Lane Johnson calls out OC Kevin Patullo over Eagles' "too predictable" offense after humiliating loss to Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles lost for a second consecutive week after the defending Super Bowl winners fell 34-17 against the New York Giants on Thursday.

Offensive lineman Lane Johnson is not happy about the team's performance, especially in the second half, calling out offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo's tactics.

"It seems a lot harder than it needs to be,” Johnson said. “Maybe moving forward, just have a little bit more variety, hitting the perimeter some … [We] need to be able to keep defenses guessing.”

"I’m with Kevin until the end. A lot of it comes down to execution. We’ll go back and look at this tape and see what we’ve got to fix, but moving forward, maybe more efficient, less predictable and capitalize on big plays and explosives.”

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This is not the first time an Eagles star has raised issues over the team's running game this season as quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley and receiver AJ Brown reportedly met on Monday to discuss their offensive issues. However, Brown denied the reports.

“I don’t recall a meeting,” Brown said after the loss to the Giants. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Saquon Barkley urges team to "get back" to winning attitude after second consecutive loss

The Eagles went undefeated for the first four weeks of the season, but have failed to get over their line in the last two games. Amid reports of uncertainty among the players, Saquon Barkley said the team needs to get back to having the winning mentality.

“I think we also have to get back into that attitude, that mindset, not really giving a f**k what people are trying to do,” Barkley said. “That’s something that I’m looking for.”

While Barkley's productivity has dipped considerably this season, it has to do with the team's offensive struggles. The Eagles average 95.3 rushing yards per game this season, a stark contrast to 184.1 yards last year, the second most in the NFL.

The Eagles' usage of their trademark tush push has also raised question marks as they used the controversial strategy on four consecutive plays in the second quarter of Thursday's loss.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

Know More

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash