bad games where they got bullied on the ground. Those came in losses to the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears. Both of those games were played with the Eagles on short rest (one Thursday, one Friday). The Commanders should look to see if they can bully the Birds. Might not work but worth a shot. Also, as a general rule, I would advise against Mariota throwing to whoever is being covered by Quinyon Mitchell. Adoree\u2019 Jackson has played well recently but he\u2019s much more gettable than Mitchell \u2026 or Cooper DeJean, who\u2019s also great.<\/p>\n The Commanders\u2019 defense should be looking to get after the Eagles\u2019 right tackle. It looks like Lane Johnson is going to miss another start and his backup, Fred Johnson, has also missed practice time this week. If third string option Matt Pryor has to start at right tackle, well, that\u2019s a pretty concerning development.<\/p>\n A companion article to this with my answers to Brandon\u2019s questions is linked here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Eagles](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Eagles_Patullo.png\"\/)
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4) Who is one Eagles player on offense and one player on defense that Washington fans probably don\u2019t know much about, but should?<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Eagles_Phillips.png\"\/)
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